The sinking of the Greif

The sinking of Almanzora's sistership Alcantara by the German raider Greif intrigued me, so I decided to do some more research. Battles between enemy armed merchant ships is rare, and this seemed to be a particularly interesting example.

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HMS Alcantara

Like the Almanzora, the Alcantara was built by Harland & Wolff in Govan, Glasgow for the Royal Mail Line. She was requisitioned for service in the Royal Navy as an armed merchant cruiser and given the pendant number M.94. At the time of her sinking she was commanded by Captain Thomas Wardle RN.

Her characteristics were:

• Displacement: 15,831 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 570ft (170m)
• Beam: 67.2ft (22.5m)
• Draft: 24ft (7.4m)
• Propulsion: Eight boilers providing steam to two reciprocating triple expansion engines and a low-pressure turbine (13,500hp) driving three propellers
• Speed: 18 knots
• Armament: 8 x 6-inch guns; 2 x 6-pounder QF guns

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SMS Greif

The Greif was built by A.G. Neptun Shipyard, Rostock, for the German Australian Steamship Company, who named her the Guben. She was launched in 1914 and requisitioned for service in the Imperial German Navy in January 1915 as an auxiliary cruiser and raider. She was converted in Kiel Dockyard and commissioned on 23rd January 1916, and her commander was Fregattenkapitän Rudolf Tietze.

Her characteristics were:

• Displacement: 9,900 tons
• Dimensions:
• Length: 131.7m (432ft)
• Beam: 16.4m (54ft)
• Draft: 7.5m (25ft)
• Propulsion: Two boilers providing steam to a single reciprocating triple expansion engine (3,000hp) driving a single propeller
• Speed: 16 knots
• Complement: 10 officers and 297 men
• Armament: 4 x 5.9-inch SK L/40 guns; 1 x 4.1-inch SK l/40 gun; 2 x 20-inch torpedo tubes

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SMS Greif set sail from Cuxhaven on 27th February 1916, disguised as the Norwegian Rena bound for Tønsberg in Norway. Her departure was known to the British Admiralty, who sent a number of warships into the area SMS Greif was due to pass through.

HMS Alcantara intercepted SMS Greif on the morning of 29th February 1916 and she challenged what she thought might be a neutral merchant ship and called upon her to stop. HMS Alcantara came to within 2,000 yards of SMS Greif and slowed to lower a boat containing a boarding party to search the supposedly Norwegian ship.

In response, SMS Greif hoisted her battle ensign, increased speed, and opened fire. HMS Alcantara returned fire with her six 6-inch guns and two 6-pounders. During the short exchange of gunfire, SMS Greif launched a torpedo which hit HMS Alcantara on the port side amidships, and at almost the same time one of Alcantara's shells hit and exploded the ready ammunition locker used by Greif's after gun. By 10.15am the Greif was on fire amidships, and some of her boats were being lowered prior to the ship being abandoned. At this point HMS Alcantara ceased firing.

After HMS Alcantara had ceased firing, SMS Greif appeared to final a final shot at her, although this is thought to have been discharged by an un-crewed gun that had been loaded and abandoned by its gun crew due to the fire that was raging aboard Greif. As a result, HMS Alcantara resumed firing at the Greif, although she ceased fire again shortly afterwards.

By this point in the battle, HMS Alcantara was seriously damaged. She was making 3.5 knots and her helm was jammed over to starboard, and Captain Wardle ordered her crew to go to their lifeboat stations. Flooding caused her engines to stop, and at 11.02am HMS Alcantara capsized and sank.

The crew of SMS Greif abandoned her about forty minutes after opening fire. Due to her buoyancy being enhanced by the presence of a large amount of cork in some of her compartments, SMS Greif did not sink immediately. She was eventually sunk by gunfire from HMS Comus and Alcantara's sistership HMS Andes, which set off a large internal explosion aboard SMS Greif.

It is estimated that 187 members of SMS Grief's crew perished (120 survived) and HMS Alcantara's dead amounted to 72. The survivors were rescued by the C-class light cruiser HMS Comus and the M-class destroyer HMS Munster.