Nationalist refugees on the German torpedo boat Wolf

At the start of the Civil War, a number of governments organized the urgent evacuation of their citizens, usually by sending warships to Spanish ports. In spite of the early engagement of the Nazi regime in the conflict, Germany, which had between 9,000 and 15,000 nationals living in Spain in 1936, did the same.  As well as German citizens, its ships also evacuated right-wing Spaniards and some Spanish clergy. By the end of October, some 15,000 people had been evacuated on Nazi vessels.  

At the end of July, the cruisers Deutschland and Admiral Scheer arrived off the Spanish coast accompanied by a number of Raubatier class torpedo boats. The Wolf, commanded by Captain Hans Erdmenger, arrived later after departing Wilhelmshaven at the end of August to join the evacuation effort. The Wolf carried non-Germans, including Spanish supporters of the uprising who were in San Sebastián, like those who appear in the photo, to the French city of San Juan de Luz. One of its crew would sign the back of a number of photographs, including this one, as “Jacks”. 

The Wolf also took part in some secondary operations, such as the capture of Santander, even though, in theory, it was one of the ships designated to guarantee the application of the Non-Intervention Agreement. During World War II, it participated in the Norway campaign and in a number of operations placing mines along the British coast. Ironically, it met its end being sunk by a mine in Dover in January 194. Forty-five men, one third of its crew, died.