15

	

of 5.9 inch shells.



Under cover of"Aicantara's" smoke, "Thor," at 1335 (1.3 5PM)  steamed away, and then her crew worked upon changing her appearance. 



"Alcantara" survived and steamed back to her base, it needed a collision mat fitted over her side to stop the ocean rushing in, whilst 2 feet of water slopped around above the top	of her tanks.



By the end of July, "Thor" was in the latitude of Cape Town, she slowed down to 5 knots, spending 12 days boiler cleaning, and making repairs to the battle damage.



The ship was to meet "Rekem" as arranged by Berlin, to get rid of the prisoners, and replenish, but when they finally made the rendezvous this tanker was unable to accept the prisoners.



The 12th. of September, found "Thor" well East of Pernambuco, and they cruised to the northward for another 2 weeks, then came across a whaling factory ship- the Norwegian "Kosmos," she was a large vessel over 17,000 tons, with a full load of whale oil, a crew of 89, and bound for Curacao.



Kahler would have liked to get such a prize with this very valuable cargo of oil home to a French port now in German hands, but in his judgement, a number of factors mitigated against such action. "Kosmos" was short of fuel, she was a slow ship, it would be hard to disguise her, she had 2 very distinctive funnels, side by side, 

close to her stern. He sank this ship, to be later roundly criticised by his control in Berlin, for not trying to

get such a valuable ship and cargo home.



Another boiler clean was carried out, as "Thor" wallowed in the mid Atlantic swell just North of the equator over the next 12 days.



On the 8th. of October, a ship was sighted enroute to America from Europe. "Thor" opened fire to immediately score a direct hit, but this did not prevent their quarry using her radio, gunfire continued, and the alarm radio signals jammed. 175 rounds were fired to score 4 hits, then a torpedo rushed to the target and hit, but still

the "Natia" did not succumb, another 35 shells were required to finally sink her.



This ship, a British refrigerated freighter of 8,715 tons was on her way to Buenos Aires, one presumes to load meat for the return trip to Britain. She carried a large crew of 85, one of whom was killed, and another wounded by the gunfire.



"Thor" crammed these survivors onboard, to now carry a total of 368 prisoners.



"Rio Grande" now met "Thor," who at long last was able to divest herself of the burden of all the prisoners, one can imagine the sigh of relief now uttered by "Thor's" Captain, as once again he was relieved of this problem of feeding, housing and guarding them,



"Thor" now shaped a course for the River Plate/Capetown shipping route, being warned from home that between the Cape of Good Hope and Freetown in West Africa there were 8 enemy Cruisers operating, whilst a further 2 were off the South American East coast.



Early in December, at 0531 (5.31 AM), out of the fog loomed a large steamship,



17



Just after dawn on the 4th. of April, the bridge watch sighted a 

coal burning ship, the

range was closed quickly as the two ships were steaming on 

opposite courses, hauling

down the Greek flag he was wearing~ and replacing it with the 

German flag, Kahler fired a

shot across the bows of the oncoming vessel.

He was suddenly aware of2 guns fitted in the fore part of this 

ship, then quickly came the

realisation that he was engaging a British Armed Merchant 

Cruiser, this time the

"Volitare" of 13,245 tons.

The first salvo from "Thor" struck home, and within 3 minutes 

"Volitare" was heavily on

fire amidships, by 0715 (7.1 5AM) it was apparent that the enemy 

ship had steering gear

problems, steaming around in circles. "Volitare" sank at 0835 

(8.3 5AM) and "Thor'

stayed in the vicinity until 1300 (1PM )- to pick up survivors, 

197 including their Captain

and 19 officers, she then sailed off to the North.



~LTho~~ flielled from the tanker "Ill" over the 12th. and 13th. 

of April, transferring 170 of



her prisoners, it was time to make for home, this Raider made her 

last capture, the

Swedish "Sir Ernest Cassel" of 7,739 tons- she was in ballast, 

and after taking onboard all

her crew, she was scuttled.



By the 23rd. of April, Kahier was off France, and being escorted 

by 2 Destroyers and 3

Aircraft, up the Channel via Cherbourg, Le Havre and the Hook, 

steaming only at night.

By the month's end they were safe in Hamburg, after 329 days at 

sea, having steamed

57,532 miles, sunk 12 ships for a total of 76, 547 tons.

Kahler was a resourceffil and efficient Raider Captain who had 

been most successf~l in his

mission to harry and destroy Allied ships, including surviving 3 

actions against British

Armed Merchant Cruisers. In each of these actions he had proved 

superior, sinking one

ship, and damaging the other two, whilst keeping his ship intact, 

although being damaged

on one occasion.



He eventually headed up the Department for Merchant Shipping, and 

in February 1944

made Rear Admiral, then was appointed Naval Officer in Charge 

Brittany- however, after

the Allied landings he was captured by Americans, and transported 

to the United States as

a Prisoner of War.



Thor. ( Ship 10) Second Cruise.



It had always been the intention of the German Naval Staff( SKL 

short for

~eekriegsleitung ) to send out a second wave of Raiders to prey 

upon Britain~s life line,

the Merchant Ships, the Tankers, loaded with food, equipment, and 

the essential oil for

home and the Armed Forces use.

A secondary intention was to draw off Naval ships needed to fight 

the Battle of the

Atlantic, thus using up precious oil, ships, their crews, to 

search vast tracts of the ocean,

seeking out these will-of-the~wisp Raiders , to bring them to 

battle and destroy them.



Both "Atlantis" and "Kormoran" had been sunk in November 1941, 

and not one German

Raider was on station for the first time since March of the 

previous year.



18



To change that situation, by the end of November 1941, "Thor," 

had been prepared to

make her second foray as a Raider, and she left Kiel under 

Captain Gumprich who had

replaced Kanler.

By stages "Thor" crept down the European coastline to arrive at 

Gironde on the 17th. of

December. Under cover of the prevailing bad weather, "Thor" left 

this port on the 14th. of

January 1942.



The continuing bad weather forced this Raider to run for shelter 

at the Southern end of the

Bay of Biscay, then they headed Southward into the Atlantic, 

until reaching the Antartic

Circle.

Using air reconnaissance proved abortive, not an enemy vessel of 

any kind any where to

be found. ~'Thor" was seeking out the whaling fleets, she now 

retraced her steps

Northwards, and, in the vicinity of Capetown, on the 13th of 

March, was sighted by the

old British Cruiser '~urban." The challenge brought a response 

from the Raider, that she

was the British freighter 'Levernbank," thus satisfied, "Durban" 

proceeded on her way.

On the following day, the A.M.C. "Cheshire" also challenged 

"Thor" who blandly replied

that she was a British ship- again the bluff worked, and the 

Raider again got away with it!



Eventially, these two episodes when reported, brought forth an 

enquiry from the British

Admiralty which showed that neither Warship had any way of really 

finding out that

"Thor" was not the vessel she claimed to be.

These obvious blunders sparked attempts at tightening up the 

challenge and reply system

to ensure phoneys were unmasked.



"Thor," on her way to meet a repleni~hment ship, the 'Regensbur~' 

sighted funnel smoke

on the horizon, it was the 23rd. of March, the smoke emanated 

from the 3,942 ton Greek

'~agasitikos," a torpedo sent her to the bottom, and 32 men and 

one woman were taken

aboard the Raider.

In many cases during the war it was flinnel smoke that gave away 

the whereabouts of a

merchant ship to an enemy Raider or hostile Warship, a ship 

producing smoke was

frowned on by the Commodore of a convoy, it put the whole convoy 

at risk by drawing

attention to them, and if a ship was on its own, smoke would 

bring down the Captain's

wrath upon the engine room watchkeepers. The same rules applied 

to Warships, smoke

free conditions, allowed suprise to be maintained.

For old coal burning ships, it was a most difficult task to 

proceed at any speed without

producing a telltale swirl of smoke from their flinnels, but try, 

to remain smokeless, was

the constant aim of all ships' engine room personnel.



The following day replenishment was achieved, and the ocean was 

combed for targets, on

the 28th. of March masts were sighted,but after a 3 hour chase it 

needed to be abandoned

as "Thor" was too slow to catch her potential victim.

In another 2 days her seaplane found the British ship '~ellpark," 

which "Thor" had to

pursue for 7 hours before stopping her with gunfire, the sea 

plane had also attacked this

ship but was driven off by accurate AA defence.

The ship was abandoned and scuttled, "Thor" continued her search.



19



The new Captain made much better use of his Aircraft than did all 

other Raider Captains,

and on the 1st. of April he sank by torpedo, the "Willesden," of 

4,563 tons, which had also

been sighted by his seaplane.

In another 2 days, the Norwegian ~~Aust," of 5,630 tons, also 

spotted by the seaplane, was

shelled, then abandoned, and demolition charges saved the use of 

shells or torpedoes.

On this cruise, ~~Thor" was the first Raider to be fitted with 

Radar, this new weapon

flushed out a ship, out of sight to the naked eye, she was 

followed all day, and on nightfall,

at the close range of 1,700 yards was fired upon, this 

immediately stopped this ship which

proved to be the '~irkpool." A torpedo completed this action~ and 

the 32 crew were

rescued from the ocean



All this recent activity had taken place in the South Atlantic, 

close to the Cape of Good

Hope, and very much in the shipping lane~, with Capetown the 

focus for many ships either

in wards bound for Britain or out bound to the Gulf area to avoid 

the Mediterranean, or to

India, Ceylon, or to Australia and New Zealand.



~~hor" was now ordered by SKLto shift his search to the Indian 

Ocean, and was warned

to watch out for Japanese Submarines and their areas of 

operation.

By the loth. of May they were about 1,500 miles off the Western 

Australian coastline,

when their seaplane sighted the 'Nankin," a liner of 7,131 tons, 

the aircraft in a daring

pass over the ship managed to snatch away the radio aerial, 

preventing any distress signal

being sent off A prize crew was placed on board, and they 

departed to meet up with

'~egensburg," both these ships then made for a Japanese port.



The Radar installation continued to provide much frustration, 

with a good deal of down

time, but on the 16th. of June, it did come good, producing an 

excellent contact, at 10,000

yards. By using a converging course "Thor" arrived within 1,800 

yards of this ship, which

was seen to be a Tanker. Her steering gear was put out of action 

with the first German

salvo, and the Dutch "Olivia" blazed away totally on fire, many 

of her crew dying on

board or in the burning water covered with oil.



"Thor" appears to have had gun crews that on many occasions used 

their weapons with

accuracy, achieving a large number of hits on enemy ships, and 

often striking their foe

with their first salvo, no doubt a lot of training went into 

preparing gun crews for action,

but I have yet to uncover any reports on this aspect of the 

Raiders' operations. However,

it was essential for any Raider to quickly subdue an enemy ship, 

before the alarm could be

raised bringin~ the opposing forces quickly to the scene, thus 

good gunnery paid its

dividend hy ensuring survival for the Raider.



A survivor gave useflil information to his captors that allowed 

"Thor" to capture 2

Norwegian Tankers- the 'Herborg," 7,892 tons on the 19th. of 

June, and on the 4th. of

July, the 'Madrona," - of 5,894 tons. Both these ships were 

sailed off to Japan with prize

crews.



Four survivors from the "Olivia" made the long and arduous 

journey to Madagascar in an







20



open boat.



On the 2Oth. of July, a long gunnery battle between "Thor," and 

the British freighter

~ndus" took place, half of the British crew were killed in this 

action, and "Thor's"

company also suffered casualities.



In six months of operation, this Raider had sunk 10 ships 

totalling 56,037 tons, she now

made her way up to Yokohama in Japan for a long refit.

It was here that "Thor" met the Tanker ~ckermark," which had 

formerly been the

"Aitmark," and had featured in the 'fossack" incident in February 

1940, in Jossingijord

It was in "AItmark" that 299 prisoners, taken by the '~Graf Spee" 

were held captive, she

was stormed by a boarding party from "Cossack" and her prisoners 

released with that

famous cry" The Navy is her~"



"Thor" and '~Uckermark" lay alongside each other in a basin at 

Yokohama, and an official

luncheon was held for both Japanese and German news people on the 

30th. of November.

Just before 1400 (2PM) there was a loud detonation on board the 

'~Uckermark," this was

quickly followed by a more intense explosion.

Huge flames leapt from the Tanker7 and soon both ships were 

ablaze, a third explosion

removed ~ckerm&k's" bridge, and damaged the "Thor's" upperworks.

Both ships began to sink, and their crews rushed ashore, or leapt 

overboard into the

waters of the basin2 the former '~Nankin," now renamed '~uthen" 

also caught alight, as

the whole basin was now covered with burning oil.

It was 2200 (10PM) before the flames died down, the 3 German 

ships plus a Japanese

ship also trapped in this basin were no more, the deadly oil fire 

had done its task, ail 4

ships totally lost.

43 from 'lickermark" and a flirther 13 from "Thor" perished in 

this disaster.



The cause of this debacle seems to have been a spark in the flime 

laden air within the fi~el

tanks of'~ckerm&k" setting off the initial detonation, probably 

as a result of repairs

being executed by a work gang.

An ignominous end to a Raider that had caused the death of2l 

ships, had survived 3

encounters with larger British Armed Merchant Cruisers, "Thor" 

had been cut down by an

accident, when the might of the Royal Navy had failed to destroy 

her.



Kormoran, (Ship 41)



'~ormoran" of all the Armed Merchant Raiders, was the largest, 

she was almost 3 times

the size of "Thor," but carried a very similar armament and 

commenced her nomadic life

with 320 mines and had 6 torpedo tubes.

Diesel-electric engines gave her a comfortable top speed of 18 

knots whilst 2 Arado

seaplanes increased her range of vision, and finally she carried 

a small torpedo boat.



Her Captain was but 38, the youngest of all the Raider Commanding 

Officers, Theodor

Detmers had joined the Navy at age 19.





21



After ~~Widder" arrived home, both her Commander Ruckteschell and 

Detmers exchanged

thoughts on operating a Raider. They believed the better way to 

break out into the

Atlantic was via the Straits of Dover and the English Channel- 

rather than proceeding

North via the Denmark Straits, which at that time of year were 

usually under the threat of

ice. But when the time came for 'Kormoran" to leave, no surface 

escorts were available

for the Channel run, and the Northern route was not judged to be 

impassable, so that

route was selected.

'Kormoran" was disguised as a German warship, having dummy wooden 

guns in place,

plus blue/grey paintwork to be completed Supplies loaded on board 

included 28

torpedoes, 400 [ounds of 4 1 inch and 300 rounds of 20mm, all 

destined for 2 U-Boats.



Control had decided that Detmers would operate in the Indian 

Ocean, Australian and

African waters, with the South Atlantic or Pacific Ocean as 

alternatives.

He was to sow Magnetic mines off the East coast of Africa, and 

around Australian and

New Zealand ports. Finally, Moored mines were to be laid in the 

approaches to Calcutta,

Rangoon, Madras, and Sunda Straits.



Bad weather prevailed on the way to Denmark Straits, forcing the 

ship to seek shelter at

Stravenger, it was too rough to complete the warship paint design 

at sea, so 'Kormoran"

now took on the mantle of the 7,500 ton Russian ship '~iacheslav 

Molotov" from

Leningrad.

By the 13th. of December, this latest Raider was free of the ice, 

and out into the Atlantic-

she altered course Southwards, running into a Force 10 gale.

When the weather and visibility finally improved on the 18th. of 

December, smoke was

sighted, but avoided, as the ship was yet to reach her 

operational area.

Only the next day, Detmers was told to now consider himself 

operational, as too many

Raiders in the Indian Ocean over January/February were considered 

to be undesirable.



The engine room staff used this quiet time to check out the most 

economical way to use

the deisel-electric motors, these experiments pointed up the fact 

that right now, without

any retuelling, the ship had a 7 month endurance capacity.



On the 29th. of December, the Captain, on a day of good 

visibility sought to extend his

horizon by using one of the Arado seaplanes- alas, a faulty winch 

and a heavily rolling ship

combined to damage the aircraft.

Into the New Year, on the 6th. of January 1941, the Greek ship 

"Antonis," carrying 4,800

tods of coal en route to Rosario from Cardiff was stopped- no 

alarm had been raised, and

she was scuttled. A mixed bag was taken on board, the crew of 28, 

one stowaway, 7 live

sheep, fresh foods, documents, and usetul charts, plus 1,000 

rounds of small arms

ammunition.

When darkness was about to fall in the late afternoon of the 

18th. of January, a ship was

sighted. Detmers sailed to place this vessel against the fading 

light, but when it grew dark

their target started to zigzag.

"Atlantis" had captured Admiralty orders which read:- "In order 

to minimise the

possibility of pursuit by Raider or Submarine at night, 

independently routed Merchant





22



Ships should, when sea room permits, alter their main lines of 

advance by at least 3 points,

(the 360 degree compass is divided into 32 points, thus 3 points 

would equate with a

diversion of 33.75 degrees.)

until approximately 10 miles from their day time track.

During this period ships should continue zigzagging whenever 

visibility is less than 2

miles.

A prudent precaution, to assist a single ship to present a more 

difficult target for either a

Raider or U-Boat.



Detmers was able to identit~~ this ship as a Tanker in ballast, 

at a range of 4 miles he fired

star shells to illuminate the enemy ship, then opened fire, 

straddling the target with his

third salvo (to straddle a target, means that shells from a salvo 

bracket the target, falling

both short and over.)

A distress call was heard:- "RRRR British Union shelled, 26 

degrees 24 minutes

North, 30 degrees 58 minutes West."

Fire was checked, but the Tanker responded with 4 rounds fired 

from her stern gun,

'~ormoran~' once more opened fire, now setting the stem section 

of the Tanker ablaze,

her crew left their ship, 28 being saved, whilst 17 of their 

shipmates perished.

SKL had read this distress message broadcast by the '~ritish 

Union" and now told

~~ormoran" to meet "Nordmark," and hand over the U-Boat stores 

and torpedoes she

carried on board prior to departing for the Indian Ocean.

Detmers was also instructed to keep clear of "Thor's" arena of 

action, he was to stay

North of the equator, whilst their fellow Raider would stay below 

this demarcation line.

Both were now in the Atlantic Ocean.



A large ship was sighted dunng the afternoon of the 29th. of 

January at 7.5 miles,

~Kormoran" just quietly proceeded, allowing the ship to come to 

them, at 1330 (1.30 PM)

Detmers opened fire- the enemy sent off an alarm signal, turned 

away, but soon stopped,

and her crew left their ship. It was the "Afric Star" carrying 

almost 6,000 tons of meat

from South America to Britain. The 72 crew and 2 women and 2 men 

as passengers were

all taken on board the Raider.

Slowly the "Afrie Star' sank, assisted by fire from the 37mm gun, 

a torpedo, and 5.9 inch

shells. '~ormoran' decide to quickly vacate the scene, as the 

distress message had been

repeated by vessels close by. A Raider could "Live" or "Die" 

through the medium of a

distress signal being jammed on transmission, stopped from being 

sent at all, or in fact the

ship being attacked daring to send out her frantic warning, and 

being helped by the sudden

arrival of a friendly Warship, that happened to be in the close 

vicimty. Throughout the

total war, luck played a huge part in ones survival, was it fate 

that brought you in contact

with an enemy Raider or hostile Submarine? or decided that your 

course and speed, where

you happened to be on the Ocean's surface at any particular point 

in time meant you

avoided the lurking danger of such a threat. To arrive at the 

intended destination was

always a bonus for both ship, and her company.



A second victim was found after darkness had descended, at 3,200 

yards Detmers used

star shells to light up his target, then his larger guns to stop 

'Eurylochus" another British



23



ship of 5,723 tons.

A torpedo quickly sent her to the ocean's depths, 4 British plus 

39 Chinese were saved,

but 18 British and 20 Chinese seamen were lost.

They met with ~~Nordmark," tuelled, and took on board meat and 

eggs from the bountiflil

'Duquesa."

By the 9th. of February, Detmers was enroute to the Indian Ocean, 

they passed another

Raider "Pinguin," but disaster struck 2 days later, when bearings 

in the main engines

cracked. 700 kilograms of white metal was needed to effect 

repairs, Berlin was asked to

help, and responded that it would be supplied via a U-Boat and a 

blockade runner,

meantime, stay in the South Atlantic. Running repairs were made, 

and it was the middle of

March before they met U105, only to learn that U124 was carrying 

the precious white

metal from which the new bearings could be cast.

They sank a tired old Tanker, in ballast, the "Agnita" and 

rescued 38 crew, a mix of

British and Chinese. From this ship, an up todate chart of 

Freetown, its swept channels,

and mined areas were obtained, copies were made for passing on to 

the next U-Boats they

came across.

Usetul enemy intelligence was always sought from ships that were 

run down, sometimes

they were sunk prior to being able to board them, but useflil 

information was often

gleaned directly, or from judicious questioning of prisoners 

taken on board



On the 25th. of March, Detmers sighted a snip a long way off, his 

engine problems

precluded a long chase, he set an interception course, and was 

able to close to 5 miles

before this Tanker, in ballast, signalled an alarm. 'Kormoran" 

attempted to jam the

distress signal, and opened fire, although the second salvo was a 

near miss, it was enough

to make the Canadian "Canadoht&' of 11,300 tons, stop 

broadcasting, and stop engines

This nearly new ship had been built by Krupp, and was sailing to 

Venezuela, this fine prize

was much too valuable to sink, leaving the bulk of her crew on 

board, Detmers took her

Captain, Chief Engineer, Radio Operator, and top Gunnery Rating 

in 'Kormoran" as

prisoners, then with sufficient German command personnel, sent 

her off to Gironde.



It was almost two weeks before any other ship was found, it 

turned out to be '~ritish

Craftsman" 8,022 tons, running in ballast from Rosyth, and 

destined for Capetown, she

was carrying a very valuable item, a large anti-submarine net, 

and the Captain was

delighted to be able to deny the authorities at the Cape this 

defensive equipment.

A torpedo had to be used to sink this burning ship, 5 died, but 

45 prisoners were

transferred to the Raider.



On the 10th. of April the 'Kornioran's" radio operator was 

pleased to take a signal from

Berlin to his Commanding Officer announcing to Detmers '~ou have 

been promoted

from Commander to Captain." Every one was happy with this news.



Two days on, and the Greek 'Nicolaos" a new ship loaded with 

timber from Vancouver

and going to Durban in Natal, was stopped by gunfire, although it 

was hoped to take this

find as a prize, her bridge and steering gear had been destroyed 

by the accurate gunfire, it

was with reluctance that she had to be scuttled.





24





In mid April, 4 ships came together, ~~ormoran," ~'Atlantis," and 

supply ships

~'Alsterufer," and ~'Nordmark," 75 prisoners were exchanged, 

stores and ammunition for

the 5.9 inch guns were loaded. ~~ormoran" took on a black hull, 

hoping in the filture to

pass as a Japanese ship, but right now she became the Dutch 

"Straat Malakka" out of Rio

de Janeiro bound for Batavia.



~~inguin" had been sunk, and with '~ormoran" now in the Indian 

Ocean they made for

the Chagos Archipelago, Colombo, Sabang triangle.

Now that a mine sweeping force was operating at Rangoon, Detmers 

decided that it

would be a waste of resources to lay mines in that vicinity.

With no mine action here, the next target for mine laying was to 

be off Madras, but a

sighting of a possible British Armed Merchant Cruiser put paid to 

that proposition, and

'~ormoran" avoided any close contact by heading South East.



Early on the 26th. of June, whilst it was still dark, a faint 

light and shadow were noted, a

warning shot did not bring any reaction, at 3,000 yards a flill 

salvo hit, setting the ship

alight, the crew took to the boats, but only 9 from a crew of 34 

were saved it had been

the Jugo slav ~Nelebif' 4,153 tons, without cargo, only in 

ballast, off to Mombassa, but

never destined to arrive.

That same afternoon, another victim was approached and sunk, the 

Australian "Mareeba'

with a load of sugar for Colombo, a crew of 48, all unhurt, came 

on board.



By the 21st. of July, Detmers decided he would not mine in the 

Bay of Bengal as Britain

had increased her forces in that area, but would cruise in 

Indonesian waters, then South of

Sumatra and Java, continuing down the coast of Western Australia 

until in the latitude of

Carnarvon. At this stage he noted in his diary that the crew were 

working in watches

around the clock, to sieve out worms and beetles found amongst 

their store of flour.

He added The cook and baker are extraordinarily important in an 

armed

merchant-cruiser, and both of them on board deserve boundless 

recognition."

This comment by the Captain serves to highlight the fact that it 

is not only the Army that

"Marches on its stomach."



Now by the 13th. of August, '~ormoran," had sailed to a position 

200 miles Westward of

Carnarvon, a ship was sighted at dusk some 10 miles distant, 

Detmers wanted to stay in

touch, in the hope of having a successfiil night action, but when 

about 7 miles away, it

suddenly turned towards them and gave the "QQQ" alarm, not with a 

position, but with a

bearing~ this made the Raider Captain think that perhaps the 

mystery ship was in visual

touch with other ships, maybe she was "Bait" for a convoy in the 

vicinity, and was calling

up an escort. She was about 6,000 tons, obviously fast, and 

Detmers decided he was not

falling for any possible trap, he altered course Westwards, and 

then to the South

His diary bears the note: "After 7 weeks to have seen a ship at 

last and to have had to let

her go is very bitter."



The Raider made her way up to the Northern tip of Sumatra, giving 

up any idea of laying

mines at the approaches to Carnarvon, not enough traffic about to 

justi~ the operation.







25



When commenting on "Kormoran's" operations at a later date, SKL, 

was terse about the

fact that mines were not laid, they considered that with little 

risk to his ship, Detmers

could have used an Auxiliary to lay mines, which may well have 

claimed some victims.

To follow Detmers in his successfbl Raider, it is never clear why 

he always seems to duck

the issue of mine laying, and continually rationalises why he did 

not, or could not, lay a

nest of them in any area at all.



Pickings were sparse, when only 150 miles South of Ceylon, a fast 

ship of about 11,000

tons was sighted on the 1 St day of September, but she passed too 

far away for any attack

to develop, and '~ormoran" could not match her speed. Eventually 

she was lost after a

rainstorm, and the seaplane could not be used to seek her out 

again.

Detmers lamented in his War Diary '~Without a catapult it is a 

weapon of opportunity

which can quite infrequently be employed."

I have already noted how much more suceessfiil "Thor" had been in 

using its seaplane-

one needed the will of both the Captain of a Raider plus his 

Arado pilot to get this aircraft

airborne as often as practicable- this will to use his spotting 

aircraft, seems to have been

somewhat lacking in "Kormoran."



SKL now told Demers that they intended to send "Thor" to relieve 

him in the Indian

Ocean by the end of December.

Detmers believed that he had a thankless role in this area, he 

thought Allied ships kept to

the Northwards, close to British bases- thus they could only be 

attacked by a Raider

taking a greater risk- and disregarding their operational orders. 

He thought this was the

lesson to learn posed by the sinking of'~inguin."



At last, success~. on the 23rd of September, close to the 

equator, the Greek "Stamatios G

Embincos~" of almost 4,000 tons, no cargo, just in ballast from 

Mombassa to Colombo

was caught and scuttled.

The crew were taken in '~ormoran," who had now achieved 68,283 

tons of shipping sunk

from 12 ships.



The '~ulmerland" out of Kobe with 4,000 tons of diesel fliel, 

lubricating oils, provisions

for 6 months, and the long awaited white metal, met with 

'~ormoran" who carried out a

self refit in the watery wastes of "Area Siberia" adjacent to the 

latitude of Perth. All

prisoners were also handed over to the supply ship.

Detmers command was now stored and flielled up to the 1st. of 

June, 1942.



Nothing further was ever heard directly frDm "Kormoran" ever 

again.



His last War Diary sent home in '~ulmerland" indicated 'Hope to 

be in operations area

during the new moon period."

Dr.Habben, one of the survivors, writing from prison camp told 

SKL that after writing the

phrase above, Detmers had changed his mind- and intended to lay 

mines off Perth, but

enroute, he learned that a convoy was to leave there, escorted by 

the British 8 inch

Cruisers, "Cornwall," and "Dorsetshire," so he decided to move 

North along the coast