German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin

Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser () which served as a commerce raider in the Second World War. The Pinguin was known to the as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British Royal Navy as Raider F. The name Pinguin means penguin in German.

Background German commerce raiding At first the had no plans to use commerce raiders, despite their use in the First World War and interwar thought about their use. Armed merchant cruisers of the type used by the British were too big, too hard to disguise and keep supplied with fuel. Ordinary merchant ships were a better prospect, especially those with a long range and were easier to alter to look like neutral and Allied ships to deceive their targets and Allied warships. Planning began soon after the declarations of war and by the end of September a first wave of six ships had been identified.

Each ship would need a crew of 284 men, six 150 mm guns, four 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, four torpedo tubes, provision for 400 mines and two seaplanes. The ships needed to be at sea for a year, cruising for . The first raider was to sail in November 1939 but it took until 31 March 1940 before the first raider sailed and July before all of the first wave had departed. By March 1941 the seven raiders in action had sunk or taken 80 ships of (GRT).

Formerly a freighter named , she was completed by AG Weser in 1937 and was owned and operated by the Hansa Line, Bremen. The ship was of gross register tonnage (7,766 GRT) was long, in the beam with a draught of and a speed of . In the winter of 1939–1940, she was requisitioned by the and converted to a warship by DeSchiMAG, Bremen. Her main armament of six 5.9-inch guns was taken from the obsolete battleship and covered by steel shutters fitted with counterweights. The secondary armament consisted of a 75 mm gun, a twin 37 mm anti-aircraft gun and two twin 20 mm anti-aircraft guns. In the holds were 300 mines and two Heinkel He 114 floatplanes.

Prelude North Sea Pinguin (under , later Ernst-Felix Krüder) was one of the first wave of raiders sent out by the Kriegsmarine, sailing from Gotenhafen on 15 June 1940 to operate in the Southern Ocean and the Indian Ocean. Arriving off the Danish Lollard on 17 June and met IV, a type with a specially-armoured hull designed to set off mines and two torpedo boat escorts. At the Kattegat IV departed and with two minesweepers, the ships entered the North Sea with an escort of a Dornier 18 flying boat and two fighter aircraft. Off Bergen in Norway the torpedo boats departed and with the minesweepers put in to Sørgulen Fjord. The crew disguised as the Soviet Petschura and then sailed for the North Cape in a severe storm. A British submarine surfaced and demanded that the ship identify itself but Krüder ignored them and sailed on; the submarine fired three torpedoes but they missed and escaped.

Atlantic Ocean

Krüder headed for Jan Mayen, intending to wait for poor weather in the Denmark Strait before attempting to break out into the Atlantic for a rendezvous with near the Cape Verde islands. The plan was assisted by the British diversion of ships from the Northern Patrol to take part in the evacuation of the British Expeditionary Force from Dunkirk evacuation which left the Denmark Strait unguarded. The ship reached Jan Mayen on 24 June but the expected fog had not formed. When the ship reached Greenland the fog returned and then the ship waited for three days for bad weather.

The ship entered the Atlantic on 1 July. After sailing past the Azores, the ship changed disguise to the Greek Kassos. On 17 July the rendezvous with U-A took place off the Saint Peter and Saint Paul Archipelago and eleven torpedoes were transferred to the U-boat. To conserve fuel U-A was taken in tow, towards Africa until close to Freetown but machinery trouble forced U-A to return to Germany, sinking four merchant ships en route with the torpedoes from Pinguin.

Operations South Atlantic On 31 July, near Ascension Island about off west Africa, a ship was sighted at about in clear weather. The ship was the British 5,538 GRT which turned away, transmitted an unknown attacker alert in Morse, "QQQQ" [– – • –] × 4, prepared the stern gun for action and raised the flag. Krüder give chase, trying to jam the wireless calls from the ship and gradually overhauled it, opening fire at a range of . Several hits on Domingo de Larrinaga started a fire near the bridge and killed four men; 32 members of the crew took to three lifeboats. The ship was boarded and then sunk by torpedo after a scuttling charge failed to explode.

Indian Ocean

Pinguin continued south and on 19 August passed the Cape of Good Hope into the Indian Ocean. On 26 August, off the coast of Madagascar, Krüder sent one of the Heinkel He 114B seaplanes, carrying British markings, to reconnoitre for ships. At the Norwegian tanker (6,901 GRT) carrying of petrol and of oil for Cape Town was seen. The pilot dropped a message purportedly from a British officer, that a German raider was in the area and ordered the ship to alter course and keep radio silence. The tanker followed the instructions, unknowingly heading for Pinguin away.

Action of 8 May 1941

Pinguin was sunk on 8 May 1941 by the British heavy cruiser . She was the first auxiliary cruiser of the Kriegsmarine to suffer this fate. Pinguin exploded when the mines stored on board were hit and detonated; 332 members of the crew and about 200 of the prisoners were killed. Cornwall rescued 60 crew members and 22 prisoners who had been taken from the 28 merchant ships the raider had sunk or captured.

Freighters attacked by Pinguin + Merchant ships sunk or taken as prizes by PinguinNameFlag GRTType Notes Domingo de Larrinaga 5,358 Freighter31 July 1940, 05°26'S, 18°06'W, torpedoed, 8† 30 6,901 Tanker 27 August 1940, sunk 34°S, 51°E, 32 British Commander 5,008 Tanker 27 August 1940, torpedoed 29°37'S, 45°50'E, 46 Morviken 7,616 Freighter 27 August 1940, 29°S, 51°E, scuttled Benavon 5,872 Freighter 12 September 1940, gunfire, 21† Nordvard 4,111 Freighter16 September 1940, 30°S, 60°E, 200 to Bordeaux Storstad 8,998 Tanker 7 October 1940, prize. Nowshera 7,920 Freighter 19 November 1940, 30°S, 90°E, scuttled, 113 Maimoa 10,123 Freighter 20 November 1940, 31°50'S, 100°21'E, scuttled, 87 Port Brisbane 8,739 Freighter 21 November 1940, 29°22'S, 96°36'E, torpedoed, 1† Port Wellington 8,303 Freighter 30 November 1940, 32°10'S, 75°E, gunfire, 82 Empire Light 6,828 Freighter 25 April 1941, scuttled Clan Buchanan 7,266 Freighter 28 April 1941, 05°24'N, 62°46'E, scuttled, 121 British Emperor 3,663 Tanker 7 May 1941, 08°30'N, 56°25'E, torpedoed, 45 8 surv

Norwegian whaling fleet + The Norwegian whaling fleet captured by Pinguin on 14 January 1941.!NameFlagGRTTypeNotes Ole Wegger 12,201 Factory ship 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Pelagos 12,083 Factory ship 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Solglimt 12,246 Supply ship 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Torlyn 247 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Pol VIII 293 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Pol IX 354 Whaler 14 January 1941, made an auxiliary, Adjutant Pol X 354 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XIV 247 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XIX 249 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew, sunk by Star XX 249 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XXI 298 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XXII 303 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XXIII 357 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew Star XXIV 361 Whaler 14 January 1941, dispatched to Bordeaux with prize crew, sunk by

Ships mined by Pinguin and Passat +Sunk by mines from Pinguin and PassatNameFlagGRTTypeNotes 10,846 Reefer ship7 November 1940, sank, 8 November, 1†, 55 surv 5,883 Freighter9 November 1940, 38°51'S, 143°39'E, 1†, 38 surv 1,052 Freighter 5 December 1940, ~7† FV Millimumul 287 Trawler 26 March 1941, 7†

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Bibliography

German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin

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