Diary reveals everyday life on a research ship from the 1920s

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The German Atlantic Expedition began in 1925 with the research ship “Meteor”. (Image: DSM)

The German Atlantic Expedition in the 1920s was a milestone in oceanography. Because the research trip with the ship “Meteor” mapped the bottom of the South Atlantic for the first time and provided crucial data on the ocean currents. Now historians have transcribed the more than 800-page diary of the captain of the “Meteor”. It provides unique insights into everyday life on board at that time, but also into current affairs and the scientific work of marine researchers.

A special type of research expedition began on April 16, 1925: The German Atlantic Expedition was to carry out comprehensive oceanographic measurements in the South Atlantic for the first time. One of the goals was to find out whether there was a water exchange between the North and South Atlantic that crossed the equator. For this purpose, the scientists on board should continuously collect data on the current, temperature, water composition and meteorological peculiarities.

800 pages of records of life and work on board

The expedition is considered a significant milestone in oceanography because it marked the transition from purely descriptive to physical oceanography. At the same time, it also offered the Germans a welcome opportunity after the lost World War I to “show their colors” in their former colonies, but also in other ports in the southern hemisphere. The research trip was intended to prove that German science was still able to make important contributions. The “Meteor”, a gunboat originally designed for war use in 1914, served as the research ship for the expedition. The expedition was led by Alfred Merz, the director of the Institute and Museum of Oceanography in Berlin and one of the initiators of the project. But Merz died of an illness in Buenos Aires in 1926.

The expedition had lost its leading mind. Out of necessity, the captain of the meteor, Fritz Spiess, took over the management of the expedition. Historians now owe him and above all his diary notes unique insights into life and work on board. “It is one of our highlights in the field of research shipping,” says Martin Weiss from the German Maritime Museum. Hardly anywhere else would such a clear and nuanced insight into life on board a research ship of the early 20th century be possible. Now the Fritz Spiess diary has been completely transcribed in order to make the partly poorly legible records accessible to research.

Between everyday life, politics and science

Spiess documented the scientific work on more than 800 pages, but also everyday life on board the research ship. “You can almost feel the high seas when Spiess’ handwriting becomes illegible,” says Weiss. Sometimes the somewhat shaky handwriting may also have been due to the happy and humorous gatherings on board, as the diary entries suggest: “In the evening we celebrate the record test with a chemical mulled wine. Comfortable, space is in the smallest hut! “, Spiess noted. In other entries, the captain reported how the oceanographer and later university professor Georg Wüst played whole Beethoven sonatas or scolds the jazz music of South America. Although Spiess wrote poorly legible, he also drew all the better – for example caricatures of the dignitaries of various ports visited.

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Among other things, Fritz Spiess drew caricatures of dignitaries at ports visited. (Image: Archives DSM)

But Spiess also describes the dark side of the expedition in his diary. So he reports that the treatment of seriously ill Merz was delayed because the “Meteor” was not moving fast enough due to strong winds. As a result, the patient could only be brought ashore and to a hospital very late – which exacerbated his exertions and possibly also led to his death. And the diary entries reveal something else: Captain Spiess was very keen to underscore the participation of the German Navy in the research expedition and many of his entries reflect his German-national spirit, as Weiss reports.

However, the diary is also interesting from a scientific point of view. Because Spiess always noted important results of the measurements and the conclusions that the researchers drew from them in the entries. Many later publications on the expedition appear to be largely based on these records, explains historian Weiss. Despite the difficult circumstances, the German Atlantic Expedition was a success: When the “Meteor” returned to Wilhelmshaven after 777 days on the Atlantic in June 1927, the research ship brought remarkable results – they filled 16 volumes. Among other things, they enabled a much more precise mapping of the Atlantic soil, provided evidence that differences in salinity and temperatures are the motor of the ocean currents, and clarified that there is actually a water exchange between the North and South Atlantic.

Source: German Maritime Museum – Leibniz Institute for Maritime History

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