Battleship as ice breaker . Over 40 ships freed in the frozen Baltic Sea . Owing to the exceptionally severe frost the Baltic is almost completely frozen over and many ships have been caught in the ice pack . S O S ' s were sent to the Imperial Naval Station in Kiel , Germany , for assistance and the battleship ' Braunschweig ' succeeded in freeing about 40 ships while also resupplying some others . 6 March 1924