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Letters
Second Graf Spee Bell? Hi, My name is Patrick Flannery, I am 16 and go to Greensboro Day School in Greensboro North Carolina. My history teacher, Mr. Mark Drusdow, showed us an interesting artifact today in class. It was a bell he acquired in Berlin from an antique dealer in 1983 for 15 US dollars. It is especially loud when rung but the most intriguing trait of the bell is the inscription, PS GrafSpee 1939 and I cannot label what is on the back but it seems to be a carved symbol. I have attached pictures of the bell to the email. My professor was wondering if this bell was an actual bell from the Graf Spree or a monument built for it. Could you attempt to answer this question if so that would be great, it would help my professor and help me (and my grade!). Thankyou
Facts about bell:
An interesting artifact, but it is not big enough to be Graf Spee's main bell. In WW1 German Naval ships carried the prefix SMS to denote Seine Majestjats Schiffor or HIs Majesty's Ship, but in WW2 the Kreigsmarine ships had no prefix before a ship's name. Now Graf Spee was launched on June 30 in 1934, commissioned January 6 in 1936, to be scuttled on December 17 1939. Sometimes described as a pocket battleship, her armament heavier than that of a Cruiser, I have seen the ship described as a Panzershiff, ( Panzer Ship ) the letters PS most likely stand for Panzer Ship? The only other context I have seen the letters PS used in a ship sense are for a Paddle Ship, or Paddle Steamer, but that clearly does not apply in the case of your bell. Was it fitted in a ship's boat from Graf Spee? I can get no reference to boat bell's for Graf Spee when put into the Google search engine. Your query is the second one I have had within the past two weeks, the earlier described a bell the same as your Mark Drusdow's bell, but was only 7 inches high. Here is the first bell. Probably the identification of the German foundry that cast the two bells. Given the date of 1939 on the bell and the fact that is the year the ship was sunk off the River Plate, I think the two bells have been produced in Germany to commemorate the sinking of Graf Spee, and were offered for sale. But Patrick I should stress that is my opinion. Should you be interested in reading about the Battle of the River Plate where the German pocket battleship was scuttled, go to this URL on my AHOY Mac's web site at: http://www.ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/TheBattleoftheRiverPlate.html I hope this is of some help to both you and your history teacher. Best regards from Australia. Mackenzie Gregory. |
