In early 1940 the Dutch ship builders Rotterdam Dry Dock Company at Rotterdam were building a 10,746 ton tanker to be named Papendrecht for her owners Van Ommeren’s Scheeps. (Yard No 220). The ship was launched on 17 April 1940 and construction continued but on 10 May 1940 German Forces invaded Holland and the country surrendered six days later.

In early 1940 the Dutch ship builders Rotterdam Dry Dock Company at Rotterdam were building a 10,746 ton tanker to be named Papendrecht for her owners Van Ommeren’s Scheeps. (Yard No 220). The ship was launched on 17 April 1940 and construction continued but on 10 May 1940 German Forces invaded Holland and the country surrendered six days later.

Papendrecht post war

With the capture of Holland the German Navy seized the Papendrecht and renamed her ‘Lothringen’ and equipping her as a replenishment tanker for the German battleship Bismark and the heavy cruiser Prinz Eugen.

German Naval Tanker Lothringen

She was fitted with two 3.7cm Polish and three 2 cm German H.A. guns. These were manned by the naval members of the crew.

Lothringen’s Bridge

Two range-finders were of the 77 cm and the 1.25 meter type. The crew was made up of 45 naval ratings and one naval officer (the ship’s doctor) and 35 members of the German Mercantile Marine. Her Master was Captain Max Friedrichsen (aged 61 years) and the Chief Engineer Herr Bramman.

The tanker sailed from Schiedam on 7 March 1941 for Cherbourg arriving during the afternoon of 8 March 1941 for minor repairs. She sailed again on 11 March for Brest and a few days later sailed for St. Nazaire which was reached on 20 March. The next day she departed for La Pallice where she remained until 11 May.

While in port she is believed to have taken on board: –

• 32 torpedoes
• 1,000 tons of diesel for U Boats
• Furnace Fuel Oil, this she received from the tanker ‘Rheum’ which, together with that received at Rotterdam amounted to 11,000 tons.
• A number of metal canisters which it is believed contained lubricating oil for U-Boats
• A large amount of provisions and fresh water – an amount believed to be sufficient to victual a battleship for one week.

On 11 May she deployed for the first and only time for the German Navy from La Pallice, France without any problems and it is believed she had a rendezvous already arranged with a U-Boat for the 17 June.

The Bismark was attacked and sunk by the Royal Navy in the North Atlantic on the 27 May 1941 with Prinz Eugen eventually making port at Brest with a condenser defect on 1 June 1941

HMS Dunedin had been deployed to the South Atlantic Station on 8 April 1941 and after the sinking of the Bismark joined up with HMS Eagle to form Force ‘F’.

HMS Eagle

HMS Dunedin

They received secret information from Ultra intercepts from Station ‘X’ at Bletchley Park giving details of the disposition of several German Naval tankers in the Atlantic Ocean.

At about 1450hrs 15 June Lothringen was sighted by aircraft from HMS Eagle in approximate position 18°35’N 37°43’W. She was identified as German and she was bombed and attacked with machine-gun fire. She stopped, developed a list to port and displayed two white flags. By 1705 Dunedin closed her (from astern) at 24 knots dropping two depth charges as a precaution against U-boats.

German Tanker Lothringen as seen from the aircraft of HMS Eagle

A group of men wearing German Naval uniform were observed fallen in on the upper deck.

A boarding party under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ronald M H Sowdon Royal Navy and an anti-scuttling party slipped at 1752 from HMS Dunedin and were onboard the Lothringen by 1756. The Boarding Engineer Officer was Lieutenant Commander (E) Albert W Hughes DSC Royal Navy.

Lieutenant Commander Ronald M H Sowdon Royal Navy

The German Doctor and four wounded men were transferred to the Dunedin. The wounded were found to be suffering from slight bomb or machine gun splinter wounds.

The German Chief Officer and Chief Engineer pointed out the location of six scuttling charges and Mr Harold Lowey, Commissioned Gunner (T) and CPO (TGM) John A Manners removed the charges and sent them to the Dunedin.

A large number of red rubber oiling hoses (about 6”) and a heavy towing wire and a large deck shackle were discovered onboard.

A prize crew under the command of Lieutenant R. Beveridge, Royal Navy took command of the ship. The German Chief Officer, three other officers and 19 German ratings remained onboard to work the ship.

The ship, under the prize crew, set sail at 2350hrs for Bermuda.

Lothringen once at Bermuda was repaired and renamed Empire Salvage. She was made a Royal Fleet Auxiliary and on the 4 July 1941 Captain George W Callaway RFA (Lieut-Commander Royal Navy (Ret’d)) was appointed as Master. On 5 July Mr J. B. Payne RFA was appointed Chief Engineer Officer.

Known movements of RFA Empire Salvage during her RFA service are: –

While in Hong Kong on 28 February 1946 2nd Officer Keith N. Howard RFA was discharged dead. He was buried at Sai Wan War Cemetery.

2^nd Officer Keith N Howard RFA’s headstone

The following members of the Royal Navy were in receipt of Mentions in Despatches for the seizure of the Lothringen

1941    Lieutenant Commander Ronald Montague Haigh Sowdon, Royal Navy

1941    Temporary Electrical Lieutenant Stanley Edmund Jenner, G.M., Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve*

1941    Temporary Lieutenant Brian Toller Whinney, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve*

1941    Sub Lieutenant (A) Charles Rankin Camidge, Royal Navy

1941    Temporary Sub Lieutenant (A) Philip Alfred Denington, Royal Naval Volunteer Reserve

1941    Leading Telegraphist Percy Tom Jackson, P/J 102244

* for disposing of an unexploded Royal Navy bomb which had been dropped by aircraft from HMS Eagle.

Lieutenant Commander Ronald Sowdon Royal Navy, Mr Harold Lowey, Commissioned Gunner (T) and Leading Telegraphist Percy Tom Jackson, P/J 102244 were killed on 24 November 1941 when HMS Dunedin was torpedoed and sunk in the Atlantic. Lieutenant Commander (E) Albert W Hughes Royal Navy died on 27 November 1941 before the survivors of the sinking could be rescued and Sub Lieutenant (A) Charles Rankin Camidge, Royal Navy was killed on 24 August 1943 while operating from HMS Jackdaw

Once returned to her owners the Papendrecht continued to sail in the Dutch merchant fleet up and until she was sold to Japanese interests for breaking up in January 1964. She arrived at the breakers yard at Onomichi, Japan on the 15 April of that year