German Navy collect historic ship’s bell on anniversary of Battle of Jutland
The bell of a First World War German battleship that has been housed in a Portsmouth museum for 80 years was returned to the German Navy in a ceremony onboard a German Naval ship in Portsmouth Naval Base – on the 91st anniversary of the Battle of Jutland.
The bell is from SMS Oldenburg, a Helgoland battleship that was launched in 1910. She had twelve 12-inch guns, a displacement of 25,000 tons and a crew of 1,069. She fought at the Battle of Jutland in 1916, where she took one hit which killed 8 men. She was scrapped after the war and in 1927 the bell was presented to the Royal Naval Museum, now part of Portsmouth Historic Dockyard.
The return of the bell also coincides with the launch of a new Oldenburg, a German Navy corvette, in June 2007. The bell will be displayed at the German Naval Museum in Wilhelmshaven.
A special ceremony took place on the flight deck of the 20,000 ton German auxiliary vessel Berlin. The Berlin is visiting the UK to take part in operational training with the Royal Navy.
Taking part in the ceremony, watched by sailors from both Navies, were
Commander Hans Gunter Struck, Commanding Officer of the Berlin
Captain Iain Greenlees, Captain of the Base, Portsmouth Naval Base
Dr Colin White, Director, Royal Naval Museum
Captain Uwe Horvorka, German Naval Attaché
Commander Eddie Grenfell RN (retd)
Dr Colin White, who presented the bell on behalf of the Museum, said, ‘When the request came for the bell to be returned to Germany, the Museum staff and Trustees were happy that it should return home as a symbol of reconciliation and of the friendship that now exists between our two nations – and above all, between our two navies’.
