HNLMS Tankboot I
 The former Dutch Tankboot 1 and former German Kärnten, here as the Soviet Polyarnik class replenishment tanker.
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
   Netherlands | |
| Name | Tankboot 1 |
| Builder | C. Van der Giessen & Zonen, Krimpen a/d IJssel |
| Laid down | 14 December 1939 |
| Launched | 3 May 1941 |
| Commissioned | 27 October 1941 in German service |
| Out of service | 1987 or 1990 (Soviet service) |
| Renamed |
|
| Fate | Stricken in 1987 or 1990 depending on source |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Auxiliary, Tanker |
| Displacement | |
| Length | 132.1 m (433 ft 5 in) |
| Beam | 16.15 m (53 ft 0 in) |
| Draught | 7.5 m (24 ft 7 in) |
| Installed power | 7,000 hp (5,200 kW) |
| Propulsion | 2 x Werkspoor 4-stroke 8-cylinder diesel engines |
| Speed | |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 1 as designed, 0 actual |
Tankboot 1 was the first Royal Netherlands Navy ordered tanker. Ships of the Royal Netherlands Navy had always been dependent on naval bases and commercial tankers that would be hired to support their operations, however naval bases were not always nearby and commercial tankers had to be chartered weeks in advance, were too slow to keep up with a naval fleet, did not have proper equipment for refueleing at sea, were unarmed and were very costly to hire on top. Because of these reasons the Royal Netherlands Navy decided they required their own tankers, fast enough to keep up with the fleet, armed well enough to be able to defend themselves and perhaps most importantly, available on short notice in case of an emergency.[1][2]
Tankboot 1 would however never operate for the Dutch navy, being captured intact but unfinished on stocks at the fall of the Netherlands, the ship would instead get completed and commissioned by the Kriegsmarine. After the war's end, the ship would not be handed back to the Netherlands but would be given to the Soviet Union as a war reprisal instead where it would continue to serve into the late 1980's.[1][3]
Service history
[edit]The name Tankboot 1 was in all expectations a provisional name, the ship had not been properly named before it was captured by Nazi Germany which would order the construction completed and commission the ship as the Kärnten. A second ship, presumably to be provisionally named Tankboot 2, had been planned but would never be constructed.[1][2][4][5]
The Kärnten would serve the Kriegsmarine first as a fuel depot ship in the Netherlands and eventually transferring to Norway where it would serve as a tanker for U-boats. It served the Kriegsmarine from its commissioning in 1941 until it was captured by Allied forces on 15 May 1945. The ship would then be sailed to Scotland where it was interned until the war's end.[2]
After the end of World War II, the ship did not go back to the Netherlands and was instead given to the Soviet Union as a war reprisal. It would eventually be renamed to Polyarnik and serve with the Soviet Pacific Fleet. It was decomissioned somewhere after 1985 and would be stricken on 1987 or 1990 depending on the source.[2]
References
[edit]- ^ a b c Mark, Chris (1997). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in W.O. II. Alkmaar: De Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-522-8.
- ^ a b c d Boris, V. Lemachko (1992). Marine Arsenal Sonderheft Band 4: Deutsche unter dem Roten Stern. Podzun-Pallas.
- ^ von Münching, L. L. (1978). Schepen van de Koninklijke Marine in de tweede wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Alkmaar: Alk. ISBN 978-90-6013-903-5.
- ^ Helfrich, Conrad Emile Lambert (1950). Memoires van Admiraal Helfrich Amsterdam: Elsevier.
- ^ Bezemer, K. W. L. (1987). Verdreven doch niet verslagen: verdere verrichtingen der Koninklijke marine in de Tweede Wereldoorlog (in Dutch). Houten: De Boer maritiem. ISBN 978-90-269-2041-7.