Wreck of SS Westfalen
Shipwreck site
- Position
- About 57.8° N, 11.4° E (within about 10 km)
- Sank
- —
- Cause
- —
- Depth
- —
Protection status
Location generalised to protect a war grave
The position shown is generalised to within about 10 km. The exact position is not published.
A military vessel lost in 1944, during a world war. Wrecks lost in war are treated as war graves.
This wreck may be the last resting place of those who died aboard. Please treat it with respect.
How this was decided: Seadar's protection rules, from the sources we hold, confidence 85%. When in doubt, Seadar generalises the position.
SS Westfalen was a German ship launched on 14 November 1905 at Joh. C. Tecklenborg in Geestemünde (today Bremerhaven). In the early 1930s Westfalen was converted into a seaplane tender to serve as a weather reporting and refueling station for Dornier Wal flying boats of Deutsche Luft Hansa carrying mail across the Atlantic between Europe and South America. The conversion of the Westfalen consisted of a large retractable stern mounted canvas drag apron for the flying boat to taxi on (i.e. for use in heavy seas and so the ship did not have to come to dead stop), cranes to lift the flying boats out of the water to be refueled and serviced, and a large compressed air catapult for launching the aircraft. When in operation, Westfalen cruised 900 miles in the middle of the South Atlantic between Bathhurst, Gambia (now Banjul) and Pernambuco, Brazil.
History from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA.
About this wreck
SS Westfalen is a recorded shipwreck site. Seadar shows wreck locations alongside live ship traffic, free, from Wikidata and public hydrographic records.
Use this data
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