With the advent of Putin’s brutal invasion of Ukraine, we have posted about superyachts owned by Russian oligarchs including several yachts that may or may not be owned by the dictator himself.  Here is a two-part post about yachts associated with another brutal despot — Adolph Hitler. 

Adolph Hitler does not seem to have been much of a yachtsman. He may have been too busy invading other countries and committing mass murder to spend much time aboard ships and boats. Nevertheless, at least one sailboat and one small ship have gone down in history labeled as “Hitler’s yachts.” Whether they deserved that designation is the subject of considerable disagreement. Both vessels are gone and yet remnants of each have stayed with us — in an artificial reef in the Atlantic off South Florida and, oddly enough, in the bathroom of an auto repair shop in South Jersey. 

The aviso Grille was built in 1935 as the German state yacht. Until the outbreak of World War II,  443′ long vessel represented the Nazi State and Chief of the Naval Staff.  The ship was built with two Blohm & Voss high-pressure geared turbines. In addition to her other duties, Grille was used as a test platform for the turbines before they were installed in new destroyers. 

While Grille was designated as the “state yacht,” she was outfitted with combat in mind. She was armed with three 12.7 cm SK C/34 naval guns in individual mountings, four 3.7 cm SK C/30 anti-aircraft guns in two dual mounts, and four 2 cm C/30 anti-aircraft guns in a single quadruple mount. Grille had provisions to carry up to 228 naval mines. The ship had a crew of 248 officers and men.

Hitler was aboard Grille at least once, in 1936, with Admiral Erich Raeder in the fleet parade at the dedication of the Marine Memorial at Laboe. In October 1936, she transported Minister of War Field Marshal von Blomberg on an official visit to Norway and in October 1937 carried a Wehrmacht delegation to England for the coronation of King George VI and Queen Elizabeth.  In June 1937, Grille served as flagship for Fleet Commander Admiral Rolf Carls in Kriegsmarine training exercises. During Kiel Week in 1939, Grille hosted Raeder and several foreign naval officers. 

In September 1939, Grille was pressed into service as a mine-laying patrol craft.  She was also used as a gunnery training ship. In 1942, she was used as the command ship in Norway for the commander of U-boats in the Arctic. After the war, she was seized by the British and then sold to an American. The new owner’s plans for the ship did not material and in 1951, Grille was taken to Doan Salvage in Florence, NJ to be scrapped.

Before the ship was scrapped, locals came aboard and stripped her of whatever they could. It is said that a number of people in the South Jersey area claim to have teak from the Grille. One more substantial piece of equipment was sold — a ship’s toilet. The toilet was purchased by Sam Carlani, who wanted it for a bathroom he was building in his auto repair shop in Florence, NJ. For over sixty years, that is where it has remained in use in the bathroom of what is now Greg’s Auto Repair.

Just as it is unclear where Hitler ever used the Grille as a yacht, it is also uncertain whether he used the toilet in Greg’s Auto repair. The Grille had many toilets. “Was it out of his bathroom? I don’t know,” said Greg Kohfeldt, the garage’s current owner.

In 2015, Roadside America reports that Greg decided to sell the toilet.  It was flown to London in an attempt to sell it on a TV game show. The segment, however, was never aired. Where the toilet ended up after around 2015 is unclear. One source says that the toilet returned to Greg’s Auto Repair, while another says that it never made it back from the UK.