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Actions	Fitted case of German surgical instruments Remove from selection Add to selection Object number@GFL TitleFitted case of German surgical instruments CreatorFitted (Manufacturer)‎ DescriptionCase of instruments in a wooden box. These instruments came from the Aviso Grille which was Hitler's private yacht. Set is labelled ‘Instrumentenvesteck 2’, fitted with two trays of instruments. 'Grille' was presented to Hitler by the German Nation as a private yacht but at the same time fitted for easy conversion as a fast mine layer. Towards the end of the German war she was stationed at Narvick and controlled U-boats in the North Atlantic. When the war finished she was brought to Rosyth as a Prize of War and it was at this stage that I was involved, being Flotilla Medical Officer to the Destroyer at Rosyth. My task with the 'Grille' was to land dangerous drugs in the presence of the Captain and this being completed he gave me this box of Surgical Instruments. The ship had a well equipped sick bay with Operating Theatre and X-ray room. The wardroom was elegantly furnished, the centre piece being a beautiful round table with a mechanically controlled rotating centre. I understand she was eventually broken up...." A.Bruce Maclean. Surgeon Lieut.Commander. R.N.V.R. Box contains approx. 69 instruments. Notes filed in drawer, Room 2. The Aviso Grille carried three smaller boats on her decks during the war. All were built by the Lürssen yard at Bremen in 1934. Lürssen, the first shipyard to build diesel-powered boats, designated them as Motorbooten 1, 2 and 3. They were used as pinnaces and admirals' barges. In March 1934 the great shipyard Blohm & Voss in Hamburg laid down the keel for a new ship, the yard's 500th vessel. 'Fleet Tender C', was to be christened later as the Aviso Grille. Earlier vessels had borne the same name, the most recent being Kaiser Wilhelm’s royal yacht. At the time of her launch on December 15, 1934, Grille at 443-feet overall, was the largest yacht afloat. The Aviso is generally a dispatch or intelligence ship and in spite of being built (at a cost equivalent to more than a million pounds, raised partly by public subscription) as Germany’s equivalent of a royal yacht, she was equipped with three 12.7cm cannon, six anti-aircraft guns, two machine guns, and the capacity for carrying 280 mines. Grille is usually translated as “grasshopper” or “cricket” but a secondary interpretation is “whim, fancy, caprice” and, at least to the English ear, Caprice seems by far the most appropriate name for a stately yacht. Grille was the first ship to test the high pressure steam machinery planned for German destroyers. According to the diary of a former crew member, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Krämer, "The complicated engine design of the ship demands a high degree of technical competence to maintain immediate readiness for service. The drive-shaft turbines run with 400 degrees of superheat. The boiler system of the ship is automatically controlled by an Askania-Anlage system, it is a new and untried power design and we in Grille carry out trials in anticipation of similar engines being installed in all new destroyers. We live in a permanent state of stress." Krämer was one of four “Jacob's-ladder men“, junior officers who, in addition to their regular naval duties, looked after VIPs, usually arriving alongside the ship on board Motorboot 1. The team members had to be 1.8m or more in height and wear white uniforms. There was a modern laundry with ironing machine on board. They were often in close contact with the Führer and his staff. Important secret conferences of the Naval Command took place. "We were subject to the strictest security measures. The visitors were leading personalities of the Third Reich included Göring, Hess, Göbbels, Himmler and honoured visitors from Hungary, Italy and Japan. Hitler was the most frequent visitor, showing off his ship and usually spending three or four nights on board but not often venturing far out to sea." Production date c. 1940 Production periodTwentieth century, mid Object nameInstruments, case of Object categoryINSTRUMENT MaterialWood Dimensions Length: 550.00 Height: 90.00 Width: 230.00

Object number@GFL

TitleFitted case of German surgical instruments

CreatorFitted (Manufacturer)‎

DescriptionCase of instruments in a wooden box. These instruments came from the Aviso Grille which was Hitler's private yacht. Set is labelled ‘Instrumentenvesteck 2’, fitted with two trays of instruments. 'Grille' was presented to Hitler by the German Nation as a private yacht but at the same time fitted for easy conversion as a fast mine layer. Towards the end of the German war she was stationed at Narvick and controlled U-boats in the North Atlantic. When the war finished she was brought to Rosyth as a Prize of War and it was at this stage that I was involved, being Flotilla Medical Officer to the Destroyer at Rosyth. My task with the 'Grille' was to land dangerous drugs in the presence of the Captain and this being completed he gave me this box of Surgical Instruments. The ship had a well equipped sick bay with Operating Theatre and X-ray room. The wardroom was elegantly furnished, the centre piece being a beautiful round table with a mechanically controlled rotating centre. I understand she was eventually broken up...." A.Bruce Maclean. Surgeon Lieut.Commander. R.N.V.R. Box contains approx. 69 instruments. Notes filed in drawer, Room 2. The Aviso Grille carried three smaller boats on her decks during the war. All were built by the Lürssen yard at Bremen in 1934. Lürssen, the first shipyard to build diesel-powered boats, designated them as Motorbooten 1, 2 and 3. They were used as pinnaces and admirals' barges. In March 1934 the great shipyard Blohm & Voss in Hamburg laid down the keel for a new ship, the yard's 500th vessel. 'Fleet Tender C', was to be christened later as the Aviso Grille. Earlier vessels had borne the same name, the most recent being Kaiser Wilhelm’s royal yacht. At the time of her launch on December 15, 1934, Grille at 443-feet overall, was the largest yacht afloat. The Aviso is generally a dispatch or intelligence ship and in spite of being built (at a cost equivalent to more than a million pounds, raised partly by public subscription) as Germany’s equivalent of a royal yacht, she was equipped with three 12.7cm cannon, six anti-aircraft guns, two machine guns, and the capacity for carrying 280 mines. Grille is usually translated as “grasshopper” or “cricket” but a secondary interpretation is “whim, fancy, caprice” and, at least to the English ear, Caprice seems by far the most appropriate name for a stately yacht. Grille was the first ship to test the high pressure steam machinery planned for German destroyers. According to the diary of a former crew member, Kapitänleutnant Helmut Krämer, "The complicated engine design of the ship demands a high degree of technical competence to maintain immediate readiness for service. The drive-shaft turbines run with 400 degrees of superheat. The boiler system of the ship is automatically controlled by an Askania-Anlage system, it is a new and untried power design and we in Grille carry out trials in anticipation of similar engines being installed in all new destroyers. We live in a permanent state of stress." Krämer was one of four “Jacob's-ladder men“, junior officers who, in addition to their regular naval duties, looked after VIPs, usually arriving alongside the ship on board Motorboot 1. The team members had to be 1.8m or more in height and wear white uniforms. There was a modern laundry with ironing machine on board. They were often in close contact with the Führer and his staff. Important secret conferences of the Naval Command took place. "We were subject to the strictest security measures. The visitors were leading personalities of the Third Reich included Göring, Hess, Göbbels, Himmler and honoured visitors from Hungary, Italy and Japan. Hitler was the most frequent visitor, showing off his ship and usually spending three or four nights on board but not often venturing far out to sea."

Production date c. 1940

Production periodTwentieth century, mid

Object nameInstruments, case of

Object categoryINSTRUMENT

MaterialWood

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