21st October 1933
General San Martin
Postcard featuring Mi.479 postage stamp, the cover picture depicting a 'generic' image of either the General San Martin or General Artigas of the Hamburg-Amerika Line. The printed correspondence text states, 'An Bord....' with a blank space to add the ships name. Ref: 21.10.1933.
General San Martin
Hamburg-Amerika Linie
Thuringia was an 11,251 GRT ocean liner that was built in 1922 by Howaldtswerke, Kiel, Germany for the Hamburg Amerikanische Paketfahrt AG, Hamburg. In 1930, she was renamed General San Martin. In 1934, she was chartered by Hamburg-Südamerikanische Dampfschiffahrts-Gesellschaft and sold to them in 1936. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine in 1940 and served until 1945 as a barracks ship, and then as passenger ship during the evacuation of civilians from the Baltic.
She was seized in May 1945 by the British at Copenhagen, Denmark, passed to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) and renamed Empire Deben. She served as a troopship until 1949, when she was scrapped.
On 20th January 1940, General San Martin was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine for use as a barracks ship. She served 7th U-boat Flotilla at Königsberg. From 1st March 1941 she served 3rd U-boat Flotilla at Kiel. From 1st October 1941 she served 8th U-boat Flotilla at Königsberg and then 32nd U-boat Flotilla from August 1944. From 15th January 1945, she served 7th U-boat Flotilla at Kiel. She is also said to have seen use as a tender during World War II. From 25th January 1945, General San Martin assisted in the evacuation of civilians from the Baltic. She transported over 30,000 people in eleven voyages. From 4th April 1945, she served as a hospital ship.
General San Martin was seized by the British in May 1945 at Copenhagen, Denmark. She was passed to the MoWT, which became the Ministry of Transport later that year. On 8th October, she was declared to be a prize of war. The Code Letters GQXY were allocated. Her port of registry was London. She was operated under the management of the Shaw, Savill & Albion Line. In 1946, she was renamed Empire Deben. She was used as a troopship, serving in this role until 1949. Her departure from Southampton, Hampshire on 14th September 1948 for Gibraltar, Malta and Port Said, Egypt was delayed due to engine defects. One of the apprentices who served on board Empire Deben was Dennis Scott-Masson, who was the captain of Canberra during the Falklands War. Empire Deben was scrapped in March 1949 at Newport, Monmouthshire.
Source: Wikipedia
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