Westfalen from airmail tender to wartime prison ship

Westfalen received a retractable stern landing apron, crane, and compressed-air catapult for Lufthansa's South Atlantic route between West Africa and Brazil. Passenger trials began in 1933 and proved the system before commercial mail operations followed in 1934. Mail carried documents and food parcels, so the operator had to demonstrate a dependable service before receiving the contract. At 5,098 gross register tons and 10,700 deadweight tons, Westfalen was a substantial merchant conversion. Taken into Luftwaffe service in 1940, she transported troops and served around Norway. A 1941 alteration removed her superstructure and trunked the funnel to port. Published machinery figures range from 1,800 to 3,000 horsepower, while speed estimates range from about 10 to 12 knots, leaving the technical record uncertain and possibly reflecting her changing condition. She struck a mine in 1944. Seventy-eight people survived, while the locked-up Norwegian prisoners had far fewer chances to escape.