Page 417 - The Dutch Caribbean Isles

The Antilla is a fantasic dive and should be explored at least 2
-3 times. It starts in 15 feet of water and is swaming with sea
life. It is covered in coral and sponges and because of its shallw
depth your can get great video and photograpghs.

S S Antilla (or “ES Antilla”, with “ES” standing for bean. The voyage was hampered by technical
“Electroschiff” German: electric ship) was a problems with her propulsion system, but she
Hamburg America Line (HAPAG) cargo ship that eventually reached Curaçao in the Netherlands An-
was launched in 1939 and scuttled in 1940. Antilla tilles. On 9 August Antilla left Curaçao for Galves-
was built for trade between Germany and the ton, Texas, where she loaded 3,000 tons of Sulphur
Caribbean, and was named accordingly. Antilla is for Europe. On 25 August, while still in Galveston,
a city in Holguín Province in eastern Cuba. Antilla she received a radio message from Germany that
was launched in Hamburg on 21 March 1939 and included the code word “Essberger”, which was a
completed on 11 July. She was one of three sister signal for her master, Captain Ferdinand Schmidt,
ships launched in 1939 for HAPAG. She and her to open sealed orders. The sealed orders had been
sister Orizaba were built by Deutsche Werft in issued to all German merchant ships, and directed
Finkenwerder, Hamburg, while their sister Arauca them to leave main shipping lanes. Shortly after-
was built by Bremer Vulkan in Bremen-Vegesack. wards Antilla received a second radio message
Antilla and her sisters had turbo-electric transmis- with the same code word. According to the sealed
sion. Each ship had two oil-fired high-pressure orders this was an order for captains to alter their
boilers that fed a single AEG turbo generator. This ships’ names and appearance, communicate only
produced current for an AEG electric propulsion in code and return to Germany as soon as possible.
motor that drove a single propeller shaft. Antilla left Galveston to bunker at Cartagena,
Colombia.
On 15 July 1939 Antilla left Hamburg on her
maiden voyage, which took her to the Carib-