“Karpaty” – the Polish tanker

The tanker "Adria", later renamed "Karpaty", was built under construction number 864 at the German shipyard Deutche Schiffs -und Maschinenbau Werk A.G. "Weser" in Bremen. It was launched on May 19, 1927 and handed over to its owner the Bremen company "Atlantic Tank Rheder" on July 16. In 1930 it was sold to John T. Essberger GmbH. He served calmly and diligently, without any interesting shocks. Her only notable episode was her participation in the cruiser “Emden's” round-the-world voyage from October 1936 to April 1937 as a supply tanker. On January 16, 1938 “Adria” was purchased by Hamburg owner John T. Essenberger and kept the old name. On October 19, 1939 the tanker was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine and renamed “Olschiff 4”. Since July 1940 it has been included in the supply tanker fleet of the Kriegsmarine and is based in Norway. At the turn of November - December it is sent to the Baltic Sea as a supply tanker for the cruiser "Admiral Hipper", in January - February 1941 it is assigned as a supply tanker for the battleships "Gneisenau" and "Scharnhorst", in May - June - a reserve tanker for "Bismarck" and "Prinz Eugen". Later it transported fuel between ports in Germany and Norway. On April 11, 1945 it was damaged during an air raid on the port of Hel and met the end of the war in the port of Kiel, still unrepaired. April 13 transferred to British authority in Britain, renamed “Empire Tageos” and assigned to the British Ministry of War Transport. In the same year, according to the agreement on sharing the German fleet, it was transferred to the USSR, where it was named "Kazbek", but a year later it was transferred to Poland as war reparations. Named "Karpaty" and raised the Polish flag on March 3, 1947, owned by the company "Gdynia - Ameryka Linie Zeglugowe" and sailed in the Mediterranean Sea and the Persian Gulf. But the ship's engine was very worn out and during one trip from the Persian Gulf, the ship had to stop 38 times for engine repairs. It was still in use until November 9, 1957, when a storm in the Mediterranean sea folded the propeller shaft and the ship drifted uncontrollably towards the coast of North Africa. After a few days the damaged ship was towed to the port of Bone, where it was recognized, that it was useless to repair it, and on March 24, 1958 the ship was sold to the Italians for cutting up.

A small, uncomplicated, well-designed and maximally detailed ship model for this scale, which will be great for any experienced modeler, but for beginners and less experienced modelers this should not be the first more complex model. And they are advised to work under the supervision of a more experienced colleague.