Name This Naval Vessel 2

Looks like the TiredOldSoldier has fallen asleep at the wheel, or may be we should say at the helm..

Well here's another tricky one for the old US Navy Chief, also known as T.A. to the members of this Forum.

This picture is from my mother's album, which I have scanned during Christmas hollydays.
It shows a troop transport, but what vessel?
The picture is taken in the harbor of Narvik westwards to the inlet of the Ofoten fjord.
I must admit that I haven't been able to find out myself, so I'm trying this Forum.
May be it should have been posted under "Information Request", but I will try it here.

RAM

 

RAM - my knowlodge on Troopships is as good as submarines, which isn't. My guess would be HMT Empire Trooper. I wouldn't bet my life savings on it though.

TiredOldSoldier - sorry, I lost track of this thread but your ship above is I believe the Russian destroyer Tashkent

 

This is going to be difficult from the photo at best. The ship is not clearly visible in the photo to begin with. A few notes about it:

It is clearly an German vessel. The camoflauge on the ship dates it to between 1942 and the end of the war. That multi-color vertical dazzle pattern wasn't used much before 1942, particularly on auxiliaries and merchants.

It is a very common European merchant design. Mid engine with cargo holds fore and aft. It could be a straight merchant or possibly an auxiliary ship like a Speerbrecher (auxiliary minesweeper) as a number of merchants were converted. Given the camoflauge the later is likely.

 

Thanks for interesting info T.A.
My mother claims that these pics are taken in April 1940, but then my mother is not a naval expert.
If you look at the picture of the harbor below, which is taken from a hillside above Narvik in mid April 1940 after a snow blizzard, you will see that there are much more snow than it is on the pic with the troop transport.
The spring was late that year, with snow blizzards hampering mobilizing Norwegian forces during 8th-10th of April 1940

I'm preparing a thread about this battle, I just have to sort out the grammar and the spelling.

RAM

 

Tashkent was built in an Italian yard, but since it was up to her Soviet purchasers to supply the guns upon delivery, she ran her trials in Italian waters with no guns on board. If I can plug RAISING THE RED BANNER for a moment, we include a photo of her with no guns, with three guns (single mounts), with six guns (twin mounts), and then with no guns again (scavenged after her sinking).

 

At least I got that part correct

Thank you Richard for the added information. Plug away. I for one have already purchased my copy.

 

It could be one of a half dozen or so transports that Germany sent to Narvik as part of their invasion force, if the photos were taken in 1940. I have several candidates but would need to know the fate of the vessel in that battle. That would narrow the choices down some.

It appears that the ship is one of the ________felds like Liebenfeld. This was a pretty common class of German prewar merchant ships that fit the general description of the one in the photo.

 

Tashkent was right, did't post a new one as I got discouraged nobody was guessing a pretty easy one (after all how many modern ships were used agaist their builders in ww2?) and had nothing else good under hand.

As to the current mistery ship I would also say German but she's a very common design and I can't find the only book I had on German auxilliaries, the cargo of people and trucks makes it even possible she's not kriegsmarine but just a merc impressed into troopship duty. The single AA gun aft makes me think early war, from 1943 on I would expect at least a quad 20mm mount on a troopship.

 

BTW, we are waiting for the name of your "Blue Cruiser"..
You aren't that Tired are you, Old Soldier..

 

The Rauenfels was the supply ship sunk by HMS Havock on the way out from the battle but she is usually described as carring ammo not troops while the Alster, also intecepted by the RN, was loaded with the invasion force's vehicles. I could find no reference to a mixed troops and vehicles load in the Narvik group which is what our ship is loaded with. I'm nearly sure all the troops for the Narvik operation were carried on the destroyers. Maybe the picture was taken after the retreat of the Allied forces, when the Germans were bringing back Dietl's troops, or it was not taken at Narvik.

 

Italy was second only to Britain as an exporter of warships between the wars.
The British built a destroyer for Greece that was subsequently captured by the Germans and commissioned as Hermes, which then went and sank a British submarine--the only submarine in World War II sunk by a "German" destroyer.

 

Here are some possibilities:

Bockenhein
Martha Heinrich Fisser
Neuenfels
Lippe
Altona
Aachen
Hein Hoyer
Planet
Frielinghaus

All were present during the action. But, all were sunk, run aground, or otherwise put of of service.
Frielinghaus was aground an later salvaged by the Germans during the war so is a candidate as a possibility.

Reuenfels and Neuenfels both resemble the ship in the photo in general layout. But, Reuenfels was not sunk in the harbor but up fjord. The Neuenfels was also sunk by torpedoing so it is not a likely candidate either.

 

Great research T.A!
I'm impressed!

 

Name her.

 

You got it Jeff. Early in the morning so I thought I would start with an easy one.

 

Appears to be Hood.

 

ya, i would tend to agree

 

Definitely Hood
I believe that picture is the last taken of her before the picture taken after the explosion that sank her.
The position of PoW guns tells me that the picture was taken before the battle since they engaged in battle with the Bismark and PE to starboard