Westfalen file photo [29616]

Westfalen

CountryGermany
BuilderJoh. C. Tecklenborg Schiffswerft- und Maschinenfabrik AG
Yard Number208
Launched14 Nov 1905
Commissioned30 Dec 1906
Sunk7 Sep 1944
Displacement5,098 tons standard
Length409 feet
Beam53 feet
Draft28 feet
Machinery1 quadruple expansion steam engine, 4 boilers, 1 screw
Power Output3,000 shaft horsepower
Speed12 knots
Crew54
Armament2x20mm anti-aircraft guns
Aircraft1x Dornier Wal or Do 18 flying boat
Aircraft Crane1
Aircraft Catapult1

Contributor:

ww2dbaseWestfalen was launched by the Tecklenborg shipyard in Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, Germany in 1905. In the early 1930s, she was converted into a seaplane tender to serve as a weather reporting and refueling station for Dornier Wal flying boats of Deutsche Luft Hansa, which carried mail between Europe and South America. She assisted in the first trans-Atlantic flight tests in 1933, and began supporting commercial mail flights in 1934. After the start of the European War in 1939, she served as a transport between Germany and Norway. On 7 Sep 1944, while carrying a number of Norwegian prisoners, she hit a mine and sank about 20 kilometers (about 12 miles) west-northwest of Gothenburg, Sweden, killing a number of the German crew and most of the Norwegians. 78 survived.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Jul 2020

Westfalen Interactive Map

Photographs

Deutsche Luft Hansa flying boat tender Westfalen in the Atlantic Ocean, 1933; note Wal flying boat

Westfalen Operational Timeline

14 Nov 1905 Westfalen was launched by the Tecklenborg shipyard in Geestemünde, Bremerhaven, Germany.
30 Dec 1906 Westfalen was completed.
28 Jul 1943 Westfalen departed Bodø, Norway, escorted by auxiliary trawler V 5717 Fritz Homann.
7 Sep 1944 Westfalen hit a mine and sank off Gothenburg Sweden.




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Westfalen Photo Gallery
Deutsche Luft Hansa flying boat tender Westfalen in the Atlantic Ocean, 1933; note Wal flying boat


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