Oldendorff Centenary Book - Flipbook - Page 171
FULL AHEAD
INTO DISASTER
The outbreak of war signalled a rush for
ships to get home – any way they could.
Shipping in the western hemisphere enjoyed prosperous times when the
outbreak of World War II brought it to a standstill. The coded QWA-7 message
dated 25 August 1939 alerted German merchant ships to the imminent eruption
of hostilities. On receipt of that message shipmasters were to open a sealed
envelope containing instructions to keep 30 to 100 nautical miles away from
usual tracks. Another coded cable, QWA9, dated 27 August 1939 requested all
German ships to do their utmost to reach a German port within four days,
failing which to make for a Spanish, Japanese, Italian, Russian or Dutch port.
Homeward bound ships found it difficult to interpret the message. On 28
August QWA-10 for all practical purposes cancelled QWA-9 and permitted
ships to return to Germany even if in that process they exceeded the four-day
limit. Part of the Oldendorff fleet was trading worldwide at this time and only
one steamer was lost shortly after the war broke out. LUDOLF OLDENDORFF
and HUGO OLDENDORFF performed daring escapades on their way back to
home waters. In the three-volumed war-time history of the German merchant
fleet, Die Deutsche Handelsflotte 1939-1945, jointly published by Hans-Jürgen
Witthöft and Ludwig Dinklage, the former recorded the homeward voyage of
ss LUDOLF OLDENDORFF in great detail.
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