41



less than a year, from the 22nd. of June, 1940 to the 8th. of 

May, 1941. "Atlantis" only

beat her in the tonnage sunk stakes by a mere 5,000 tons. 

'~inguin" became the first

German Armed Merchant Raider to be sunk, but that is to pre empt 

her story.



The Captain, Felix Knider, joined the Navy in 1915, unusually, 

having been promoted

from the lower deck, he was 43.

300 mines were placed on board, to be laid on the West coast of 

India, and off Australia.

By the 9th. of June, trials were complete, she was to operate off 

the Australian coast, and,

from December to March 1941 to harry Mijed Whaling fleets in 

Ahtarctica.



Life started as the Russian ~~atschura," bad weather assisting 

her initial break Out attempt,

although the high percentage of day light during mid summer was 

not helpfiil.

By the 1st. of July, '~inguin" was away, the French Armistice, 

and withdrawal of their

Navy, placed an extra burden on the Royal Navy- its main efforts 

being given to the Battle

of the Atlantic, and ensuring" safe and tiniely arrivals" of 

vital convoys.

Further distractions for the Royal Navy were, copmg with the 

French Navy at Oran and at

Dakar, on the West coast of Muca. At that time I was serving as a 

Midshipman, in

H.M.A.S."Australia" a County Class 8 inch Cruiser, we were in 

U.K. waters, and

eventually were at Dakar, on two occasions.



'~inguin" was now the Oreek ship '~assos," and, on the 17th. of 

July, met the German

Submarine UA, she had stores, f~el and torpedoes for this 

Submarine. Rough weather

hindered this transfer, and to conserve fliel, UA, was towed 

Southw&ds until level with

Freetown.

The last day of July found ~~inguin" chasing her first victim, 

the British "Domingo de

Larrinage'2 of 5,358 tons. The alarm had been given, but the 

Raider closed to 2.5 miles,

and set her alight by accurate gunfire. The crew used 3 boats to 

evacuate their ship, she

had been carrying 7,500 tons of grain, the boarding party 

uncovered 4 men, dead on deck.



The Cape was rounded, and on the 19:h. of August, Knider 

commented in his diary, on

the British changing their Merchant Navy Code:- "Up to now we 

have had an almo~t

complete picture of wireless traffic between ships, which was 

very helpful in judging

the situation in the South Atlantic. But this state of affairs 

has now ended, a fact

that is regrettable because such a picture would have been a 

great help when the

ship entered the new operations area East of the Cape of Good 

Hope. It is hoped

that the B-Service will soon succeed in breaking the new Code, 

and letting us

know~" Kruder was worrying unnecessarily, his own Communications 

Officer, Lieutenant

Brunke3 achieved this task for his Captain, and, no doubt gained 

his approbation.



This comment above from Kruder, highlights the importance of the 

radio, and of radio

traffic to a Raider, all alone, ploughing a lonely path across 

the oceans. It was really the

only link they had with SKL and home, it was the medium for good 

news, eg, awards of

the Iron Cross to crew members, promotion for the Captain, orders 

to meet with a

Tanker, a blockade runner, a fellow Raider, intelligence about 

enemy shipping, the

whereabouts of enemy Warships, the best order of all, "COME 

HOME'." The radio







42



could also administer an admonishment to a Raider's Captain for 

some action that was not

approved of by Control. It was thus, both a power~l tool, but 

also a weapon in the hands

of those back in Berlin, sometimes remaining silent just when the 

Raider felt it needed a

response.



The ship steered towards Madagascar, sending up its seaplane on 

the 26th. of August, it

was wearing British markings, and it found a Tanker, not carrying 

any visible nationality

identity. A message was dropped telling the Tanker to "alter 

course," and not to use its

radio, as a German Raider was close by, it obeyed. Of course this 

ruse was designed to

bring the Tanker straight to '~inguin." However, by 1700 ( 5PM) 

there was no sign of

this mystery Tanker, and intercepted signals showed she did not 

follow these instructions,

and was trying to make good her escape. The seaplane was again 

sent up to find her, and

did so at 1748 ( 5.48PM) the ship's aerials were torn away, and 

"stop at once" sent in

English, fire was opened using cannon and machine gun fire on the 

bridge and over her

bows. The Tanker stopped- the seaplane now landed alongside, and 

taxied towards her,

signalling "remain stopped here, Cruiser "Cumberland" will go 

with you" then

followed up with "Show yo'ir lights."



At 1826 (6.26PM) guided by the ship's lights, '~inguin" now came 

into view, and the

aircraft now radioed" We are both stopped lying here. Hi '[I."

A prize crew was soon aboard the Norwegian 'TileUell"- 7,616 tons 

carrying 10,000 tons

of petrol plus 500 tons of oil from the Persian Gulf to Capetown, 

and was under charter to

the British Government, and, unarmed.



The next day, at 0300 ( 3AM ) whilst still close by the Norwegian 

vessel, a blacked out

ship appeared, ~'Pinguin" raced off to intercept, and after half 

an hour found a second

Tanker, at 0418 (4.18 AM) she was ordered to stop, this ship 

immediately radioed

"QQQ and her position, stopped by unknown ship, '~ritish 

Commander."

'~inguin" opened fire, and the Tanker responded on her radio "Now 

vessel shelling us."

Walvis Bay, repeated the message and SKL also read it, and now 

knew that "')inguin" was

at work.

'13ritish Commander" in ballast was finished off by gunfire and a 

torpedo, her crew

abandoning her, but before she sank a third vessel came into 

sight, also in ballast.

A warning shot stopped her, and she hoisted a Norwegian flag, her 

crew came aboard the

Raider. This turned out to be '~orviken" of 5,008 tons, from 

Capetown to Calcutta.



Kruder had indeed been busy, a fourth ship was approaching, but 

given the alarm raised by

"British Commander," this new customer was left to sail on 

"Fileijell," was stripped of all

her fresh provisions, and then sunk.



The British set out to track down this new problem for them in 

the Western end of the

Indian Ocean, searching aircraft came close to ~Pinguin" who had 

now moved 200 miles

away from her recent triumph, but she was not found.



Discussions with the Captain of "Morviken" elicited the 

information that, at first, the





43



Norwegian had taken him for a Wilhelmsen Line ship, but became 

suspicious when he

observed a Greek flag they flew, he commented;- "The Greeks have 

few good ships,

and those good ships are not here in the East."

Immediately '~inguin" was changed to be "Trafalgar"- a Wilhelmsen 

Line ship, and then

stayed in this area. Later SKL was critical of Kruder, indicating 

he should have left this

area after sinking '~ritish Commander," it was but his approach 

area, and, as "Atlantis'

was only 100 miles away, his presence was an embarassment to her.



The seaplane became inoperational on the 5th. of September, a 

heavy swell causing a

broken engine bed, putting to an end any flirther "Aerial 

snatching" for the moment.

Kruder decided on one more foray close to Madagascar and on the 

10th. of September,

sighted smoke, he caught up, opened fire, ordering this ship to 

stop, it responded by using

its stern gun hitting '~inguin" but the shell did not explode. 

'~enavon"- 5,872 tons,

carrying hemp and rubber was shelled, and abandoned, her Captain 

and a number of

Officers were killed in the action, from her crew of 49, her 

survivors only numbered 28.

Kruder told SKL, he was, at last, on his way to Australia.



On the 16th. of September, he stopped, without the need to fire a 

single shot, the

Norwegian, 4,111 ton, ~~ordvard" carrying Australian wheat to 

Port Elizabeth,

he decided to send this prize off to Germany, including the 300 

prisoners he had onboard.



Knider was contemplating how he might approach the use of mines 

carried, and how they

might be laid around the Australian coast, he reasoned that after 

mines were laid at a

specific port, and they were discovered, all ports along that 

coast would probably be

swept for suspected mines. But, if he used mines that did not 

become active, for say, 48

hours, he would then have time to mine a port, quickly move on, 

and mine another before

the first nest of mines were found. If two ships could work in 

concert, laying mines, it

would be even more efficient and potentially deadlier. The next 

captured ship, if suitable,

would have a new role, that of an Auxiliary Minelayer.

He wanted to start this venture off Newcastle, North of Sydney, 

on the Last coast of

Australia- on the 27th. of September, it was calm enough to break 

out the spare aircraft

from the lower hangar, and put it all together.



On the 7th. of October, whilst moving North East towards Java, a 

ship came in sight,

obviously exiting from the Sunda Strait area, and making for 

Australia. A flag signal and

warning shot soon stopped" Storstad" a Norwegian Tanker, 

'?inguin" and her Captain

seemed very partial to ships emanating from Norway, and came 

across them often.

Slie was just under 9,000 tons, and carried the wonderfiil cargo 

of 12,000 tons of diesel

oil, and 500 tons of coal from North Borneo, bound for Adelaide 

and Melbourne.

The Raider immediately topped up her own tanks with 1,200 tons 

from the Tanker,

Kruder renamed this ship '~assat," which in German meant "Trade 

Wind," he had found

his Auxiliary Minelayer. In company, the ships moved Southwards 

of Australia, Kruder

was to mine Newcastle and Hobart, and '~assat" sat her deadly 

load at both ends of Bass

Strait, that stretch of water, dividing the Australian mainland 

from the Island of Tasmania.

By the 28th. of October, '?inguin" was ready to lay, and 40 mines 

were sown between





44



Newcastle and Sydney, and then another 40 off Hobart. Kruder now 

went off to Spencer

Gulf to lay mines in the approaches of the port serving Adelaide.

By the 8th. of November, "')assat's" work was crowned by success, 

Australian radio

indicated that a British freighter had been struck by a mine at 

the Eastern end of Bass

Strait, and the American "City of Rayville," suffered the same 

fate, she, in fact, became the

first American ship to be lost in WW2.



After being 5 months at sea, work was needed on '~inguin's" 

engines, she stopped, and,

whilst undertaking repairs on the evening of the 17th. of 

November, smoke was sighted,

one engine was restarted, then the second, as the ship was 

followed. She stopped under

the glare of'~inguin S search light, it was the 7,290 ton, 

British ~owsher&' with 4,000

tons of zinc ore, 2,000 tons of wool, and 3,000 tons of wheat cx 

Adelaide, for Dublin and

UK. She carried an enormous crew of 113, mostly Indians, they all 

had to squeezed into

the Raider's afready crowded holds. 8 hours was spent, removing 

stores, mostly rice for

the Indian prisoners- she was then scuttled.



More smoke on the 20th. the 'Maimoa" was followed and attacked by 

the seaplane, but

the ship kept on steaming, the aircraft indicated that it had to 

land, Kruder did not want to

interupt his pursuit, just to stop and recover his aircraft, so 

he lowered a cutter, leaving it

behind to cope with the seaplane, in case it was some 

considerable before he could return.

Meanwhile "Storland" who had now reverted to her original name 

after being Passat" for

a time, indicated another ship was in sight about 9 miles 

distant, Kruder kept on after

~~aimoa." he caught her, and the crew of 87 taken on board, and 

then she was scuttled.

She proved to be a refrigerator ship, 10, 123 tons, her cargo, 

5000 tons of frozen meat,

1,500 tons of buffer and lard, 17,000 boxes of eggs, and 1,500 

tons ofgrain- bound for

Durban, ex Fremantle. The aircraft and cutter were recovered in 

the dark.

The vessel seen by" Storstad" was also heading for Aflica, she 

was overtaken at night,

stopped, set alight, abandoned, from a crew of 89, 60 men and 1 

woman were rescued.

This ship, 'i)ort of Brisbane" 8,739 tons, also had 5,000 tons of 

meat, butter, cheese, and

3,000 tons of wool bound for UK.

She too, was scuttled, needing a torpedo to finish her off Kruder 

was now told on the

24th. of November, to move his operations to the Antarctic, he 

was to search from East to

West for the Whaling fleets, reporting again at the end of 

January, perhaps, then to move

his operations to India's West coast, to harry commerce, and lay 

mines.

'~inguin" was now given an all over coat of black paint.



On the 3Oth. of November, after an alert from "Storstad," a ship 

was followed, and

attacked at 2230 ( 10.3OPM) that night, hitting radio equipment, 

and her steering gear,

with the first salvo. It was '~ort Wellington," a sister to '~ort 

of Brisbane" 8,301 tonnage,

stuffed flill of meat, cheese, eggs, butter, steel, wool, and 

wheat, all bound for UK.

82 men and 7 women were transferred, and the ship regretft~lly 

scuttled, some of the food

cargo would have been most welcome aboard the Raider.

'~inguin's" slate, now read :-" 11 ships sunk, onboard, 405 

Prisoners."

As the high level of prisoners on board gave him many headaches, 

Kruder, now decided to







45



ship all prisoners back to Germany in "Storstad," she topped up 

"Atlantis" on her way,

gave 6.500 tons of diesel oil to the Tanker 'Nordmark," and 

reached the safety of

Gironde, on the 4th. of February. This ship had been a wonderf~~l 

capture, she had proved

a useftil auxiliary, as a minelayer, was a milch cow with her 

oil, a prison ship, and now was

back in Europe, ready to again be employed.



By the 17th. of December, "1'inguin" had entered the Antarctic, 

she had now sailed in both

the Arctic and Antarctic Oceans. Christmas eve, found the Raider 

reading traffic

emanating from members of the Anglo-Norwegian Whaling fleet, 

Kruder also learned he

had been awarded the Knight's Cross of the fron Cross.

Just after Christmas Day, the seaplane had to make a forced 

landing, a 3 hour, flill speed,

rescue dash had to be performed by "Pinguin" to recover it.

By the New Year of 1944, '~inguin' had placed herself in position 

North of the Whaling

Ships between them and any escape route to the open sea. Two 

groups were operating,

"Ole Wegger" with 6 catchers, under the lee of the ice, and 

'~elagos" and 7 catchers

exposed to bad weather. Radio/Telephone chatter between these two 

distinct Whaling

groups. indicated they felt themselves to be far removed from any 

war and its attendant

risks.



On the 3rd. of January, these two Mother ships discussed the fact 

that the Tanker was

now 2 weeks overdue, and '~elagos" was almost out of oil, but 

"Ole Wegger" still

retained fliel oil, but her Whale oil tanks were practically 

hill, and no flirther whales could

be processed. It was decided to give oil to "?elagos" and to fill 

her Whale oil tank~ from

"Ole Wegger," preparing her to be ready to go home.

The Tanker's Company in New York was contacted by radio, to learn 

that their ship

would still be delayed another 14 days.



On the 6th. of January, the Germans, reading all the local radio 

traffic, learned that

"Thorshammer" ( another Mother ship ) was 400 miles South West of 

the "Ole Wegger,"

one of her catchers wanted to send one last letter by "Solglint," 

from this traffic, it was

deduced that "Solglint" was a Norwegian 12,000 ton, Whale oil 

transport, and she would

visit "Thorshammer," "Ole Wegger," and finally '~elagos."

'~inguin' made tracks for "Ole Wegger' and bad weather 

intervened, whales previously

captured and flagged, were reported lost, prior to being towed 

for processing.

The weather improved, and Kruder waited patiently, he had decided 

to attack the two

large ships as they were alongside one another. By the 13th. of 

January, "Solglint" and

"Ole Wegger' were secured beside each other, slowly "?enguin" 

made her approach, out

of the West lute at night- a sudden snow squall shut out all 

visibility- when it cleared,

Kruder found himself slap on top of his intended victims.

Ile flow ordered both ships not to use radio, he kept his guns 

silent, so that the catchers

were not alerted to the impending action, lie wanted to sneak up, 

and grab the lot.

Two boats with prize crews were sent on their way.

At a crucial time, the engineroom reported that a cylinder cover 

had cracked, putting one

motor out of commission, frenzied repairs were put in train, the 

prize crews flashed the

heartening news:- "Ships in our hands."









46



"Ole Wegger" was 12,201 tons-on board, 5,500 tons of fliel, 7,000 

tons of whale oil, her

crew of 190 had stores to last another 10 weeks, "S olglint," 

almost the same size, still

carried 4,000 tons of tuel, 4,000 tons of whale oil, a crew of 

60, and accommodation for a

flirther 300. Four whale catchers, each 300 tons, were captured 

close by- a quite

magnificent haul.

Unfortunately, 3 catchers escaped, and Kruder hoped they could 

not alert

"Thorshammer,"- he sent off a signal to them, to continue their 

whaling efforts, and said : -

"The German Reich will pay for all your whales."

But, then, Who would believe him?



'~elagos" had still to be caught, meantime, she could still be 

heard, in vain, trying to reach

~~Solglint" and "Ole Wegger~' by radio.

By dusk at 2209 ( 10.29PM) lights were sighted- an ice field was 

in the path of'~inguin"

and her prey, all remained quiet, white light illuminating a busy 

scene of a factory ship

attending to the bounty from S catchers alongside her.

Right on midnight, '~inguin" arrived, prize crews in boats were 

lowered, within minutes,

all ships were under German control, this new capture, also a 

12,000 ton vessel, 800 tons

of luel still left, and her whaling oil tanks crammed flill- 

9,500 tons, a crew of2lO, again,

with sufficient provisions for 10 more weeks.

In all, 7 catchers, each 250/300 tons had been acquired, Kruder 

thought what valuable

Anti-Submarine craft they would make, if only they could be 

sailed back to Europe.

In 2 days, '~inguin" her Captain, her crew, had performed 

miracles, the most successflil

operation by any German Raider, throughout the war.

36,000 tons of ships, 20,000 tons of catchers, made up by 11 of 

them, 20,000 tons of

whale oil, and 10,000 tons of fliel oil. Still not satisfied, 

Kruder still wanted

"Thorshammer," but she never arrived, no doubt told to keep clear 

by the escaped

catchers.



Now, the Captain of"?inguin" was faced with the decision:- "What 

to do with all these

prizes?" "Ole Wegger" was very obviously a factory ship, and 

would have little chance of

running the blockade to reach a French held port. Her oil was 

transferred to "Solglint"- so

that she might shepherd the catchers back home. The two larger 

ships had enough oil to

take them from Antarctic waters to their Northern counterpart, 

and thence on to Europe.

SKL told Kruder to escort "Ole Wegger" and her catchers to meet 

"Nordmark," in the

Andalusia area, this was West of the Cape in the South Atlantic, 

and then to return to the

Indian Ocean, it was a long journey, but then, most of a Raider's 

life was spent covering

long distances around the world's oceans

'~Nordmark," was met, still towing "Duquesa" who was consuming 

her own booms, and

wooden decks in the flirnace, to maintain the refrigeration plant 

in operation.

The prizes were all sent borne, but one catcher, Poll X, was 

renamed "Adjutant," ( we

have seen her in operation earlier.) was converted into an 

Auxiliary Minelayer, and

retained. "')inguin," took on stores from "Duquesa," eggs, cows, 

410 sheep, oxtails,( an

unlikely item, one would think for a Raider, perhaps Knider was 

partial to Ox tail soup.)

They met "Alstertor,"on the 18th. of February, took on another 

aircraft, and sailed to

Kerguelen Island, staying from the 12th. to the 25th. of March, 

whilst there, the new





47



aircraft was assembled from all the parts taken on board, and the 

ship's holds were in dire

need of a good clean Out, and this task was achieved.

Kruder now sailed his ship off to area Siberia, deep in the 

middle and Southern segment of

the Indian Ocean. It had been planned to meet "Ketty Broevig," 

but she had been scuttled

to avoid capture. On the 4th. of March, 1941, she had been 

alongside the German supply

ship, "Coburg," receiving fresh water, they were in the North 

Western corner of the Indian

Ocean, when discovered by the Walrus aircraft from 

H.M.A.S."Canberra." The ships had

quickly separated, '~oburg," going North, and the Tanker South. 

"Canberra" went after

"Coburg," and the Walrus, trying to slow down 'Ketty Broevig," 

dropped 4 bombs, the

last two falling close by, in the ship's wake, she stopped, and 

as indicated earlier, scuttled.

"Canberra," keeping her distance, at about 9.5 miles, set 

"Coburg" alight with her main

armament gunfire, she, also set off scuttling charges, and 

subsequently sank.

It was Capain Farncomb's belief, that "Coburg," was, in fact, a 

Raider, his Walrus had so

described the ship on its first sighting from the air. He stayed 

well clear to avoid any

possible use of torpedoes against his ship, a very prudent 

action, one would have thought.



Some 215' g inch shells had been used, this drew some comment 

after his report of

proceeding arrived at Navy Office, and C in C East Indies, also 

put in "his two bob's

worth." In general, it was thought that if Farncomb had gone 

closer, he would have

identified ~~oburg" much earlier, and saved a lot of expensive 8 

inch shells.

At that time, Captain Burnett, was Deputy Chief of Staff; at Navy 

Office, he had seen, and

appended his initials to the correspondence about "Canberra" and 

her Captain's actions,

and knew what Board members had thought and said. He then went 

off to take command

of H.M.A.S."Sydney," and was faced with the same sort of 

situation when meeting

'Kormoran. "Did prior knowledge have any bearing on his actions, 

on that occasion?

Of Course we will never 'wow."



'?inguin," now met "Ole Jacob," at the rendezvous.



It was becoming tougher for Raiders to operate, the loss of 

'Ketty Broevig," plus other

ships in the supply chain, was one factor- but, in the main, 

independent sailings close to

British bases had been stopped. Targets were harder to locate, 

and the British had stepped

up their search coverage using flying boats out of Mauritius, 

Seychelles, and Diego

Garcia- radio directional finding equipment had been widely 

distributed, and fitted.

More Royal Navy Cruisers had been given the Indian Ocean, as 

their beat.



Knider thought he might need to swoop into an area, grab a few 

prizes, then, quickly

vacate the scene, thus disrupting trade, and enticing enemy 

Cruisers, on a search mission

into the arena just left. "Adjutant," (the former whale catcher) 

working North of

"1'inguin," on the 24th. of April, reported a ship, about 6-8,000 

tons, steaming at 11 knots

but, 10 hours later the Raider had still not caught up, and, it 

was early the next day before

she arrived- the enemy's radio aerials were soon shot away, and 3 

salvoes were enough,

the 70 crew members being taken on board. The 8,000 ton '~mpire 

Light," proceeding

from Madras to Durban, had ore and hides as her cargo, when 

shelled, her rudder was put

out of action, and she quickly scuttled. "?inguin," and her 

smaller auxiliary, continued to





48



co operate- and four days later, as evening approached, the 

seaplane, found a ship, off

raced the Raider, and after 5 hours another vessel came into 

sight, she needed to be

chased all night, before Pinguin," could bring her under fire at 

first light, quickly

destroying her radio, and steering gear, at a range of 5,000 

yards.

The ship stopped, was abandoned, the 110 people aboard "Clan 

Buchanan," all saved, she

had been carrying Army and Airforce equipment, from the US for 

Madras.

Scuttling was carried out, and valuable intelligence gathered- 

floating in the water was a

container which had failed to sink, it had cyphers, the war diary 

of H.M. S."Hawkins,"-

plus details of ships lost to mines off Newcastle, from the field 

layed by "Pinguin."



"Adjutant," was sent ahead to the rendezvous in area Siberia, as 

the Raider wanted to get

hold of a Tanker to use for minelaying, she made for the Persian 

Gulf, and, on the 7th. of

May, found the Tanker, ~'British Emperor." She was not able to be 

taken intact, and

although enveloped with flames, continued to churn out distress 

signals until she finally

sank. Roskill, in Volume 1 of his Official British History, "The 

War at Sea." made this

comment:- "For the first time, one of the many Raider reports 

wirelessed by attacked

Merchant vessels at imminent penI to themselves was to bring the 

retribution for

which they called."



H.M.S. "Cornwall," the British County class 8 inch gun Cruiser, 

read '~ritish Emperor's"

distress signals- her Captain, quickly assessed the best place to 

look for this attacker, and

her seaplane was soon catapulted to search the area, before long 

it found '~Pinguin."

It was the 8th. of May, 1941, and "Pinguin" was trying to be 

mistaken for the Norwegidil

"Tamerlane," "Cornwall's" Captain Mainwaring, shared doubts, like 

his counterpart

Captain Oliver in '~evonshire" did, on sighting "Atlantis'- both 

unsure that the ship in

their gun sights was friendly, or an enemy Raider.

"')inguin" kept up the charade, sending out her own Raider 

reports, claiming them to

emanate from "Tamerlane," all day, "Cornwall" and her seaplane 

remained in touch, and,

at 1715 ( 5.1 5PM ) the Cruiser ran in close to "1'inguin"- for 

Kruder, he knew: - "It was

now time to fight."

Without delay, he opened fire with his 5.9 inch guns, one round 

hit the Cruiser, putting her

steering gear temporarily out of action, but soon "Cornwall's" 

fire power fell on his target,

and at 1726 ( 5.26PM) the Raider blew up, 22 British or Indian 

prisoners, and 60

Germans survived. The method used by "Cornwall" drew adverse 

comment from the

British Admiralty, this time it was pertinent comment, as 

"Sydney" found to her detriment

when engaging £~ormoran" later that same year.

Surely, Captain Farncomb's prudence was vindicated, but it seems 

a Cruiser Captain was

damned if he closed a suspect ship to closely investigate its 

identity, and again damned if

he stood off in safety, "how very easy for any shore authority, 

to sit in judgement,

from a great distance, and of course in complete safety."



Kruder had proved to be an efficient, most innovative Captain, 

but he went down with his

ship, in company with most of his crew.



Stier. (Ship 23)







49



Stier," was a 4,418 ton ship- formerly the "Cairo," from the 

Deutche Levante Line, on the

12th. of May, 1942, under Captain Gerlach, she sailed from 

Rotterdam, pretending to be

"Sperrbrucher 171," one of the armed Merchant ships, the Germans 

used to sweep up

magnetic mines- and provide close cover to coasting convoys.

Escorted by 4 Torpedo Boats, and 16 Motor Mlnesweepers, she crept 

out of the Maas

estuary. The convoy deployed as follows:- 6 Motor Minesweepers in 

the van, then, one

mile astern, 10 more Motor Minesweepers, 600 yards astern, 

"Stier," plus the 4 Torpedo

Boats. As this convoy approached the Straits of Dover, radar 

warning was received to

expect attacks from British M.T.B's.

In the middle watch, at 0200, (2AM) the sound of motor boat 

engines was heard both to

starboard and astern Although star shell were thrown up, nothing 

was in sight.

At 0300, (3AM) as the Straits were entered- the Dover 14 inch 

batteries opened fire, two

or three salvoes fell short, again, M.T.B. engines were heard, 

and it was apparent that the

German convoy would soon be attacked. By 0325, (3.25AM) abreast 

of Gris Nez-

starshell from "Stier," flushed out British M.T.B.'s on both 

sides of the Germans, and the

starboard Boats attacked, they were, in turn, engaged, and one 

set alight, the port group

now closed in, but, one was hit, and clearly put out of control.

One of"Stier's" Torpedo Boat's was torpedoed, she exploded, 

breaking in two pieces,

and soon sank, "Seadler," another German Torpedo Boat was caught 

by a torpedo, she

too, broke in half and sank. The last 2 T.B.'s escorted "Stier" 

into Boulogne, then set off

to sea again, to search for survivors, 88 German sailors, and 3 

British from M.T.B. 220,

were collected, the German losses over 200.



As night fell, "Stier" left for Le Hayre, working down the coast 

to Gironde on the 19th. of

May, later that month she was, at last, able to leave European 

waters behind her, and

claimed her first success on the 4th. of June.

The British 4,986 ton "Gemstone," was fired on at 8,300 yards, 

the crew then removed,

and a torpedo completed the task of despatching another Allied 

ship to the Atlantic

depths. At 0915, (9.15AM) on the 6th. of June, the Panamanian 

"Stanvac Calcutta," of

10,170 tons was chased, 148 rounds of 5.9 inch ammunition used, 

but a torpedo was still

necessary to sink her. This Tanker was on her way to load oil at 

Aruba, close to the

Eastern entrance of the Panama Canal, 37 of a crew strength of 

52, were rescued, the

Captain and Radio operator, killed by "Stier's," first salvo.



Another 4 days, found "Stier" oiling from "Charlotte Schliemann," 

not without incident,

this operation difficult, the hose pipe connections to allow oil 

transfer, did not fit, and

needed much modification, then it was discovered that the 

supposed oil the Tanker was

pumping, was 98% water, a mistake made by the Tanker's Chief 

Officer, Gerlach was not

impressed, and fined him 150 Reichinarks- about 14 Pounds 

st~rling at pre war rates.



For the next 5 weeks, nothing of any interest happened, an 

intercepted signal from the

British "Tordene" showed she should pass close by, "Stier" 

waited, stopped in the dark-

nothing happened, it was too rough to use the seaplane- no 

action, and the Raider again

oiled. Kruder noted in his War Diary:- "That, as in Germany, 

people doing no work

had reduced rations, so did his pflsoners, on board."







50



As recorded in "Michel's" story, she met "Stier" on the 28th. of 

July, Ruckteschell came

on board, they quickly decided there was little point in staying 

in their present area. They

sailed Northwards, in a few days time, keeping about 20 miles 

apart, to widen the ocean

area they could scan. During this quiet period, "Stier's" 

Captain, made his gun crews

practise constantly, his reserve crews could manage 14 rounds a 

minute, and the best crew

achieved 18 rounds a minute, during one spell.

Still no action by the 9th. of August- and the two Raiders 

parted, within 6 hours, a one

ftinnel ship with 3 masts was sighted, steering a parallel 

course. "Stier" gradually worked

her way ahead, and then coming closer to her, at 17,000 yards he 

opened fire, and the

QQQ alarm was read. This ship was soon set on fire, and stopped, 

it was "Daihousie"

7,250 tons in ballast, a torpedo was used to sink her quickly

Gerlach was eager to quit the area, but another ship came in 

sight, after some doubt, she

was recognised as ~~4ichel," who had turned back to ascertain 

what was going on.



"Stier" now covered the Cape/River Plate route.

Gerlach wanted to round Cape Horn and work West of South America, 

but SKL chose to

ignore any of his requests- bad weather prevailed, although 

revolutions were recorded for

10 knots, his ship, only made good 3 knots.

In his diary, Gerlach grizzled about the lack of ships in the 

area to which he had been sent,

he noted:- "Despite sinking 3 ships that he had found, and 2 

tough Channel actions,

only 20 Iron Crosses, and second class at that, had been awarded 

to his ship after

100 days sea time."



On the 20th. of August, he heard that from '~Michel's" action 

with "Arab stan," 10

survivors had been rescued, his diary notes:- "The auxiliary 

Cruiser must in every case

make sure that no men of a crew prematurely escapes to friendly 

territory-

otherwise the enemy will get substantially accurate, if 

exaggerated, details of the

auxiliary Cruiser."



He inspected Gough Island, deciding it was suitable for a self 

refit, and "Charlotte

Schliemann," supplied enough oil to last until almost the end of 

November, by which time

he must have arrived at Gironde.



The 1St. of September was the 3rd. anniversary of war's 

commencement, again, Gerlach

was complaining in his diary, this time:- "On the lack of a 

message from the

Fatherland, to keep them in touch with home." he also reiterated 

his charge about

"The lack of decorations for his ship- this was a suitable date 

for awards, it would

assist his task of Command."

Nothing of importance from SKL, it would seem that Gerlach did 

not, perhaps, have

sufficient on his hands to flilly occupy his mind.



In the early morning of the 4th. of September, the lookout 

reported a ship, in sight, into

the sun, she was fast, about 21 knots, then from 12 miles away, 

she was identified as the

29,000 ton French liner, "Pasteur" operating under Allied 

control, she was much too fast

for "Stier" who hoped he had not been spotted.







51



Running out of coal, used to operate the fresh water 

manufacturing equipment Gerlach

was ordered to meet in early October, the supply ship "Blake."

He was also to meet '~jichel" again7 plus the blockade runner, 

"Tannenfels," moving from

Japan to a French port.

Both ships were met- and off went "Michel," to oil from 

~ckermark," "Tannenfels" gave

"Stier" the dubious gift of a Japanese seaplane,. it did not have 

a radio, or bomb racks, and

needed 3 to 4 weeks to prepare it for flying.



On the 27th. of September,. the ship was stopped,. to allow 

scraping and painting of the

ship's side, the wind started to rise, most men over the side at 

work, were recovered, but,

visibility had dropped to only 2 1/4 miles~ At 0852,. ( 8.52AM) a 

ship was suddenly

sighted on the starboard side. It seemed a large enemy steamer, 

it was ordered to stop,

and the armament quickly closed up,. "Stier" opened fire,. the 

enemy soon responded. At

first, she was thought to be an Auxiliary warship, but, in fact 

was the American Liberty

ship "Stephen Hopkins,." with a lonely 4 inch gun.

The American turned hard to port, and "Stier" hard to starboard 

to prevent any escape,

then "Stier" was hit by two shells,. the first, jammed her helm 

t6 starboard, and she started

to turn in a circle, the second, passed through the main engine 

room, cutting off all oil

supply to the engines,. they stopped. Gerlach wanted to fire off 

his torpedoes'. but all

electrics were out of action~ 44Stier" was able to maintain a 

good rate of gunfire, the

Liberty ship was set on fire,. and she stopped. A rain squall now 

hid both ships from each

other- when it cleared, flirther hits were made on "Stephen 

Hopkins,." both ships were

stopped and crippled.The American sank at 1000, (10AM )- 

Gerlach's ship had been hit

15 times in over just 10 minutes, the engine room WaS on fire, 

all fire fighting equipment

out of action,. burning oil was spreading around "Stier."



Buckets, tubs'. boats'. all filled with water, were employed in 

an attempt to quell the fires-

still they raged out of control, they edged towards Number 2 

Hold, here, 19 torpedoes

were stored, the engines were again started, but the rudder was 

useless. In another 10

minutes,.again the engines stopped.

Gerlach consulted his Officers, all agreed the ship could soon be 

blown apart. "Abandon

ship" was ordered, boats and rafts were lowered, "Tannenfels" 

came as close as

practicable- with cries of:- "Sieg Heil" and with cheers for 

Hitler and the Fatherland,

"Stier" was abandoned.

As "Tannenfels" gathered up the survivors, the ship blew up.



Three men died, 33 were wounded, and from "Stephen Hopkins," 15 

survived a 33 day

boat voyage to the Brazilian coast, but 42 of their shipmates had 

died in this" fight to the

death, sea battle."



Bordeaux was reached on the 8th. of November, with "Tannenfels" 

seeing "Stier' S" crew

home.



This battle was quite unique in sea warfare, the American could 

only fire a 31 pound shell,

whilst "Stier,." with flilly trained Naval gun crews had a 400 

pound broadside available to







52



hurl at their opponents at every salvo.

This ship was amongst the first 20 of 2,750 Liberty Ships that 

were produced in the USA

for use during WW2, she had been launched by Kaiser in 

California, on the 14th. of April,

1942, and delivered, ready to commence her service on the 11th. 

of May, the next month.

"Stephen Hopkins," was on the return journey of her Maiden 

voyage, coming from New

Zealand and Australia.



The American's single 4 inch guns crew, had succeeded in sinking 

the last but one Raider,

this incredible fight by ~~Stephen Hopkins" a total contrast to 

many very easy surrenders

made by Merchant ships when coming face to face with a German 

Raider.



Ensign Kenneth M. Willett of the US~Naval Reserve, was awarded 

the Navy Cross,

posthumously, and later, a Destroyer Escort, was named in his 

honour, both Captain Paul

Buck, and Cadet Midshipman Edwin 3. O'Hara were posthumously 

awarded the Merchant

Marine Distinguished Service Medal, finally, Buck and his Chief 

Mate Moczkowski had

Liberty ships launched, carrying their names.



The last words came from Petersen, a German:- "We could not but 

feel that we had

gone down at the hands of a gallant foe... that Liberty Ship had 

ended a very

successful raiding voyage. We could have sunk many more ships~" 

but he added:

"She may have sunk us, but she saved most of our lives. We would 

not have lasted

much longer out there those days, and there would not always have 

been a

"Tannenfels," around to pick us up."



Togo ( Ship 14)



After 'Komet," was sunk, one more effort was made by Germany to 

break out a Raider.

Ernst Thienemann, was the Captain, who had always been given the 

task of fitting Out all

those:-" Maraud ~ of the Sea."

In January of 1943, he was finally given a sea command, Captain 

of this last Raider.

"Togo," or Ship 14, of 5,600 tons, a former Deutche Africa Line 

ship, capable of 17

knots, Donitz was about to take over command of the Navy from 

Raeder, who threw this

last die, but was none too confident of its success.



"Togo," set out from the Baltic to Christiansand Norway, to 

complete her working up

programme, to clear the shallow swept channel through the coastal 

minefields, a high tide

was necessary She set a Northerly course, to make it look as if 

she was taking a

~nventional route via the Denmark Strait~ into the Atlantic.

With the onset of nightfall, she turned 180 degrees to head 

South, but quickly ran into a

strong Storm in Heligoland Bight, and shelter was sought at Sylt, 

then, on the 7th of

February, with a Minesweeping escort, they tried once more.

One sweeper struck a mine, and, with difficulty made it back to 

port, "Togo" battled on,

her Captain worried by the very shallow water under her keel, 

twice they grounded before

Dunkirk could be reached. The Raider had been stuck on a sandbank 

for most of the

daylight hours, only 300 yards away from her, whilst she lay 

stranded, four heavy "Flak









53



Batteries," were brought into position to protect '~ogo," but no 

enemy attack was

mounted.

All this agony for the new Raider Captain, and still he was not 

free, and through the

Straits of Dover. On the 10th. of February, he left Dunkirk, and 

with 12 Minesweepers as

escort, they managed to reach Gravelines en route to Calais, the 

guns of Dover brought

'~ogo" under fire for 40 minutes, in all, 33 salvoes, close fall 

of shells, but no actual hits.



An attack by the Royal Airforce followed, a lot of damage was 

caused by one hit, with

speed now reduced to only 6 knots, the Raider turned back to 

Boulogne to land wounded,

thus fortunately missing the search mounted by the Royal Navy 

with 5 of their Hunt Class

Destroyers, and 6 M.T.B's.

At Boulogne5 RAF attacks were fairly constant, 76 aircraft were 

reported to be attacking

this city, to escape, ~'Togo" left for Dunkirk at 0330 ( 3.30AM) 

On the 14th. of February,

once more she had to pass through the Dover barrage, this time 23 

salvoes were

negotiated) all missing their target.

Thienemann, must have wished he had retained his old shore job- 

at 0823, ( 8.23AM ) that

day, the ship reached Dunkirk, and, within 24 hours was ordered 

to return to the Baltic.



Donltz had at last realised this ship had no chance of making the 

channel passage to safety,

only 4 hours after being told to take "Togo" home, 18 bombers 

suddenly appeared and

attacked. Missing the Raider, they damaged the lock gates of the 

port, trapping the Raider

for the next 12 days, until repairs were made. Fog now kept them 

confined, but not the

RAF, they attacked, this time a bomb crashed into the after part 

of the ship- it penetrdted

right through, without exploding, but then burst in the water 

below "Togo."

Flooding took place in the aft part of the ship,but by some quirk 

of fate, the propellor and

steering gear still ~nctioned.



On the 27th. of February, she sailed to twice go aground on 

sandbanks outside the port,

both times her own power freed her, on heading for home, 8 

British MTB's, and Motor

Gun Boats attacked, but were repulsed by the escort. "Togo" just 

survived to get back to

Germany, although at this time 'Michel" was still out in the Far 

East, the rule of the

Raiders was finished.



"Togo" became a Fighter Direction ship, and post surrender of 

Germany, she became the

fleet auxiliary "Svalbard" in the Norwegian Navy.

Raider Captains named their own ships once they were clear and at 

sea. "Togo" would

have become 'Koronel," named after Spec's 1914 victory, but, she 

never did.



Differing Methods of Naming German Raiders. ( See Table 3.)



There were multiple ways of naming German Raiders: -



(1) The British Admiralty gave them a capital letter of the 

alphabet- A B C etc, but not

necessarily in the order these ships went to sea, but, in the 

order that the Admiralty

became aware of their identity.







54



(2) The original name of the ship, as a Merchant vessel. eg 

"Atlantis," had been

c~Goldenfels.~~





(3) The actual name that was given to the Raider, usually by the 

particular Captain who

was first in command. Rogge had christened his Raider, 

"Atlantis."





(4) A number prefaced by Ship, used by SKL in both signals and 

correspondence



(5) There was an HSK number, used to identi~ a Raider undergoing 

her conversion, and

In dockyard hands.



Conclusion.



In this wartime saga of the sea, we have traversed the whole 

gamut of human expcricnce-

and have witnessed many traits of mankind: - courage, 

foolishness, bravery, tenacity,

power, stubbornness, cunning, pride, thoroughness- the apparent 

differences in races: - eg.

between the Germanic and 13ritish people, discipline, boredom, 

endurance, the urge to

fight for survival, etc, etc.



The one lesson that needs to be heeded is :- "War is profligate 

with people, time,

money, and materiel, it is utterly futile. Peace is an investment 

for mankind, and

needs to be pursued at all costs."





Post Script.



The Liberall National Party Coalition was returned to Government 

with a greatly reduced

majority in the Lower House, but will not control the Senate, 

where minor parties hold the

balance of power.

The new Parliament will not meet in Canberra until early in 

November, 1998.

We have yet to learn whether the "Sydney" enquiry will be 

reconvened, and the fate of

the evidence taken prior to the last Parliament being dissolved.

Pre~s report about the Parliamentary Committee enquiring into the 

loss of HMAS

Sydney.



The Melbourne Age of Tuesday 23rd. of March 1999, reported that 

the Joint Standing

Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade that was asked in 

August 1997, to

examine the circumstances surrounding the sinking and loss of 

HMAS Sydney on the

evening of November 19, ~ 94 ~ has recommended to the Federal 

Government: -



(a) An attempt should be made to find the grave of the body of an 

unknown Australian

sailor found on a raft near Christmas Island in 1941 and buried 

on that island, and that

DNA testing should be used to try to identi~ him.



(b) That the Federal Government should provide up to $2 Million 

to match $2 Million in

public donations to pay for a search for the vessel off Western 

Australia



This Committee also found



(a) No convincing evidence that a Japanese Submarine sank the 

cruiser.



(b) Or that Australian survivors were machine gunned in the 

water.



(c) Or that the Royal Australian Navy, the Admiralty, or the 

Australian Government had

been involved in a conspiracy to hide the ship's fate from the 

public.



Finally, the Committee said, the law should be changed to give 

researchers access to some

21 6 kilometers of shelving, holding documents covering WW2, and 

held in archives, in

case they held clues to Sydney's fate.

Part of the mythology surrounding Sydney and her loss, held that 

there was "a box or a

vault somewhere, filled with all the mi~~ing Sydney papers."



"Whilst we cannot rule out material being misplaced (through 

human error ) there has

been no sign that material had been deliberately concealed."



We now await any reaction by the Federal Government to these 

recommendations and

observations from this Committee!





MJG. 25 March 1999.