July 19, 1939 Baltic, Kiel, Germany
During the night of the 10th of May a large Soviet freighter arrived at Kiel her master was instructed to dock at Pier N-21. She maneuvered into the dock and was tied down by midnight the following day a 50 car train arrived and the loading began, The freighter took on crate after crate aboard. The following day 2 coalers and 1 tanker came alongside and began to replenish the ship. In the afternoon of the 15th 3 Kriegsmarine officers boarded the Soviet ship. On the bridge they were greeted by the master of the mysterious ship, Fregattenkapitan Hans Felix Hartmann.
The camouflage has worked nobody suspects the freighter to be "Schiff 35". Here are the events leading up to the arrival. Schiff 35 departed Bremerhaven in late April then proceeded to Point Yellow to carry out "Operation Chamäleon" (The transformation of Schiff 35 into the Soviet KOSTROMA 8,284 grt (FVNU) Murmansk) this was completed in 4 days time and soon Schiff 35 sailed for Kiel via the Skagerrak, Great Belt route.
The crates the ship is taking on are everything from ammunition to tropical uniforms, cigars, flour, chocolate, and paper just to name a few of the hundreds of items she's taking aboard Hartmann has been informed by the Seekriegslietung that the ship will have to remain in port until at least July 20. This was unprecedented by Hartmann and now arrangements must be made to change temporarily the disguise of the ship so on the night of June 1 the crew painted the funnel black and removed all soviet emblems and names now Ship 35 is officially "Barracks Ship 13" On the 18th Hartmann gave the final briefing to the officers and final preparations are being made for departure.
