Admiral Scheer equator crossing certificate

[ReiseReise]

My grandfather was aboard the Admiral Scheer on December 16th, 1940 when it crossed the equator. I have seen photos of the ceremony - what fun! It's nice to see that soldiers had some time to relax and have a bit of a party, even during war time.

One of the few artifacts we have from Opa from his time in the Kriegsmarine is his equator crossing certificate (name digitally removed). Compared to some ships' crossing certificates I've seen, this one is actually quite plain, but I have never seen another Scheer certificate. Alas, the certificate is in rough shape, and the administrative eagle stamp and Neptune's stamp are both very faded now, but I think this is a great piece of history. It is especially interesting since this event happened a little over a month after the Scheer destroyed the Jervis Bay (a pretty significant historical event, at least to Canadians!).

[Norm F]

Hi ReiseReise,

Very nice document and wonderful family connection. Thanks for sharing.

There have been several different types of equator crossing documents posted over the years. Here's one for a U-Boat man:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=409125

Best regards,
---Norm

[BubbaZ]

Interesting piece of history
Here is another for a U-Boat man:http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...put+sunglasses
Cheers,
Hubert

[Martin W]

Here is one i have issued to a crewman on the first cruise of the Hilfskreuzer THOR.

Cheers,Martin.

[ReiseReise]

Yes, just look how much dressier that Thor certificate is compared to the Scheer's! Perhaps they were on a budget or had to do it last-minute .

All of these documents are great pieces of history and excellent waypoints in a ship's career.

[Ludwig]

Very nice and interesting documents!
I hope that you keep them and take care of them!

[Martin W]

Indeed they are great pieces of a ships history.

Here is a colourized photo i have of Walter Nehm,the recipient of the document i posted above.

After the THOR completed it's 1st cruise he transfered to Zerstorers and served on the BRUNO HEINEMANN.

In this photo he wears both the HK and Zerstorer badges.

Regards,Martin.

[RKC]

I collect both the Equator & Polar Baptismal certificates. Here's one of them
for "U-111" commanded by Kapitätan-leutnant Kleinschmidt

Ron.

[ReiseReise]

I collect both the Equator & Polar Baptismal certificates. Here's one of them
for "U-111" commanded by Kapitätan-leutnant Kleinschmidt

Ron.

This one is so colourful and cartoony! I'm surprised that there is no eagle stamp or Neptune stamp, and that the latter is pre-printed on the certficate. Very interesting the differences in print quality, colour and general nature of the various certificates - they're as unique as the crews and ships they commemorate!

Out of curiosity, for how much do these certificates typically sell? Not that I'd ever sell mine, having a very close family connection, but I would personally find it hard to put a dollar value on such rare documents.

[Norm F]

This one is so colourful and cartoony! I'm surprised that there is no eagle stamp or Neptune stamp, and that the latter is pre-printed on the certficate.

In my opinion, the one shown by Ronald is a post-war document. Sometimes there were post-war versions given out at reunions as documented in this thread:
http://dev.wehrmacht-awards.com/foru...d.php?t=222443.
Ronald's document looks somewhat newer than those in that thread. I don't know if it's from such a reunion or not. Hans Schmidt was indeed one of the survivors captured after the U111 was damaged with depth charges in October 1941 (Korvettankapitän Kleinschmidt didn't survive the conflict), but I don't think that could be a wartime document that survived the capture in 1941. Also I'm not sure whose signature that's supposed to be as "Kommandantur"?

There is a detailed and sometimes dramatic description of the damage and capture of the U111 in the official British interrogation report here:
http://www.uboatarchive.net/U-111INT.htm

Best regards,
---Norm

[RKC]

Norm:

In regards to the "U-111" Equator Baptismal, the signatures are 'original' signatures & the
document is a WAR TIME issued document that was mailed home to the recipient's family.

'Kommandantur' signature is of Kapitän Hans Rösing. Further info - The certificate was
issued by the 2. U-Flott. & sent to the relatives of surviving crewmembers who were then
POWs.

I purchased this certificate from Melcher de Witt - MILITARIA RELICS, along with a photo
of the 'U-111' & a "post script" - 'P.S.: The certificate was issued by the 2. U-Flott. and sent
to the relatives of surviving crew members who were then POW'.

= "The certificate was issued by the 2. U-Flott. and sent to the relatives of surviving crew
members who were then POW". = That sure sounds like "wartime" to me!

Ron.

[Martin W]

The example that i posted from the THOR is actually signed by the Commander Otto Kahler using the "Neptun" alias.

Regards,Martin.

[compressore]

Post war

Norm:

In regards to the "U-111" Equator Baptismal, the signatures are 'original' signatures & the
document is a WAR TIME issued document that was mailed home to the recipient's family.

'Kommandantur' signature is of Kapitän Hans Rösing. Further info - The certificate was
issued by the 2. U-Flott. & sent to the relatives of surviving crewmembers who were then
POWs.

I purchased this certificate from Melcher de Witt - MILITARIA RELICS, along with a photo
of the 'U-111' & a "post script" - 'P.S.: The certificate was issued by the 2. U-Flott. and sent
to the relatives of surviving crew members who were then POW'.

= "The certificate was issued by the 2. U-Flott. and sent to the relatives of surviving crew
members who were then POW". = That sure sounds like "wartime" to me!

Ron.

Hello,
That's interesting. I thought those baptism "documents" were issued during a ceremony on board, made by the crewmembers and are not any official KM documents. First time for me to get know that higher commands were involved in this.
Does anybody else has knowledge about such a procedure?
Personally I lean more towards the statement of Norm. Roesing died 2004, so a signature of him on a post war certificate is possible.
Regards
Christian

[ReiseReise]

In my opinion, the one shown by Ronald is a post-war document.

Ronald's document looks somewhat newer than those in that thread.

I must admit, I was thinking the same thing; I realize I'm no experienced collector, but the colours are just so clean and bright, and it doesn't have that "grittiness" to the artwork that Germans seemed to love back then. Also, the lack of an eagle/HK stamp would be a big warning for me for any 3rd Reich official or pseudo-official document.

[Norm F]

Roesing died 2004, so a signature of him on a post war certificate is possible.
Regards
Christian

Christian has a good point there. It appears Rösing was an avid signer of documents in his later years. Here's a grouping listed on e-Bay showing his signatures from 1998 on a Time magazine cover and the accompanying letter. He sounds like he signed that cover without being sure which commander was in the photo. The signature on the accompanying letter is very much like that on Ronald's document.

Also, in wartime Rösing was never commander of the 2nd U-boat flotilla (which U-111 was part of). Although briefly a commander of the 3rd U-boat flotilla he was later commander of the entire FdU West. He served in the Bundesmarine after the war and retired in 1965. One could certainly imagine him a prime candidate for signing some documents for reunion meetings.

Best regards,
---Norm