SS Erlangen was a German cargo vessel that was surprised in New Zealand at the beginning of the Second World War. It managed to escape and after a spectacular journey travelled to Chile, a neutral country. It then tried to reach Germany but it was scuttled by its own crew off the coast of Uruguay on 25 July 1941 to avoid being captured by the British light cruiser HMS Newcastle.
Construction
The Erlangen was built by Blohm & Voss in Hamburg for North German Lloyd (NDL). She was given the construction number 484, and launched on 31 August 1929. Her maiden voyage took place on 2 November 1929. The vessel was a coal-fired steamship using a steam turbine with single reduction gearing and a single screw for propulsion. Her sister ship was the Goslar. Her registered length was 449.6 ft, her beam was 57.6 ft and her depth was 26.8 ft. Her tonnages were, , and. Her turbine was rated at 3,800 shp and gave her a speed of 13 kn.[1]