Then, there were these “stationary target ships”, that was in one case torpedoed, and at least one other was rammed and sank by a freighter. Even washed up on the beach during a hurricane, dragging a 5500 pound anchor.
Thanks for the update. I knew it was a sub and when I think sub I think torpedo. But from reading WW 1 history I remember at times the sub would allow the ships crew and or passengers a chance to abandon ship before shelling the ship.
Just been watching a youtube video about the African Queen story. This ship is still sailing. It was built in 1913, the last warship built for the Imperial German Navy.
SS John W. Brown, launched September 7th, 1942.
One of only two remaining, operational Liberty Ships (out of 2710 built).
Designed and intended for a single one-way trip; this one made 13 wartime round trips, was involved in the D-Day invasion and Operation Dragoon, was a vocational maritime high school for the state of New York until 1986. She is still fully operational, maintains a USCG COI, and acts as a museum ship, training ship for a number of organizations, and is a USCG authorized training school (Fireman/Watertender training program).
Video taken a week and a half ago during her return trip from the shipyard. Picture taken from the bridge wing of an inbound ship, NOT a drone. She turns 82 in a few days.
I was unaware of this amazing logistics feat (from the Wikipedia link):
Graf von Goetzen was built in 1913 in Germany. […] After preliminary assembly Goetzen was taken apart and shipped in 5000 boxes loaded on three cargo vessels to Dar es Salaam in German East Africa (modern day Burundi, Rwanda and Tanganyika (the mainland part of present Tanzania)). From there the trains of the Mittellandbahn [Central Line] carried the boxes to Kigoma. She was rebuilt there in 1914 and launched on 5 February 1915.