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Dear Bob,regarding the last sentence of my first reply: I slightly mistyped what it says in Crüsemann (at least in our English translation of Crüsemann) - the whole para reads "During the war this MSP remained on board 'Vineta' until Nov 1914 (Note: there is also another ship of that name!). Later 'SS Möwe' carried it (Note: this is not the SMS Möwe'!)".
I suspect from the use of the antepenultinate word 'the', and from the fact that no ship 'SS Möwe' is listed in the book, that the first reference to that name should read also read 'SMS Möwe' (i.e it is an error in either the original and/or the translation). Thus Crüsemann is making a point that the ship on which MSP52 was then deployed was not the well-known merchant raider of that name.
BUT ! The story gets more complicated: (1) The 'Vineta' referred to was a heavy cruiser which was taken out of service in Nov 1914 to be become floating accommodation for the U-boat Division at Kiel. (2) There are two ships listed named 'SMS Möwe'and two others referred to in passing: (I) an 1879 built gunboat taken out of active service in 1905: (II) a 1906 built survey ship which was scuttled 8.8.14 off Dar es Salaam; (III) & (IV) the passing reference states : "there are also two other ships with the name 'Möwe' during the war period, namely the former 'SS Pungo' and the former 'SS Rotesand' both of which served as auxiliary cruisers and were given the new name 'Möwe'."
The 'Pungo' and 'Rotesand' are not listed in the book, presumably as they were never equipped with MSPs as purely merchant ships before the war.
According to Wikipedia (which I always approach with caution !!) - the well-known merchant raider 'SMS Möwe' was launched as the freighter 'Pungo' and for a while took the name 'Vineta' (!). As a raider she is said also to have been operating at one time (1916/1917)in the Atlantic moving from around the Canaries to off Brazil, so we are getting closer to Haiti !
My conclusion is that it if the year date on your postcard is definitely 1917, then despite the note in Crüsemann it should not be discounted that the card emanated form the well-known merchant raider until more research is done. I am unsure for example wheher disguised ships were assigned MSPs. I cannot throw any light on the '312' - you don't say whether this is a handstamp or ms.
Best wishes, Giles (and thanks also to Ben for responding) |
