Early 1935, Marinekommandiertenabteilung, Berlin.
The motorship “Weserfels” was originally part of the new Ehrenfels Class ships these large fast motorships were diesel powered giving them a tremendous advantage over coal or turbine ships. Most would end up sailing the DDG Hansa Line’s East Asia Route (Hamburg-Calcutta).
Fate of the Ehrenfels Class ships during and after WWII.
M/S Ehrenfels Sunk off Mormugoa 09.03.1943
M/S Weserfels - - - - - - - - Not Built - - - - - - - -(Officially)
M/S Reichenfels Sunk off Kerkenna Island on 21.6.1942
M/S Kandelfels Converted into Hilfskreuzer and sunk on 8.5.1941 by H.M.S. Cornwall (56)
M/S Kybfels Sunk off Leukás, Greece 21.5.1941
M/S Goldenfels Converted into Hilfskreuzer and sunk off 22.11.1941 by H.M.S Devonshire (39)
M/S Hohenfels Sunk by the crew in the Port of Bandar Shapour on 25.8.1941
M/S Tannenfels Sunk as a blockship at Bordeaux-Bassens on 25.8.1944
M/S Moltkenfels Sunk off the roadstead of Hela in East Prussia on 11.4.1945
M/S Neidenfels Taken prize at Eckernförde on 25.5.1945, scrapped on 8.10.1975
The “Weserfels” was taken over before her keel was laid at the Deshimag A.G. Weser Werft, Bremen. However, she was still being designed and was not expected to be laid down until later in the year with her sister and namesake of the class Ehrenfels, but planners in the Marinekommandiertenabteilung had other plans. In mid-1934 KAdm Karl von Werner of the Marinekonstruktionsamt (K) proposed the construction of a disguised commerce raider from the keel up, this project was initially met with strong opposition, the Reichsmarine was in the midst of building the last Panzerschiffe, known as Panzerschiff C costing 82,000,000 RM and were finalizing plans for the Admiral Hipper-class cruisers in spite of this Adm Reader Chef der Marineleitung authorized von Werner to proceed with the project with utmost secrecy and so on January 2, 1935 at 10:00 hrs. the teletype at the A.G. Weser Werft tapped out the a directive from Berlin, Officials from the Reichsmarine’s Marinekonstruktionsamt (K) soon took over the plans of the “Weserfels” and began a study into a possible design and construction of a “Handelsstorkreuzer” or “Trade Disruption Cruiser” for this the ship was given the designation of H.S.K. (10).
Unlike the Hilfskreuzers of the Great War which were just converted freighters this study was to design and build a Hilfskreuzer from the keel up. This vessel would be heavily armed with 10 x 15cm guns, an array of secondary and anti-aircraft guns, 6 torpedo tubes, a catapult, the space to carry 8 aircraft, range 180,000km, an endurance of at least 300 days, space for up to 580 mines, cargo space for captured cargo, specially built refrigeration rooms, large pens for livestock, prisoner quarters, etc. Although being heavily armed they lacked above all things armor. With the “Weserfels” it was decided to augment the sand ballast, it was decided to install armor plates on her decks and sides with a thickness of 3/4” on the deck and 1” on the hull from frame 10-frame 210.5 This greatly increased her weight from 8,000 grt to 12,000 grt. but it provided protection for her machinery spaces, magazines, torpedo rooms, mine rooms, and her 8 x 15cm guns hidden behind flaps which were a headache to design in less than two months.
During this phase in the design process, It was eventually decided to build the ship independently of the other Ehrenfels Class ships which is the reason she does not appear as an Ehrenfels Class ship.
The superstructure layout was retained being only slightly modified, along with the engine installation. The original length of the ship was to be 506ft however this increased to 600ft. This new length would give the ship the extended range and greater endurance that the naval architects and engineers were looking for and the option to install improved machinery the downside was that she would be easily singled out and hard to camouflage.
Her keel was laid down on January 20, 1935 at the Deschimag A.G. Weser Werft in Building Way Nr. V.
During the construction of the ship, the commander was assigned, the newly promoted Korv.Kpt. Hellmuth Wilhelm Hartmann the II. Artillery officer of the pocket battleship Deutschland. Previously he had served as commander of the minesweeper M-21. He joined the Kaiserliche Marine in October 1918, one month later the war ended, however Hartmann was retained and was swiftly promoted by 1928 he held the rank of Kapitanleutnant and was in command of M-21 before being transferred to the newly completed Panzerschiffe Deutschland as II. Artillery Officer in June 1933 shortly after the ship entered service. After being given command he began assembling his crew, rejecting the entire roster provided by the Personnel Office. Instead, he handpicked his officers, petty officers, and ratings. Once the crew selection was completed the crew of 440 were housed in barracks in Bremen the nature of the ship was still a mystery to the crew and was to remain for the remainder of her construction.
The ship was completed on April 5, 1935 The launching took place on April 10, 1935 and without ceremony one of the last ships launched under the flag of the Reichsmarine floated high on the River Weser. The “Weserfels” was then towed to the Fitting out Pier where she was completed by April 30th.
On completion the cost of the new raider was over 31,000,000 Reichsmarks due to the high cost and size of the vessel further ships of this type were not pursued and efforts were shifted to what would end up being the never completed Plan Z.
