Marauders of the Sea, German Armed Merchant Ships During W.W. 2

Photo Album index
Capt Rogge is seen here bestowing decorations to his men from the Atlantis

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Capt Rogge is seen here bestowing decorations to his men from the Atlantis.


Seeadler

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A raider from the First World War.. the Seeadler.
Technically speaking,  Seeadler was not a true sailing ship.
In fact, she was a motorship using her sails as part of the disguise.
It also had the benefit of extending her cruising range.
Seeadler was stranded on the Mopelia Island (Society island)
and was abandoned on August 2, 1917

The Orion shown with but one funnel. Click to enlarge

The Orion shown with but one funnel.

Atlantis, one can see clearly how the concealing shutter panes were opened.

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Port forward 15cm guns onboard the Atlantis.
In this photo, one can see clearly how the concealing shutter panes were opened.

The starboard forward torpedo tube and 15 cm gun onboard the Wolf.

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The starboard forward torpedo tube and 15 cm gun onboard the Wolf.
A portion of the bulwark was hinged to drop downwards.
A sort of gunsight along its tube was used as an aid to bear on the target and the firing position
was determined after taking into account the speed of the target ship.

Atlantis' two He 114b aircraft

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Shown above is one of Atlantis' two He 114b aircraft being readied for take-off.
It was just raised from the hold where it was stored and is now resting on the hatch cover.
Known as a 'one-and-a-half' winger, theplane sported a long upper wing and a short lower wing.
The upper wing was made to fold-back for storage of the plane.

Aircraft onboard the Orion

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In the early part of 1941, the Orion replaced her Arcado aircraft with this Nakajima 90-11
equipped with centre floats. Powered by a Jupiter nine -cylinder radial engine,
the Nakajima had a top speed of of 132 mph and could land at 50 mph.
Its endurance was over six hours.

Survivors of one of the ships sunk by the Atlantis

 

Survivors of one of the ships sunk by the Atlantis.

The Bristish steamer Balzac under attack by the Atlantis June 22nd, 1942.

The British steamer Balzac under attack by the Atlantis June 22nd, 1942.
The Balzac was the last ship sunk by the Atlantis.


 
 
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Guns from the Atlantis had to be used to persuade the Captain of the Norwegian ship
'Talleyrand' to surrender on August 2nd, 1942.

Athelking

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The British tanker Athelking refused to stop and attempted to return fire.
Fired on by the Atlantis in September 9th, 1940, the photo shows damage to the radio
room and stern gun positions.

Rendez-vous in the mid-Atlantic with the Michel

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Rendez-vous in the mid-Atlantic on June 21, 1942 with the Michel.
On the left is the tanker Charlotte Schliemann and on the right is the
former Speybank captured by Atlantis on January 31, 1941. Renamed the Dogerbank,
is was used as supply ship and blockade runner.

Resupply

Re-supply time! All hands help stow the goods away.

The U-Boat UA is seen approaching the Pinguin during a mid-Atlantic re-supply run.

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The U-Boat UA is seen approaching the Pinguin during a mid-Atlantic re-supply run.
The Pinguin had brought her new torpedos. Photo taken on July 18th, 1940.

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The liner Voltaire (13,000 grt) was an armed merchant cruiser.
It was engaged and sunk by the Thor.
The Thor survived the engagement unscathed and rescued over 75% of the Voltaire's crew.

The crew of the Atlantis is seen gathering in their Carley floats.

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The crew of the Atlantis is seen gathering in their Carley floats.
Damaged by the British 'County' Class cruiser HMS Devonshire on November 21st, 1941,
the Atlantis had been sunk by their crew.

The crew of the Atlantis is seen bein addressed by Admiral Lindau,

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The crew of the Atlantis is seen bein addressed by Admiral Lindau,
Marinebefehlshaber of Western france. They had arrived on the Italian
submarine Luigi Torelli at St Nazaire.

A raider quietly at anchor

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A raider quietly at anchor

A crewmember of the Atlantis. The cap-band was turned back to front and a red star was added above the band. -Click to enlarge

A crewmember of the Atlantis. The cap-band was turned back to front and a red star was added above the band.

North German lloyd Line's express steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grobe.

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Shown above is one of the largest raiders, the North German lloyd Line's express steamer Kaiser Wilhelm der Grobe.
A voracious coal-eater, she often had to be refuelled at sea and it was on one such occasion that she was attacked by the British light cruiser HMS Highflyer on August 26th, 1914.
Burning from several fires caused by the attack, she was sunk by her own crew.

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