SHIPS HIT GERMANY 25* - BLOCKADEBRECHER
4)ANNELIESE ESSBERGER (SCUTTLED)
Photo. City of Vancouver Archives CVA 447 - 1938
Built 1935
Tonnage 5,173 / 9,153 tons
Cargo: Prisoners stated that the ship was carrying between 2,000 to 4,000 tons of cargo chiefly dyestuffs, machine parts, vegetable oil used for fuel oil, crates with powder, potatoes and dry stores.
Scuttled 21/11/42 400 miles east off St. Paul Rocks on position 00°54'N - 22°34'W to avoid capture by US Navy cruiser Milwaukee.
0 Dead
62 Survivors
11 made POW
German Anneliese Essberger as a blockade runner had the function to provide fuel to the U-boats in vast Mid-Atlantic areas as well as other supplies for their necessities like food fresh water and ammunition. On Nov 42 she raised anchors at the French port of Bordeaux for a long uncertain trip to Kobe Japan. Her fortunes were in low when a few days later she was spotted in the South Atlantic off Brazilian coast by USS CL 5 Milwaukee Fourth Fleet Recife.
Photo: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Milwaukee_(CL-5)
Derby Brazilian Army Headquarters at Recife, where the Germans were interrogated.
Above, group of prisoners from Anneliese Essberger seen aboard USS Milwaukee. Photo USNHC
