This 1930s educational film shows German whaling vessels operating in the North Atlantic or possibly Antarctic, hunting humpback whales. During the 1930s the Nazi government encouraged whaling as a way to achieve further independence from Europe. The Wurttemberg, an old freight liner, was rechristened the Jan Wellem at the Blohm and Voss yards in Hamburg and sent to Antarctic waters in 1936-37 accompanied by six smaller whaling vessels. The trip was highly successful with 30,000 metric tons of oil recovered — about 1/10th of Germany’s needs at the time. Two years late five factory and 38 whaling vessels were harvesting whales at such a rate that England and Norway began to become aggravated. The price of whale oil plummeted.
Interestingly, the German foray into the Antarctic was conducted in strict secrecy, leading to many rumors and conspiracy theories about the activities of the German fleets in the Atlantic, including the theory that the Germans were developing an Antarctic naval base. It is true that the Nazis had economic and territorial goals in the Antarctic, and launched expeditions to the region prior to WWII.
Incidentally one of the vessels seen in this film, the Wikinger, was appropriated by the Soviet Union after the war and renamed the Slava (“Glory”). The Slava participated in one of the great whale slaughters of all time — the killing of 13,000 humpback whales in 1958-59 which is known as one of the all-time greatest environmental crimes of the 20th Century.
At first slow whales were caught by men hurling harpoons from small open boats. Early harpoon guns were unsuccessful until Norwegian Svend Foyn invented a new, improved version in 1863 that used a harpoon with a flexible joint between the head and shaft. Norway invented many new techniques and disseminated them worldwide. Cannon-fired harpoons, strong cables, and steam winches were mounted on maneuverable, steam-powered catcher boats. They made possible the targeting of large and fast-swimming whale species that were taken to shore-based stations for processing. Breech-loading cannons were introduced in 1925; pistons were introduced in 1947 to reduce recoil. These highly efficient devices were too successful, for they reduced whale populations to the point where large-scale commercial whaling became unsustainable.
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This film is part of the Periscope Film LLC archive, one of the largest historic military, transportation, and aviation stock footage collections in the USA. Entirely film backed, this material is available for licensing in 24p HD and 2k. For more information visit http://www.PeriscopeFilm.com
