Orestes_b.jpg War transport KARLSHAFEN on the river Weser in 1944EsikatselukuvatCargo ship LAPPLAND, as a naval transport in the Baltic Sea, 1943War transport KARLSHAFEN on the river Weser in 1944EsikatselukuvatCargo ship LAPPLAND, as a naval transport in the Baltic Sea, 1943
War transport/troop ship ORESTES (2667 grt / 1550 nrt)

8 Nov. 1917: launched by N.V. Scheepswerf Rijkee & Co., Rotterdam, yard number 158.
3 Febr. 1918: delivered to its owners Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij N.V., Amsterdam as a combined cargo-passenger ship.
14 May 1940: seized at Rotterdam by German troops and placed under German management.
8 Aug. 1940: requisitioned by the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) as a war transport for Operation Sea Lion, the planned invasion of Britain, converted for carrying troops, horses and vehicles.
Aug. 1940: redesignated RO-7 (RO = Rotterdam).
7 April 1941: after Operation Sea Lion was called off, used by the Kriegsmarine (Deutsches Reich-Admiral der KMD) as an ordinary cargo ship under its former name ORESTES, officially owned by the Deutsche Levante Linie A.G., Hamburg.
1941-1944: mainly used in the Baltic Sea for carrying German troops to Finland, namely the 6th SS-Mountain Div. “Nord” from Stettin (Szczecin) to Vaasa in Sept. 1941.
May 1945: seized by British troops at Copenhagen and handed back to the Koninklijke Nederlandsche Stoomboot Maatschappij N.V., arrived at Amsterdam on 10 Aug. 1945.
20 Oct. 1945: after repairs anew commissioned into service by the KNSM.
Febr. 1961: sold for scrapping to Gebr. van Heyghen N.V., Gent.
15 Febr. 1961: arrived at Gent for breaking up.

Text and photo: Sebastian Boreck, Berlin