SS Nerissa (1936)

Nerissa was a cargo ship that was built in 1936 by Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft, Lübeck, Germany for A. Kirsten, Hamburg. She was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine during World War II and was designated Schiff 20. She was torpedoed and sunk in 1944.

Description
Nerissa was 232 ft long, with a beam of 33 ft. She had a depth of 11 ft.

She was powered by a 4-cylinder compound steam engine, which had 2 cylinders of 13 in diameter and two cylinders of 29+15/16 in diameter by 31+1/2 in stroke. The engine was built by Christiansen & Meyer, Harburg. It was rated at 160 nhp and drove a screw propeller. She had a speed of 10.5 kn.

History
Nerissa was built in 1936 by Lübecker Maschinenbau Gesellschaft, Lübeck for A. Kirsten, Hamburg. She was launched on 6 June 1936 and completed on 30 July. Her port of registry was Hamburg and the Code Letters DJRQ were allocated.

On 7 September 1939, Nerissa was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine. She was designated as Schiff 20. On 23 December, she was allocated to 5 Vorpostengruppe for use as a vorpostenboot. On 22 January 1940, Nerissa was placed under the control of the Führer der Sonderverband West. On 30 May 1940, she was allocated to the Erpobungsverand Luftwaffe.

Nerissa was decommissioned on 4 June 1940, but was recommissioned on 19 December. On 19 November 1943, she was damaged by a Soviet Navy torpedo boat whilst on a voyage from Kirkenes, Norway to Petsamo, Finland. She was repaired and returned to service. Nerissa was torpedoed and sunk in the Baltic Sea off Cap Romanov by the Soviet Navy torpedo boat SOVIET TORPEDO BOAT TKA-239 with the loss of six of her crew.