Nerissa was a cargo ship that was built in 1936 by Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft,
Lübeck,
Germany for A. Kirsten,
Hamburg. She was requisitioned by the
Kriegsmarine during
World War II and was designated Schiff 20. She was torpedoed and sunk in 1944.
Description
Nerissa was 70.84 metres (232 ft 5 in) long, with a beam of 10.13 metres (33 ft 3 in). She had a depth of 3.56 metres (11 ft 8 in).[1]
She was powered by a 4-cylinder
compound steam engine, which had 2 cylinders of 33 cm (13 in) diameter and two cylinders of 760 mm (29+15⁄16 in) diameter by 80 cm (31+1⁄2 in) stroke. The engine was built by Christiansen & Meyer,
Harburg. It was rated at 160
nhp and drove a screw propeller.[1] She had a speed of 10.5 knots (19.4 km/h).[2]
History
Nerissa was built in 1936 by Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft,
Lübeck for A. Kirsten, Hamburg.[1] She was launched on 6 June 1936 and completed on 30 July.[2] Her port of registry was Hamburg and the
Code Letters DJRQ were allocated.[1]
On 7 September 1939, Nerissa was requisitioned by the
Kriegsmarine. She was designated as Schiff 20. On 23 December, she was allocated to 5 Vorpostengruppe for use as a vorpostenboot. On 22 January 1940, Nerissa was placed under the control of the Führer der Sonderverband West. On 30 May 1940, she was allocated to the Erpobungsverand Luftwaffe.[2]
Nerissa was decommissioned on 4 June 1940, but was recommissioned on 19 December. On 19 November 1943, she was damaged by a
Soviet Navytorpedo boat whilst on a voyage from
Kirkenes, Norway to
Petsamo, Finland. She was repaired and returned to service.[2]Nerissa was torpedoed and sunk in the
Baltic Sea off Cap Romanov by the Soviet Navy torpedo boat
TKA-239 with the loss of six of her crew.[3]
References
^
abcd"Nerissa (80216)"(PDF). Lloyd's Register: Steamers & Motorships. NER-NEV (in English and French). London:
Lloyd's Register. 1938–1939. Retrieved 5 February 2024 – via Southampton City Council.
Gröner, Erich (1993). Die deutschen Kriegsschiffe 1815-1945 (in German). Vol. 8/I: Flußfahrzeuge, Ujäger, Vorpostenboote, Hilfsminensucher, Küstenschutzverbände (Teil 1). Koblenz: Bernard & Graefe.
ISBN3-7637-4807-5.