Captain Greiff

Paul Greiff (12/01/1904 - 31/03/1995) started his career in 1918 on the schooner Lisa then boarded as OS at 17 years on the schooner Kurt.

In 1922, he boarded on the Passat at Marseille to join Hamburg in 56 days.

He boarded then on the Priwall, the Peking as third officer and the Padua as second officer.

In 1927, he got his shipmaster licence and boarded for the Norddeutschen Lloyd (NDL) on the ocean liners München and Seydlitz as third officer.

In 1929, he is first officer on the three-masts square rigged Oldenburg until her sale to a Finnish after one year and a half.

The following four years, he served as second officer on the fast steamer Europa of the NDL. After promotion to first officer and activities on a cargo ship, he was assistant inspector for NDL in New Orleans.

When the 2nd World War broke out, he was first officer on the ship Aachen. With this boat, he broke the blockade and arrived in April 1940 to Narvik, from where he returned to Kirkenes and Malmö. Paul Greiff is then assigned as a Navy inspector in Oslo, responsible for converting foreign tonnage in Szczecin. For 5 years, he worked in Norway in this high position as a civilian.

Captain Greiff at Hambourg 12/1951 (2)

After 1 year of captivity in Norway, he returned to Germany in June 1946 and was elected to the municipal council of Overrath.

In early 1950, he returned to Bremen where he accepted the offer of the Schliewen shipping company to take commands of the Pamir.

Captain Greiff at Hambourg 12/1951 (3)

He commanded two voyages from December 1951 to March 1953 on the east coast of South America ( ).

The first resulted in a book from Hilary Tunstall-Behrens.

(1) Paul Greiff

(2) Bundes Republik Archiv (2:51-3:36)

(3) British Pathe