A German War Prize.

Ex. German U-Boat Supply Ship M.V. "Kamo"

M.V.” Kamo a” German War Prize?

It is doubtful whether the “Kamo” was considered much of a prize, particularly by the crew who sailed her. The 705 tons of steel, built especially as a mother ship for the North Atlantic U-boat fleet, had been constructed to withstand the hazards of the northern winter. Ice breaker bow, thick plating, twin propellers and electronic rudder control, all added to her unfriendly disposition. It was easy to visualise this sinister ship in her grey wartime attire silently setting out from her Baltic lair on another night of murderous intent. Her brood of hungry U-boats anxiously waiting for mother's call. Acquired by the Union Steam Company at the end of the 2^nd World War,their prize for wartime efforts. the Kamo had undergone considerable modification to make her more economical for civilian use to run as a general cargo vessel. The large propellers that allowed her to nip around the North Atlantic among icebergs and Allied convey protectors, refuelling and supplying submarines in the middle of the night, had been  replaced by much smaller ones to save fuel. This dramatic reduction in speed caused her to pitch and roll simultaneously,like a paper boat sailing in a child's bath, resulting in considerable seasickness.

Then there was her advanced steering system, were the twin rudders were controlled by two push buttons, which the helmsman had to depress to move the rudder to starboard or port. The major problem being that unlike a normal steering wheel the rudders did not return to midships on pressure release, but required pushing the opposite button to regain a neutral position. These two factors made the vessel difficult to steer a straight course, resulting in the unstable nature of the vessel, particularly in heavy seas. The Kamo made a regular weekly run down to Hobart carry general cargo, back loading apples and potatoes in the main. On the only voyage I made on the Kamo, we ran into the tail end of a cyclone around Disaster Bay on the southern NSW coast, resulting in cargo shifting, with a number of 44 gallon drums breaking free of their lashings. The  well decks underwater, waves towered above the masts when viewed from the bridge as we ran up and down the mountainous swell, it was not a pleasant trip. The force of the storm required any seaman walking along the deck to hold on to rope railing for dear life. This had been set up to allow the crew to move forward from their living quarters to the midships section of the vessel. Half under water most of the time when even non believers feel this could be the end.

 My cabin mate at the time recalled ironically his sinking in the North Atlantic while on convey duty during the war. He somehow survived twenty minutes in the frozen ocean. He claimed that you were lucky to last fifteen minutes in the freezing water, but he had been quite young only fifteen at the time and felt this had saved his life. Many merchant seaman had little time to vacate their cabins in the event of being torpedoed, often no more than a minute or so depending on the nature of the cargo, and where they had been hit. Ships loaded with dead weight such as iron or heavy bulk cargo would disappear in a matter of minutes or less. Sadly the loss of merchant seaman’s lives during the Second World War has never been fully appreciated, as civilians they were not classified as returned servicemen, and therefor were not entitled to any government assistance or pension.

Like many fellow crew members, I only made the one trip on the Kamo, she seemed to have bad vibes about her. Whether this was due to our knowledge of her past, the untold number of deaths her dirty work had inflicted, I don’t know. But most of us were pleased to make port and felt that the Union Steamship Company should have left M.V.Kamo with the Germans.One positive however, was my discovery of Hobart and Tasmania in general.