German training ship Hugo Zeye

History
Nazi Germany
Builder:	AG Neptun, Rostock
Yard number:	482
Laid down:	1939
Launched:	14 September 1940
Commissioned:	19 July 1942
Fate:	sunk 14 March 1945 after hitting a mine
General characteristics [1]
Tonnage:	10,750 t (10,580 long tons; 11,850 short tons)
Length:	138 m (452 ft 9 in) waterline 146 m (479 ft 0 in) overall
Beam:	16 m (52 ft 6 in)
Draft:	6.50 m (21 ft 4 in) Standard
Propulsion:	3 × Cylinder Triple Expansion
Speed:	16 knots
Complement:	7-50 officers, 169-80 enlisted
Armament:	As built: 4 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 14 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 2 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) quadruple torpedo tubes
Service record
Part of:	Kriegsmarine
Commanders:	K.Kapt. Warnholtz (Jul 1942 - Nov 1944

Initially build as a combined passenger and transport ship for Turkey, Hugo Zeye was taken over by Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of the war and completed as a torpedo training ship.^[2] Equipped with 8 torpedo tubes, the ship was used to train torpedo personal for surface combat ships in the Baltic Sea.

Fate

In 1945, the ship was used to evacuate military personal and civilians from East Prussia. On her last evacuation voyage, the ship hit a mine northwest of Fehmarn early on 14 March 1945 and sank in position 54°33′39″N 10°52′30″E / 54.56083°N 10.87500°ECoordinates: 54°33′39″N 10°52′30″E / 54.56083°N 10.87500°E.^[1] All but 5 people on board could be saved.^[3]

References

Notes

1. Gröner 1988, pp. 114-6.
2. "Hugo Zeye Training Ship". Wehrmacht History. Retrieved 2014-10-11.
3. "Kriegsmarine". Hugo Zeye History. Retrieved 2014-10-11.

Bibliography

• Gröner, Erich (1988). Hilfsschiffe II: Lazarettschiffe, Wohnschiffe, Schulschiffe, Forschungsfahrzeuge, Hafenbetriebsfahrzeuge (I). Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815–1945 (in German). V. Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 3-7637-4804-0.