Whaling In The North Atlantic 1930s German Silent film

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