Nauta shipyard in Gdynia - German anchor

[Flynavy68]

Hello

Let me introduce myself. My name is Jarek and I am leading a team of people responsible for oraganization of 100 year anniversay of our yard - Nauta Shiprepair Yard in Gdynia. One of the task is preperation of an album.

In the album we want to include some information about the World War II times. Our facility was used by Deutsche Werke Kiel- Werk Gotenhafen which conducted repair operations of German vessels. Couple years ago during dredging operations in our yard we found an anchor from German vessel (Kriegsmarine symbol is found on it). The anchor has description  M/N4715 from one side and 25001/1942/KMX from another side.
Can you help us to identify from what vessel is this anchor.
Maybe somebody has the list of vessels repaired in Deutsche Werke Kiel- Werk Gotenhafen? Any photos we could use?
My email address is j.staluszka@nauta.pl. Any help would be highly welcommed.

[Teddy Suhren]

Hai

Just an assumption:
Maybe it's one of the removed 'Stevenanker'.

[MarkusL]

Hello,
great to know there will be a publication on the 100 year history of Gdynia shipyard. Does it date back to May 1927? Only date I found in the sources I had access to. Think main business started with the former Blohm & Voss Floating Dock 1 bought in 1929.
Anyway rearding WW II think beside the daughter facility of Deutsche Werke Kiel AG (all stocks state owned) also a Naval Arsenal (Kriegsmarinearsenal) directly run by the Navy. Plus the bulding site used by Gutehoffnungshuette for the assembling of 3 floating docks for the Navy. Also the Walther company from Kiel set up a facility at Hela with one or two small floating docks.
All the best for your publication and kind regards
Markus

[ghostw]

Couple years ago during dredging operations in our yard we found an anchor from German vessel (Kriegsmarine symbol is found on it). The anchor has description  M/N4715 from one side and 25001/1942/KMX from another side.
Can you help us to identify from what vessel is this anchor.

N4715 is probably the build number and 1942 obviously the build year.
I attached a picture with measurements (they are not 100% accurate but good enough to get an idea) for the anchor of PG (Hipper class). The hipper class anchor also should be around 6500kg.

Is the paint the original one or did someone of you repaint it?
Would be helpful to give us length and width measurements of your anchor.

If the width is below 2m it's probably a destroyer.
If it's a bigger anchor it could be... Hipper class, Graf Zeppelin, Wilhelm Gustloff.
Also if it's a big anchor somebody at Freiburg might find out more at the archive.

[Flynavy68]

Thanks for your support.

Basing on rough measurement the L is 2,80m and W is 1,77m. The anchor was painted shortly after the dredging works. Later on the Kriegsmarine swastika was covered by putty (according to Polish law you cannot promote Nazi symbols).

According to information gathered here in Gdynia in the basin where it was found there were three docks:
Schwimmdock B - lifting capacity 40 000t
plus two smaller docks - 4000t and 6000t

Bigger vessels like Wilhelm Gustloff went to another basin where Schwimmdock C was moored - lifting capacity 70 000t ( I have aerial picture made by RAF showing Gustloff in the dock).

So we may assume by looking at the size of the anchor and the location that it is from something smaller - destroyer?. But the info which I got from Polish maritme hobbists is that in the year 1942 - 1943 no German destroyes were docked in Deutsche Werke Gottenhafen. So maybe light cruiser?

[ghostw]

Destroyer anchors should have a width around 1,45m. 1,77m could fit a ship around 170m length.

So the best matches are:
Leipzig, Nürnberg, Köln
They were all around 170m long and served in the baltic sea in 1944/45.

Also possible but less likely:
Emden A bit too small for this anchor and the mission history also doesn't match as good.
Deutschland, Admiral Scheer They both also served in the baltic sea in 1944/45. But they were a bit bigger and way heavier so I would expect a bigger anchor on them.

The anchor was produced in 1942 and it was dropped in Gydnia later.
But we don't know if it was dropped in 1945 or earlier. We also don't know where and when the anchor was added to the ship that dropped it.

Leipzig was in a shipyard in Libau in 1942.
Köln was in a shipyard in Wilhelmshafen in 1942.
Logistically it makes more sense that the anchor was added in Wilhelmshafen.
Leipzig on the other hand was repaired in Gydnia in January 1944 at "Deutsche Werke".

[MarkusL]

Hello,
Leipzig was part repaired at Deutsche Werke Gdynia/Gotenhafen after horrible collision with Prinz Eugen on October 15th, 1944.
No proof but only a guess that one of her anchors got lost during or in course of this incident.
Regards
Markus

[Flynavy68]

The anchor was in the mud since the end of the war - which year it was dropped - 1942, 43, 44, 45 - no idea. What I have learned there were heavy bomber raids in 1944 (On 18th Decemeber, 1944 the biggest floating docks were destroyed)