Die 187. Rundreise der Bremen (IV): die außerordentlichen Entscheidungen der Schiffsleitung und ihre literarische Verarbeitung

Abstract

Despite omnipresent rumours of imminent war, the flagship of the Norddeutscher Lloyd, the express steamer BREMEN (IV), left Bremerhaven on 22 August 1939 for her 187th round trip to New York. After scheduled stops in Southampton and Cherbourg, the number of passengers on board had risen to more than 1,700. Many of them were Americans who saw the BREMEN as their last opportunity to leave Europe before the outbreak of war - a correct assessment, as it turned out. Citing the presence of precisely these passengers as well as the German diplomats among them who were heading towards their posts abroad, Captain Ahrens remained on route to New York even after all German merchant vessels had been ordered to turn around. The ship arrived safely at its destination on 28 August. Although she had been scheduled to return immediately, the BREMEN was initially prevented from setting sail again by the Neutrality Act which had been signed by the U.S. president only shortly beforehand. Finally setting off on 30 August, Captain Ahrens succeeded in reaching Murmansk in the Soviet Union - a temporary ally - without incident on 6 September. Although the mooring had originally been considered to be safe, the harsh arctic winter caused the captain to consider another attempt of bringing his ship home. In December, the BREMEN once again succeeded in running the British blockade. Captain Ahrens had already been awarded the honourable title of commodore in September 1939 for having brought the ship back from the U.S. During the war years, several publications on the BREMEN’s last voyage were issued under his name, quite evidently intended as propaganda. Comparisons with other sources, however, clearly reveal that his depictions of the events - like those of many other authors as well - are extremely free interpretations of what actually happened. A particularly conspicuous aspect of the commodore’s publications is his failure to mention various orders issued by the Reich Transport Ministry and the supreme command of the German navy, most significantly the telegram ordering him to turn back, which he had ignored. Commodore Ahrens’s account was thus incomplete to the point of distorting the truth, and his post-war publications differed from his previous ones only slightly. As a result, there have since been a wide range of speculations as to whether he really was guilty of open refusal to obey orders and, if so, what could have moved him to take this highly dangerous step.