The raider KMS Hansa, also known as Schiff (Ship) 5,
was the last vessel to be converted into a raider. Hansa
was originally the freighter Glengarry, still being
built by Burmeister and Wain in Copenhagen when the Germans
arrived.
She was renamed Meersburg and served as a U-boat target
ship for the 27th Flotilla. Later she was ordered to Rotterdam
and then Hamburg to be converted to a raider. A captain Henigst
was chosen to command the ship. Hansa would have been
the most heavily armed raider, with numerous anti-aircraft guns.
Work was repeatedly delayed by labor and material shortages
and finally by bombings that set the schedule back two years. The
authority finally gave up and the ship served as a target ship
again. She participated in the final retreat and evacuation at
Hela until the end of the war.
After the war the Holt company was able to reclaim Glengarry,
despite the Royal Navy's intention to seize it as a warship.
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