Togo / Coronel

CountryGermany
BuilderBremer Vulkan AG
Yard Number754
Launched13 Aug 1938
Commissioned1 Dec 1942
Displacement12,700 tons standard
Length440 feet
Beam59 feet
Draft26 feet
MachineryTwo 8cyl MAN diesel engines, one shaft
Bunkerage2,600m3 diesel
Power Output5,100 shaft horsepower
Speed16 knots
Range36,000nm at 10 knots
Crew357
ArmamentAs minelayer: 257 mines; As auxiliary cruiser: 6x15cm L/48 guns, 6x4cm anti-aircraft guns, 8x2cm anti-aircraft guns, 2x53.3cm stern torpedo tubes; as nightfighter direction vessel: 3x10.5cm anti-aircraft guns, 4x2x3.7cm anti-aircraft guns, 4x4x20mm anti-aircraft cannons, 3x20mm anti-aircraft cannons, machine guns, 24 depth charges

Contributor:

ww2dbaseMerchant ship Togo was launched by the shipbuilder Bremer Vulkan in Vegesack, Bremen, Germany in Aug 1938. For the next year, she transported goods between Germany and eastern Africa for Hamburg-Bremen-Afrika Linie AG (operated by Woermann-Linie AG). Days prior to the German attack on Poland, she was in port at Douala, French Cameroon. She received an advanced warning, and thus was able to sail out of the French port before the outbreak of war to avoid being captured. Togo would safely arrive in the neutral port of Boma, Belgian Congo as hostilities broke out. She returned to her home port of Hamburg, Germany in Nov 1939 after successfully evading Allied patrols in the Atlantic. At Hamburg, she was requisitioned by the German Navy. Under the command of Ernst-Ludwig Thienemann starting in Mar 1940, she participated in the invasion of Norway as a minesweeper. In Aug 1940, she was converted to a minelayer, and in that role, under the command of Rudolf Betzendahl, she served out of Cherbourg, France starting in Nov 1940. In Jun 1941, she began a conversion at Wilton-Fijenoord shipyards in Rotterdam, Netherlands and the Stettiner Oderwerke yard at Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland) that would ultimately lead to her being recommissioned, in Dec 1942, as the armed auxiliary cruiser Coronel with designation Schiff 14. In Jan 1943, she departed Kiel, Germany in an attempt to break out into the Atlantic Ocean to serve as a commerce raider; though she was able to get past the coastal guns at Dover, England, United Kingdom, she was ultimately so damaged by sereral air attacks that she was forced to turn around, arriving at Kiel in Mar 1943. Coronel served as a minesweeper for a brief time before being converted into a nightfighter direction vessel, recommissioned under the name of Togo once again. Under the command of Rudolf Lück, she operated in conjunction with the German Air Force, Luftwaffe, operating in the Baltic Sea. In the final year of the war, she assisted in the evacuation of German troops and civilians from Latvia, eastern Germany, and Danzig. At the war's end, Togo was at Kiel.

ww2dbaseAfter the war, Togo was transferred to the United States as reparations, and she was used to transport liberated Polish prisoners of war home. In Mar 1946, she was transferred to the Norwegian Navy, and in Dec 1946 she would be recommissioned as HNoMS Svalbard. Between Dec 1947 and Dec 1949, she was chartered by the International Refugee Organisation to transport displaced persons from Europe to North America and Australia. She was later sold to various civilian firms in Norway, West Germany, and Panama. As the merchant ship Topeka for the Panamanian company Caribbean Real Estate SA, she was wrecked after running aground in the Gulf of Mexico off Coatzacoalcos, Mexico in Nov 1984.

ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia

Last Major Revision: Jul 2024

Togo / Coronel Interactive Map

Photographs

Displaced persons boarding merchant ship Svalbard at Genoa, Italy, Dec 1948; many of these passengers would later be disembarking in Australia

Togo / Coronel Operational Timeline

13 Aug 1938 Togo was launched by Bremer Vulkan AG at Bremer, Germany.
27 Aug 1939 Togo departed Douala, French Cameroon.
25 Oct 1939 Togo departed Boma, Belgian Congo.
23 Nov 1939 Togo arrived at Hamburg, Germany.
21 Apr 1940 Togo was damaged by British naval mines in the Kattegat east of Skagen, Denmark.
18 Aug 1940 Rudolf Betzendahl was made the commanding officer of Togo.
30 May 1942 Togo departed Rotterdam, Netherlands.
16 Jun 1942 Togo arrived at Stettin, Germany (now Szczecin, Poland).
25 Oct 1942 Togo's conversion into an auxiliary cruiser was completed.
30 Jan 1943 Togo was recommissioned as Coronel.
31 Jan 1943 Coronel departed Kiel, Germany.
7 Feb 1943 Coronel transited the Skagerrak into the North Sea and turned south toward Britain.
9 Feb 1943 Coronel ran aground off Dunkerque, France.
10 Feb 1943 Coronel was freed after running aground off Dunkerque, France on the previous day. Dashing through the English Channel, she sailed past the British coastal guns at Dover, England, United Kingdom.
24 Feb 1943 Coronel arrived at Dunkerque, France.
28 Feb 1943 Coronel arrived at Cuxhaven, Germany.
1 Mar 1943 Coronel arrived at Kiel, Germany.
2 Mar 1943 Coronel was decommissioned from service.
18 Oct 1943 Rudolf Lück was made the commanding officer of Togo.
18 Nov 1943 Togo began conducting trials.
16 Dec 1943 Togo was slightly damaged by a British air raid at Kiel, Germany.
5 Mar 1944 Togo arrived in the Gulf of Finland.
4 May 1944 Togo departed the Gulf of Finland.
12 May 1944 Togo arrived in the Gulf of Finland.
29 May 1944 Togo departed the Gulf of Finland.
1 Jun 1944 Togo arrived at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland) for repairs.
26 Jun 1944 Togo's repairs at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland) was completed.
1 Jul 1944 Togo departed Gotenhafen (occupied Gdynia, Poland) for Nötö, Finland.
20 Jul 1944 Togo departed Nötö, Finland.
21 Jul 1944 Togo arrived at Liepāja, Latvia.
31 Jul 1944 Togo arrived at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland).
23 Oct 1944 Togo departed Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland).
24 Oct 1944 Togo arrived at Pillau, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia).
1 Jan 1945 Togo departed Königsberg, Germany (now Kaliningrad, Russia).
4 Jan 1945 Togo arrived at Kiel, Germany.
21 Jan 1945 Togo departed Kiel, Germany for the Great Belt strait in Denmark.
28 Jan 1945 Togo departed Danish waters.
31 Jan 1945 Togo arrived at Pillau, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia).
1 Feb 1945 Togo departed Pillau, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia).
3 Feb 1945 Togo arrived at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland).
4 Feb 1945 Togo arrived at Pillau, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia).
5 Feb 1945 Togo arrived at Gotenhafen, Germany (occupied Gdynia, Poland).
8 Feb 1945 Togo arrived at Danzig and disembarked refugees from Gotenhafen (occupied Gdynia, Poland) and Pillau (now Baltiysk, Russia).
11 Feb 1945 Togo arrived at Pillau, Germany (now Baltiysk, Russia).
15 Mar 1945 Togo arrived at Hel, Poland.
20 Mar 1945 Togo departed Hel, Poland.
23 Mar 1945 Togo arrived at Swinemünde, Germany (now Swinoujscie, Poland).
25 Mar 1945 Togo departed Swinemünde, Germany (now Swinoujscie, Poland).
4 Apr 1945 Togo was damaged from Allied air raid at Kiel, Germany.
20 Apr 1945 A number of Togo's crew was transferred out of the ship for ground combat roles at Kiel, Germany.
3 May 1945 Togo sailed from Kiel, Germany to the roadstead outside the harbor.
4 May 1945 Togo was captured by the British at Kiel, Germany.
13 Aug 1945 Togo was transported from Germany to the United Kingdom as reparations.
15 Jan 1946 Togo was transferred to the US Navy as reparations.
14 Mar 1947 Togo was transferred to the Norwegian Navy.
21 Nov 1984 Topeka ran aground in the Gulf of Mexico off Coatzacoalcos, Mexico, killing two crew members.




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More on Togo / Coronel
Event(s) Participated:
» Invasion of Denmark and Norway
» East Prussian Offensive
» East Pomeranian Offensive

Togo / Coronel Photo Gallery
Displaced persons boarding merchant ship Svalbard at Genoa, Italy, Dec 1948; many of these passengers would later be disembarking in Australia


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