Meteor (1915)
Encyclopedia
The Meteor was a German survey vessel
Survey vessel
A survey vessel is any type of ship or boat that is used for mapping. It is a type of research vessel.-Role:The task of survey vessels is to map the bottom, benthic zone, full water column, and surface for the purpose of:* hydrography* general oceanography...
, that became famous for her survey work in the Atlantic Ocean between 1925 and 1927.
Design and Construction
Her keelKeel
In boats and ships, keel can refer to either of two parts: a structural element, or a hydrodynamic element. These parts overlap. As the laying down of the keel is the initial step in construction of a ship, in British and American shipbuilding traditions the construction is dated from this event...
was laid at the Kaiserliche Werft
Kaiserliche Werft Danzig
Kaiserliche Werft Danzig was a German shipbuilding company founded in 1852, first as Königliche Werft Danzig but renamed in 1871 with the proclamation of the German Empire. Together with Kaiserliche Werft Kiel and Kaiserliche Werft Wilhelmshaven it was one of three shipyards which produced...
at Danzig
Gdansk
Gdańsk is a Polish city on the Baltic coast, at the centre of the country's fourth-largest metropolitan area.The city lies on the southern edge of Gdańsk Bay , in a conurbation with the city of Gdynia, spa town of Sopot, and suburban communities, which together form a metropolitan area called the...
in February 1914 and Meteor was launched in January 1915. Originally intended to become a gunboat
Gunboat
A gunboat is a naval watercraft designed for the express purpose of carrying one or more guns to bombard coastal targets, as opposed to those military craft designed for naval warfare, or for ferrying troops or supplies.-History:...
for the Imperial German Navy's colonial service she was not finished during the First World War due to limited need for lightly armed vessels.
After the war the uncompleted hull was tugged to Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven
Wilhelmshaven is a coastal town in Lower Saxony, Germany. It is situated on the western side of the Jade Bight, a bay of the North Sea.-History:...
for outfitting work at the Reichsmarinewerft
Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven
Kriegsmarinewerft Wilhelmshaven was the naval shipyard in Wilhelmshaven, Prussian Hanover, between 1918 and 1945 in the German Navy's extensive base located there.-History:...
. She was outfitted as a survey vessel and early sonar
Sonar
Sonar is a technique that uses sound propagation to navigate, communicate with or detect other vessels...
equipment was fitted. The ship had a steel hull and had by two propellers each driven by a triple expansion steam engine. Additionally she had a brigantine
Brigantine
In sailing, a brigantine or hermaphrodite brig is a vessel with two masts, only the forward of which is square rigged.-Origins of the term:...
rig to boost range.
Career
The Meteor was commissioned as a military ship with the ReichsmarineReichsmarine
The Reichsmarine was the name of the German Navy during the Weimar Republic and first two years of Nazi Germany. It was the naval branch of the Reichswehr, existing from 1918 to 1935...
but spent most of her life in a scientific role.
Scientific work
The Meteor entered service in November 1924 and made her maiden survey expedition between 20 January 1925 and 17 February 1925 with the main purpose to check the equipment. On 16 April 1925 Meteor started the German Atlantic expedition, also known as German Meteor expeditionGerman Meteor expedition
The German Meteor expedition was an oceanographic expedition that explored the South Atlantic ocean from the equatorial region to Antarctica in 1925–1927...
, and did not return to Germany until 2 June 1927. During this expedition the ship sailed more than 67,500 nautical miles and took cross sections of the South Atlantic between Africa and South America mapping the entire ocean. In the course of this survey work Meteor found a bank (seamount
Seamount
A seamount is a mountain rising from the ocean seafloor that does not reach to the water's surface , and thus is not an island. These are typically formed from extinct volcanoes, that rise abruptly and are usually found rising from a seafloor of depth. They are defined by oceanographers as...
) that rises to 560 m below sea level from a depth of 4,000 m. This bank was named "Meteor Bank" (48°16′S 08°16′E).
Between 1929 and 1935 Meteor made several journeys to Iceland and Greenland, where she performed survey work as well as fishery protection duties.
A North Atlantic Expedition was performed in 1937/38 in order to take cross sections of the North Atlantic that complement the earlier survey work done in the South Atlantic. During the Gulf Stream Expedition from 1938 a plateau rising to 269 m below surface from a sea depth of more than 4,000 m was discovered. In order to distinguish it from the smaller bank found in the South Atlantic, this bank was named "Great Meteor Bank" and is today known as Great Meteor Seamount
Great Meteor Seamount
The Great Meteor Seamount is a large guyot located south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the New England hotspot's most recent eruptive center and is one of the most completely investigated seamounts in the world. This guyot rises up from a depth of almost 4,800 meters to about 270...
(29°58′N 28°38′W).
Second World War
With the outbreak of the Second World War the ship was removed from service on 8 September 1939. Reactivated in 1940 the Meteor was used as a tender in the Baltic SeaBaltic Sea
The Baltic Sea is a brackish mediterranean sea located in Northern Europe, from 53°N to 66°N latitude and from 20°E to 26°E longitude. It is bounded by the Scandinavian Peninsula, the mainland of Europe, and the Danish islands. It drains into the Kattegat by way of the Øresund, the Great Belt and...
as well along the Norwegian Coast
Norway
Norway , officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic unitary constitutional monarchy whose territory comprises the western portion of the Scandinavian Peninsula, Jan Mayen, and the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard and Bouvet Island. Norway has a total area of and a population of about 4.9 million...
. With the end of the war, the ship was laid off in Kiel
Kiel
Kiel is the capital and most populous city in the northern German state of Schleswig-Holstein, with a population of 238,049 .Kiel is approximately north of Hamburg. Due to its geographic location in the north of Germany, the southeast of the Jutland peninsula, and the southwestern shore of the...
.
Soviet Service
In November 1945 the ship was handed over to the Soviet Union, but briefly returned into German service for a few months in 1946 to perform survey work under soviet supervision. Eventually she became the soviet survey vessel Ekvator. Her final fate is unclear, she was either scrapped in 1968 or survived some more years as a barracks ship.Heritage
Two German research vessels were named after the Meteor:- RV Meteor (1964); sold to New ZealandNew ZealandNew Zealand is an island country in the south-western Pacific Ocean comprising two main landmasses and numerous smaller islands. The country is situated some east of Australia across the Tasman Sea, and roughly south of the Pacific island nations of New Caledonia, Fiji, and Tonga...
in 1986 and renamed Rapuhia; scrapped 1993 - RV Meteor (1986); in service
See Also
- German Meteor expedition 1925-27German Meteor expeditionThe German Meteor expedition was an oceanographic expedition that explored the South Atlantic ocean from the equatorial region to Antarctica in 1925–1927...
- Meteor Deep, deepest spot of the South Sandwich Trench (8,428 m)
- Great Meteor SeamountGreat Meteor SeamountThe Great Meteor Seamount is a large guyot located south of the Azores in the Atlantic Ocean. It is the New England hotspot's most recent eruptive center and is one of the most completely investigated seamounts in the world. This guyot rises up from a depth of almost 4,800 meters to about 270...