Preparations 

Kormoran auxiliary cruiser. Power plant and driving performance

Armament

Kormoran HSK-8 (Schiff 41)(rus. "Kormoran" listen)) - German auxiliary cruiser, laid down in 1938 as a merchant ship Steiermark. In less than a year of service, the raider sank 11 ships, in November 1941 he was killed in action with an Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, inflicting heavy damage on him, which led to the death of the latter.

General information

Kormoran(HSK-8) - the first of the German auxiliary cruisers of the so-called "second wave". The duration of the ship's service turned out to be a little less than a year.

But it was this ship that became the hero of a unique event - in a naval battle, she managed to inflict critical damage on an Australian light cruiser. Sydney. In the history of two world wars, there were no more cases when an armed merchant ship managed to sink an enemy ship of this class.

History of creation

September 15, 1938 in Kiel from the slipway of the factory Germaniawerft launched a large ship Steiermark. In total, the series consisted of two courts, Steiermark And Ostmark designed to work on the Far Eastern routes. After the new ship passed the tests, it was mobilized by the fleet and sent for conversion into a commercial raider.

From other merchant ships Steiermark differed in size, being the largest, and the presence of a diesel-electric power plant. The former bulk carrier received the number of auxiliary vessel 41, and in the documents began to be called "auxiliary cruiser No. 8" (HSK-8). The conversion of the ship to Deutsche Werft in Hamburg began in March 1940, after she left Thor.

On July 17, the commander, Korvettenkapiten Theodor Detmers, was appointed to the cruiser.

Power plant and driving performance

The ship was equipped with four 9-cylinder diesel engines, which allowed the ship to be accelerated to 18 knots.

Armament

After the conversion of the ship was completed, the armament consisted of six 150-mm guns, the guns were carefully hidden behind false hull sheets. Two 37 mm guns were mounted on the superstructure, covered with metal shields, and five single 20 mm anti-aircraft guns, which were located on hydraulic platforms and were hidden in the hull.

Also placed 6 surface and underwater 533-mm torpedo tubes. In addition, two Arado Ar 196 A-1 seaplanes and a high-speed minelayer LS-3 were placed on board.

In the mine compartment were 360 ​​mines of the anchor type EMC and 30 magnetic type TMV for the boat.

In addition, torpedoes for submarines U-37 and U-65 were loaded onto the ship, with which a rendezvous was planned.

Service History

Auxiliary cruiser-raider "Kormoran"

October 10, 1940 Kormoran, disguised as a Sperrbrecher, left Hamburg and headed for Kiel. The next morning, the ship was on fire in the electrical generator compartment, which was eliminated by the fire yards. Thereafter Kormoran went to Gotenhafen - the captain decided not to start repairs, but to spend it while preparing the team for the campaign. Four weeks were spent on repairs, and the ship conducted sea trials along with the newest battleship. Bismarck when the team managed to reach a speed of 18 knots. During the maneuvers, an accident occurred - a torpedo pilot fell overboard and drowned through an open torpedo port.

On November 20, 1940, Grand Admiral Raeder was on the ship with an inspection. In a conversation with him, Detmers said that the power plant needed further testing, however, the captain refused to Raeder's proposal to postpone going to sea. It is worth noting that in the future, engine problems haunted the raider constantly.

On December 3, 1940, the raider went to sea, on December 8 she entered the Norwegian port of Stavanger. On December 13, Vyacheslav Molotov, disguised as a Soviet cargo ship, headed for the Atlantic.

On December 29, 1940, with good visibility, the team tried to launch the aircraft for the first time, but as a result, it received damage from impacts due to pitching.

January 6, 1941 Kormoran located south of the Cape Verde Islands. Observers from the ship noticed a vessel on a collision course, which turned out to be Greek Anthony. Approaching three kilometers, Kormoran demanded to stop and not use the radio. The boarding party found out that the ship was carrying coal. 29 crew members were transferred to Kormoran, as well as 7 sheep, food supplies and several machine guns and ammunition found on board. Then Anthony sunk using demolition charges.

Sailors Kormoran

On January 18, 1941, at the latitude of the Canary Islands, another ship was spotted from a raider. It turned out to be a tanker british union. Kormoran, using the advantage in speed, approached and ordered to stop the ship. But the captain of the tanker did not obey, and at the same time they began to transmit a distress signal from him. FROM Kormoran open fire to kill. The sailors of the tanker were able to fire only 4 return shots. When the team began to leave the ship, the raider stopped firing. Demolition charges could not sink the ship, finished off with torpedoes.

January 29, 1941 Kormoran collided with refrigerator Africa Star. From a distance of about ten kilometers, Kormoran fired a warning shot, demanding to stop and not use the radio. Captain Cooper did not comply with the raider's demands. He turned the ship around and began to pick up speed, simultaneously sending out radio signals of the attack, but the radio operators Kormoran began to clog the air with interference. Detmers gave the order to open fire to kill. Africa Star has stopped. Due to severe damage, the ship had to be sunk. On the same day, another victim appeared - Eurylochus. The captain of which also disobeyed the order to stop. Picking up speed, the ship gave signals of attack and opened fire from the mounted stern gun. FROM Kormoran the artillerymen returned fire. In 10 minutes of a short battle, 67 shells were fired from the raider, while with Eurylochus only 4 that did no harm Kormoran. The boarding party found that the ship was carrying 16 dismantled heavy bombers for the British forces in Egypt. The ship, after being blown up, was again finished off with torpedoes.

Kormoran left the area of ​​events, where urgently, after radio interception were sent HMS Devonshire And HMS Norfolk who did not have time to intercept the Germans.

February 11, 1941 headed east - to the coast of Namibia, where it was planned to set up a minefield. But when Kormoran arrived at the site of the operation, bad weather did not allow the boat to be launched, and they refused to lay mines.

Raider Deck Pool

On March 15, 1941, a rendezvous with the submarine U-124 took place northeast of the rock of St. Peter and Paul. Bad weather prevented the loading of torpedoes and supplies. Heading south, the next morning we met with a heavy cruiser Admiral Graf Spee who returned to Europe.

On March 22, 1941, a British tanker was spotted Agnita. When ordered to stop, the tanker attempted to escape by radioing out a distress signal. Two shots from Kormoran successfully hit the engine room, which stopped the ship. The tanker was damaged, the Germans tried to sink it with demolition charges. But again I had to finish off the ship with torpedoes.

On March 25, 1941, a Canadian ship was sighted Canadolite. The raider, under cover of the fog, got close enough to order the ship to stop and not use the radio. Canadolite tried to evade persecution. Accurate shots of the raider stopped Canadolite. Having captured the ship, 16 people of the team, led by Leutnantzursee Blo, landed on Canadolite and took him to France.

On March 29, 1941, the arrival of submarines U-106 and then U-105 was planned. 13 torpedoes were unloaded from Kormoran.

On April 9, 1941, a British Craftsman. At a distance of 5 kilometers, the disguise was dropped. The British again disobeyed orders, and fire was opened from the raider. After 10 minutes of shelling on Craftsman a fire broke out. Attempts to sink Craftsman explosive charges did not bring success. Launched to the bottom by a torpedo.

british tanker Agnita

On April 12, 1941, a Greek ship was encountered Nicolaos D.L. Like the British, the Greeks disobeyed orders to stop and not use the radio. Opening fire, the raider stopped the Greek ship. Detmers gave the order to sink Nicolaos D.L. explosive charges. However, the ship loaded with timber stubbornly did not want to go to the bottom. We fired 4 shots from 150-mm guns below the waterline, but the situation did not change. Nevertheless, Detmers did not use torpedoes and ordered to leave the attack area.

On April 24, 1941, after meeting with a tanker, having replenished supplies, Kormoran went to the southeast.

On June 26, 1941, a Yugoslav ship was spotted Velebit. The shelling of the ship caused a fire. Leaving the burning ship Kormoran went to the southeast. An Australian ship was met a few hours later Mareeba who disobeyed orders to stop. Aimed fire from the raider destroyed the radio room and the engine room. Since the ship was already beginning to sink, they finished it off with explosive charges, and hastily left the attack area.

September 23, 1941 watchmen noticed a Greek ship Stamatios G. Embirikosе. The Greeks put up no resistance. Detmers, wanted to adapt the ship as an auxiliary minelayer, but as it turned out, there was only enough fuel to reach the port. It was decided to sink with explosive charges.

October 16, 1941, rendezvous with a supplier Kulmerland. Fuel, supplies and mail received, prisoners transferred.

light cruiser HMAS Sydney

On November 19, 1941, in conditions of excellent visibility, smoke was noticed. A little later, having risen to the bridge, Detmers realized that a warship had been seen. It turned out to be an Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. The situation was hopeless. In an attempt to confuse the enemy and dragging out time, the radio operators sent a distress signal over the radio about an attack on the merchant of an unknown ship.

The cruiser, meanwhile, approached, pointing at Kormoran nose guns. HMAS Sydney already caught up Kormoran and ended up on its traverse on the starboard side at a distance of 900 meters. For ongoing requests Sydney in response, the Dutch flag was lowered, the flag of the Kriegsmarine was raised, and camouflage shields were removed in a few seconds. Kormoran opened fire. Volleys from 37-mm machine guns and three 150-mm guns covered the bridge Sydney, causing damage to the fire control system. Two torpedoes were fired from the starboard craft.

Artillery Sydney opened inaccurate return fire due to the blinding sun. The hit of one of the torpedoes damaged the bow towers, the cruiser began to fall on the bow. Both ships continued to fire, but only the aft turrets fired from Sydney. The ships were on fire. In flames, Sydney went south, with a trim on the nose, having received severe damage. When it got dark, Detmers ordered a ceasefire, at which time Sydney At a 5-knot course, he continued to go south while being approximately 9 kilometers away. With Kormoran, the glow was observed until about 22-00.

Doom

During the battle with the cruiser Sydney, artillery Kormoran fired about 550 150-mm shells, of which, according to some German sources, more than 50 hits. On board the raider, the fire intensified, the fire approached the mine compartment. Fregattenkapiten understood that the ship could not be saved, and gave the order to abandon the ship, as well as mine the fuel tanks.

During the evacuation, the deflated inflatable raft leaked and capsized. All who were on it - about forty people, mostly wounded - drowned. Having received the news that the mine compartment was beginning to fill with smoke, Detmers, having taken the flag of the ship, was the last to leave the ship at 24.00.

Explosive charges went off 10 minutes later. The detonation of mines literally turned the stern part into dust and at 0.35 the raider quickly sank at the point with coordinates 26°05′46″ south latitude 111°04′33″ east longitude. 320 sailors remained on the waves. 80 people died - 2 officers and 78 sailors.

Sunk and captured ships

For a partial year of her service in World War II, auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HKS-8) sank and captured 11 ships, the total tonnage of which amounted to about 70,000 tons

commanders

  • July 1940 - November 1941 - Korvettenkapiten Theodor Detmers

Awards

For the sunken Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney the commander was awarded the "Knight's Cross", the sailors of the calculation of the 37-mm starboard guns were awarded the "Iron Cross"

see also

Notes

Literature and sources of information

Literature

  • Jesse Russell, Ronald Cohn Search for Hmas Sydney and German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran. - Book on Demand Ltd., 2012. - 88 p. - ISBN 5511144622
  • Galynya V.A. Hitler Raiders. Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine. - EKSMO, 2009. - 192 p. - ISBN 978-5-699-38274-3

Links

  • History of the ship at https://www.kriegsmarine.ru (eng.)
  • Page about the ship on the English-language Wikipedia (eng.)
  • Ship service history at https://www.bismarck-class.dk (eng.)
  • Rescue sailors with Kormoran
  • Combat Log (English)

Image gallery

    Commander Theodor Detmers

    Surviving sailors of the raider

    Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

    Cruiser in 1940

    Completion of the dry cargo ship

    Longitudinal section of the vessel

    technical drawing Kormoran And Sydney

    Gun on the deck of a sunken ship

    Steiermark at the shipyard

    Arado lowered from the cruiser on a crane

    Kormoran disguised as Soviet Vyacheslav Molotov

Video
Aircraft carriers Graf Zeppelin X I PV Jade PV Elbe XV Seydlitz XV II PV
battleships Scharnhorst Bismarck P P
armadillos Deutschland

"Kormoran"

"Kormoran" became the first of the German auxiliary cruisers of the "second wave". His career was short - a little less than a year. However, it was this raider who had unique success - in battle he managed to inflict mortal damage on the Australian light cruiser Sydney. The history of two world wars does not know more cases when an armed merchant ship managed to defeat an enemy ship of this class.

On September 15, 1938, in Kiel, a large (capacity 8736 brt) Steiermark motor ship, built by order of HAPAG, was launched from the stock of the Deutsche Werft plant. In total, the series consisted of two ships, Steiermark and Ostmark, intended for work on the Far Eastern routes. After a completely new vessel passed construction tests, it was mobilized by the fleet and assigned for conversion into a commercial raider. The Steiermark differed from its future colleagues in size, being the largest of them, and the presence of a diesel-electric power plant. The former bulk carrier received the number of auxiliary vessel 41 ("Schiff-41"), and in the documents became known as "auxiliary cruiser No. 8" (HSK-8). Re-equipment work at the Deutsche Werft in Hamburg began in March 1940, after the Thor left it. On July 17, a commander was appointed to the raider - the thirty-seven-year-old corvette captain Theodor Detmers.


Theodor Detmers.

Born August 22, 1902 in Witten in the family of a merchant. He joined the fleet in April 1921. His track record includes service on the battleships Hannover and Alsace, the training sailing ship Niobe and the cruiser Berlin. In October 1925 he received the first officer rank of lieutenant and was assigned to the light cruiser Emden. In July 1927, Detmers was already a lieutenant. A year later, a new ship - the destroyer "Albatross", on which the young officer spent two years. This was followed by a period of service on the coast, until in October 1932 he was transferred to the light cruiser Cologne. On it, he participated in a training trip to the Far East and became a lieutenant commander. In October 1938, already the corvette captain Detmers came to the newest destroyer "Hermann Schömann" (Z-7), commanding which he met the beginning of the war. For participation in Operation Yuno in June 1940, he was awarded the Iron Cross 1st class, and when a month later the destroyer began to be overhauled, the officer was happy to be assigned to the raider, which had been his dream since childhood. The experience of serving on the Sheman, which had capricious and often out of order high-pressure steam boilers, allowed him to conclude: "There are no hopeless situations - there are people who solve them." These words became the motto of Detmers during the campaign.


Arriving in Hamburg, Detmers set to work. Hurrying to complete the preparations for the campaign as quickly as possible, he refused equipment that was not yet ready, or took what was given. In particular, it was on HSK-8 that it was first planned to install a radar, but due to constant breakdowns, it had to be left on the shore. Not having received automatic anti-aircraft 37-mm guns, the corvette captain took anti-tank guns instead. Unlike Rogge and Weier, who replaced half of their teams, Detmers, who until then had known only an officer for the economic part, decided to make do with the people provided to him. Work at the shipyard was in full swing, interrupted for a while when the Schiff-41 was included in the reserve for Operation Seelewe. In mid-September, when there were still numerous working personnel on board, preliminary sea trials were carried out. Finally, on October 9, 1940, the raider became part of the German Navy as Kormoran (Cormorant). According to Detmers, he could not come up with a suitable name, and then his friend Günther Gumprich, the future commander of Thor and Michel, helped with the choice.

On October 10, the raider, disguised as a Sperrbrecher, left Hamburg and crossed into Kiel. On the morning of the next day, an emergency happened on the ship - a fire broke out in the compartment of electric generators, extinguished by fire shipyards. Then the Kormoran went to Gotenhafen - Detmers decided not to dock for repairs, but to spend it during preparations for the campaign and training trips to the sea. Four weeks later, the repair work was completed, and the raider conducted sea trials on a pair with the newest battleship Bismarck, while reaching a speed of 18 knots. During the exercises, an accident occurred - torpedo pilot Erich Demniky fell overboard through an open torpedo port and drowned. On November 20, the ship was visited with an inspection by Grand Admiral Raeder, who was very pleased with what he saw. In a conversation with him, Detmers reported that the power plant had not been fully tested, but when the commander offered to postpone going to sea, the corvette captain refused.

The final armament of the raider consisted of six 150-mm guns, one captured 75-mm signal cannon, two 37-mm and five single 20-mm anti-aircraft guns. The firepower was supplemented by surface and underwater torpedo tubes. There were also auxiliary combat units - two Arado Ar-196А-1 seaplanes and a high-speed boat - a mine layer LS-3. In the mine compartment there were mines - 360 anchor type EMC and 30 magnetic type TMV for the boat. In addition, torpedoes for submarines U-37 and U-65 were loaded on board, a rendezvous with which was already planned during the campaign.


At 14.05 on December 3, the Kormoran, again disguised as a Sperrbrecher, left Gotenhafen forever. Initially, after discussing possible ways to break through with G. von Rukteschel, who had already returned from the campaign on the Widder, Detmers planned to enter the Atlantic through the English Channel. However, having received information from the meteorological vessel about the ice situation in the area of ​​the Danish Strait, he changed his decision in favor of the latter. On December 7, when the raider reached Skaggerak, he was met by the destroyers T-1, T-5 and T-12, but severe weather forced the small ships to leave for the base in the afternoon. On the evening of the 8th, the cruiser arrived at the Norwegian port of Stavanger, leaving the next day. On December 11, the turn came for the first time to change the disguise, and a day later the Kormoran turned into the Soviet ship Vyacheslav Molotov. Having withstood a fierce storm, during which the waves tossed the ship so that the crew renamed it "Rollmoran" (from the word "rollen" - to swing), the 13th raider went to the Atlantic.

Now his path lay to the south. According to the original order, "Kormoran" was supposed to start hostilities only in the Indian Ocean, but then the command changed its mind and allowed Detmers to hunt already in the Atlantic. Initially, fortune turned against the corvette captain, and for several weeks HSK-8 did not meet a single enemy vessel, with the exception of the “neutrals”. During this period, the engine team experimented with the power plant of the ship in various operating modes. Based on the test results, it was concluded that the fuel should be enough for seven months of sailing without refueling. On December 29, in conditions of good visibility, they tried to launch a seaplane for the first time, but due to pitching, it received damage from impacts. I must say that the launching of seaplanes and boats turned out to be a real problem due to narrow hatches, which affected the frequency of their use.

Only on January 6 did the first success come to the raider, located south of the Cape Verde Islands. Observers noticed a ship on a collision course, which turned out to be the Greek Antonis (3729 brt, 1915) of the Lemos company. Approaching up to three kilometers, the Germans demanded to stop and not use the radio. The boarding party found that the ship was carrying 4800 tons of selected coal from Cardiff to Rosario (Uruguay) on a British charter. 29 people, 7 sheep, food supplies and several machine guns with ammunition found on board were transferred from the coal miner to the auxiliary cruiser. Venture "Antonis" let to the bottom of the subversive charges. Although the Kormoran had specially equipped cabins for captured women and ship captains, the Greek skipper was placed with his people. Detmers, unlike the rest of the raider commanders, preferred that the captains be kept with the teams - such a policy, from his point of view, was to ensure discipline among the prisoners.

Meanwhile, the ship began to have problems with the bearings in the engines. Senior mechanic captain-lieutenant Herman Shter reported to the commander that three of them had burned down. From his point of view, the WM10 babbitt used to fill the bearing shells was too soft and wore out very quickly, causing them to overheat and burn. Detmers contacted the command and asked to find an opportunity and transfer a harder WM80 brand babbit to the raider. Looking ahead, we can say that the problem with the bearings was not solved until the death of the Kormoran.

On January 18, when the raider was at the latitude of the Canary Islands, observers noticed another vessel. The tanker "British Union" (6987 brt, 1927) of the London "British Tanker Company" was sailing in ballast from Gibraltar to Trinidad and Aruba. Kormoran, using the advantage in speed, approached and ordered to stop. However, Captain L. Atthill did not obey, and distress signals began to be transmitted from the tanker. Then the Germans opened fire to kill. The British managed to fire only four shots in response. At 19.44, when the crew began to lower the boats, the raider stopped firing. Initially, they tried to put the ship to the bottom with explosive charges, but it refused to sink. Then Kormoran finished him off with torpedoes. Of the 45 people, only 28 were captured, taking with them a parrot and a tame monkey. Detmers refused to look for the rest, fearing British ships. In this he was right. Having received a signal about the attack from the British Union, the Australian auxiliary cruiser Araua rushed to the place of attack at full speed, from which they even managed to notice the searchlight of the German ship. The Australians managed to rescue eight more people from the crew of the tanker, who shed light on the death of their ship. After Kormoran revealed that he was in Atlantic waters, he received the designation Raider G from the British Admiralty.

Having sunk the British Union, Detmers left the dangerous area and went south. After 11 days in foggy weather, it was the turn of the refrigerator "Afrik Star" (11900 brt, 1926), which belonged to the British "Blue Star Line". He went from Buenos Aires to the UK with 5790 tons of meat and 634 tons of butter. At 13.16, a large ship was noticed on the raider, going on a collision course. When the distance was reduced to ten kilometers, the Germans fired a warning shot and also demanded not to use the radio. The English captain C. R. Cooper did not obey the demand. The refrigerator turned away, began to pick up speed, and radio signals about the attack rushed into the air, which the raider's radio operators immediately began to jam with interference. Although the message was not received in Freetown itself, several ships in the vicinity were able to parse and duplicate it. Then Detmers ordered to open fire to kill. Four minutes later, the transport began to stop, and lifeboats began to be lowered from it. This time there were no casualties, 72 crew members and 4 passengers (two of them women) became prisoners. Although the African Star was a very valuable prize, it had to be finished off due to the serious damage it received. Demolition charges were not enough, so for speed it was sunk by a torpedo. At 15.18 the British ship disappeared under the waves, and the Kormoran sailed at full speed to the south-west.


As a reward for the first person to spot an enemy ship (whether an officer or a sailor), Detmers, who imposed a ban on the use of hard liquor for the duration of the voyage, determined a bottle of champagne. The second condition was to be the sinking of transport. The officer of the watch, who was the first to notice the Afrik Star, had not even had time to really enjoy the prize he had received, when at 18.25 the silhouette of the next victim appeared in the fog. The captain of Alfred Holt & Co.'s British Urailocus (5723 GRT, 1912), A. M. Caird, disobeyed orders to stop. He ordered to increase the speed, give a distress signal on the radio and open fire from a gun mounted on the stern. At 18.31 German gunners began firing, concentrating on the enemy's cannon. The battle lasted nine minutes, the British managed to respond to 67 shells from the Kormoran with only four, without causing him any damage. The boarding party discovered that a merchant sailing from Liverpool to Takoradi was carrying sixteen dismantled heavy bombers for the British forces in Egypt. Having placed explosive charges, the Germans left the ship. Meanwhile, 43 people (four of them were seriously injured) from the transport team, led by third officer W. Povey, were taken on board the raider. After undermining the charges, the "British" was sinking too slowly, and the corvette captain once again ordered a torpedo to be fired. At that moment, a tragedy occurred: suddenly one of the boats appeared out of the darkness, intending to land on board exactly in the place where the "eel" had been sent. As a result of the explosion, all the people who were in the boat died, and the Uraylocus itself sank. Having sunk the transport, Kormoran immediately left the area, heading to the South Atlantic for a rendezvous with the Nordmark tanker. In the meantime, the signals from the Afrik Star and the Uraylocus caused a real storm on the air, and the heavy cruisers Devonshire and Norfolk headed for the place of death of the ships, but they did not have time to intercept the raider. Captain Caird and 27 other sailors were rescued the next day by the Spanish ship Monte Teide. This brings the death toll to 11.


At this time, the Cormoran was heading south. Bearing problems began again, and Detmers sent RWM another message asking for a babbit. On February 7, at point "F" of the "Andalusia" zone (27 ° S, 12 ° W), a meeting was held with the Nordmark and the refrigerated vessel "Dukeza", previously captured by the heavy cruiser "Admiral Scheer". The next day, from the first raider pumped 1339 tons of fuel, and from the second received 100 beef carcasses and 216,000 eggs. In the opposite direction, 170 prisoners proceeded to the tanker. At parting with them, Detmers allowed himself to relax a little. After drinking beer with the captains of the sunken ships, he thanked them for the absence of discipline problems among the captured sailors.


On February 11, Kormoran left the hospitable Andalusia and headed east - to Walvis Bay on the coast of Namibia, where he planned to set up a minefield by boat. However, when the raider arrived in the area of ​​operation, bad weather prevented the LS-3 from being launched, and the staging had to be abandoned. Then on the 18th, diesels No. 2 and No. 4 failed due to another bearing failure, and the corvette captain urgently requested seven hundred kilograms of WM80 brand babbit from RMB. The command promised to send the required with a submarine or a blockade breaker. These problems put an end to mining plans for South African ports. Two days later, the mechanics, having finished repairing engine No. 2, took up No. 4, but the next morning the newly repaired diesel engine failed again. Detmers was rescued by his colleague - the commander of the Penguin, Captain zur See Kruder. February 25 at the point with coordinates 26°S. and 2°30? h.d. a rendezvous of two raiders took place. 210 kg of babbit were handed over from Penguin, which should have been enough for the first time, in addition, the teams exchanged films. The next day, having agreed on a new meeting - June 1, already in the Indian Ocean, the ships parted.

The Kormoran continued to cruise in the South Atlantic, waiting for the arrival of the submarines, which were supposed to deliver the long-awaited babbit. The corvette captain was also going to get rid of the torpedoes that had been destined for U-37 and U-65 at the time, with which the rendezvous never took place. The sea all this time remained deserted and the team, with the exception of the mechanics, over and over again casting new bearings and repairing engines, was frankly bored. By March 6, the power plant was brought into full order, but in the evening the bearing in the ill-fated diesel engine No. 2 cracked again. The breakdowns continued further. Now the raider used no more than three diesels at once, since one was constantly under repair. Detmers noted in KTV that going to sea on a completely new ship, the propulsion system of which had not passed extensive tests, turned out to be his mistake. Two days later, the raider crossed the equator line from south to north, intending to hunt in the area where ships from the United States left the neutral zone, heading for Freetown.

March 15 to the north-east of the rock of St. Peter and Paul at a point with coordinates 7 ° N. latitude. and 31°W a rendezvous with U-124 (captain-lieutenant Georg-Wilhelm Schultz) took place. The weather, however, prevented an exchange of torpedoes and supplies. Then both units of the Kriegsmarine moved south, where the next morning they met with the heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer, which was returning to Europe after raiding in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. Having visited the commander of the "Scheer" captain-zur-see Kranke, Detmers received from him copies of the KTV "Atlantis" and "Thor". After parting with the cruiser, the boat and the raider again headed north, where torpedoes, supplies and fuel were transferred to U-124 in calmer waters. At that time, divers were able to fully feel the comfort on board a large ship, swimming in the pool built on the deck of the Kormoran, and then enjoying beer and watching movies. Having finished all the planned activities, the raider and the boat parted.


The Kormoran's inconclusive cruising had been going on for almost two months when, on a foggy morning on March 22, lookouts finally spotted a small armed tanker in ballast heading west. Agnita (3552 brt, 1931) of the British Anglo-Saxon Petroleum Company - Royal Dutch Shell was heading from Freetown to Caripito (Venezuela). Having received the order to stop, the tanker tried to escape, while sending radio signals about the attack, but two accurate hits on the engine room forced it to stop. The crew of 38 people was transferred aboard the raider, and they tried to sink the damaged ship with explosive charges. It sank reluctantly - nine 150-mm shells did not help either. And only a torpedo sent the stubborn to the bottom. The most valuable booty was a map of minefields found on the Agnit in the harbor of Freetown and adjacent areas, indicating safe passages. Since the radio operators convinced the commander that they had successfully jammed the signals for help from the tanker, he did not change the area of ​​\u200b\u200boperation.

Three days later, in almost the same place (coordinates 2°30′ N and 23°30′ W), at 8 a.m., another armed tanker in ballast was seen through the morning fog, heading towards South America . The raider, who crept up at close range under the cover of fog, ordered to stop and not use the radio, but, as in the case of the Agnita, he did not recover and, transmitting signals for help, tried to evade persecution. Detmers wanted to capture it as a prize and therefore ordered his gunners to aim more carefully so as not to cause significant damage. Several accurate volleys put everything in its place. The Canadian tanker Canadolight (11309 brt, 1926), owned by Imperial Oil from Montreal and heading from Freetown to Caripito with a crew of 44 sailors, became the prey of Kormoran. The corvette captain sent him a prize team of 16 people under the command of Lieutenant zur See Blo. The old crew remained on the ship almost completely, with the exception of the captain, chief engineer and artillery crew commander, who were transferred to the raider. Since the tanker did not have very much fuel, Detmers gave the order to von Bloh, in case of a shortage, to refuel from the Nord-Mark. On the same day, the Canadolight left for the shores of France, safely reaching the mouth of the Gironde on April 13. Kormoran herself was going to meet with the tanker a little later.

March 28 at 7.33 observers "Nordmark", located at a point with coordinates 2 ° 52? NL and 30°58? h.d., noticed through the rain the silhouette of an approaching raider. Meeting with the captain of the tanker Grau, Detmers learned that the Canadolight did not show up that way. The next day, the arrival of submarines was planned. U-106 appeared first, then U-105 (Lieutenant Commander Sheve), which was eagerly awaited on the cruiser - on board was the long-awaited babbitt. In the evening, the submarines left and returned only in the morning. 13 torpedoes and a copy of the Freetown minefield map were transferred from Kormoran to U-105, receiving in return a babbitt, which turned out to be not too many. At 17.30 Detmers parted ways with his compatriots and went to meet another supply vessel, the tanker Rudolf Albrecht, which left Tenerife on March 22. The rendezvous took place on April 3rd. To the chagrin of the mechanics, there was no babbit on the tanker. Instead, he received fresh vegetables and fruits, German newspapers and illustrated magazines, English and Spanish cigars, a live pig and a puppy. In turn, the corvette captain supplied the Albrecht with a sextant, a chronometer, a boat from the Africa Star, and several crates of beer. Saying goodbye to the tanker "Kormoran" went to the south-east.

On April 9, observers noticed the smoke of a ship moving on the same course as the raider astern on the horizon. It turned out to be the British "Craftsman" (8022 brt, 1922) of the company T. J. Harrison, which went from Rosyth to Cape Town. Detmers gradually slowed down until the victim approached within five kilometers. Then the disguise was dropped. Once again, the British disobeyed the order to stop and not use the radio, after which the Cormoran opened fire. The shelling lasted ten minutes and caused a heavy fire on the cargo ship. Of the 51 members of the team, five were killed, several people, including the captain, were injured. After the prisoners were on board the Kormoran, the boarding team tried to put the Craftsman to the bottom with demolition charges. However, he did not intend to sink at all. The whole thing turned out to be in the cargo that was in the hold of the transport - a giant anti-submarine network for the harbor of Cape Town. And only a torpedo that hit the stern was able to force the "British" to dive. Floats from the net that surfaced for a long time interfered with navigation in the Central Atlantic, as they were mistaken for floating mines from passing ships.

The next day, radio operators received a radiogram that brought good news - the command reported that Theodor Detmers had been awarded the rank of frigate captain for services to the Reich.


On April 12, near the eastern border of the Pan American Neutral Zone, it was the turn of the Greek ship "Nikolaos D. L." (5486 brt, 1939) of the company N. D. Likyardopoulos. It was traveling with a load of timber from Vancouver to Durban. After the observers noticed smoke on the horizon, the raider slowly sneaked up to his victim for a long time, changing his course 22 times. When the newly minted frigate captain was convinced that the oncoming traffic did not pose a threat, the masks were dropped. However, the Greeks did not obey the order to stop and not use the radio, and the Kormoran had to fire. Thirty-eight sailors added to the number of prisoners. Since the steering gear and the bridge of the Greek merchant were seriously damaged during the shelling, Detmers ordered to sink it with explosive charges. But the ship loaded with timber sank too slowly. The situation was not corrected by four 150-mm shells fired under the waterline. However, Detmers decided not to waste torpedoes and left the attack site, hoping that the Nikolaos D.L. will gradually sink on its own.

After that, the Kormoran headed south for refueling from the Nordmark. On April 17, another ship was noticed from the raider, but they did not attack it, as they were already approaching the meeting point. Arriving on the 19th at the rendezvous point (27°41? S/12°22? W). the raider found the Atlantis and the supply Alsterufer there. Detmers really hoped to get good news from Rogge. He knew that the Atlantis had previously met with the Dresden, and according to the RWM, it was this ship that was carrying such a precious babbit on board. But the colleague disappointed the frigate captain, since the babbitt was on board another blockade breaker, the Babitong. On April 20, Nordmark also showed up, from which more than 300 tons of fuel were pumped the next day. Mail followed in the opposite direction, four wounded from the Craftsman, including the captain, as well as various supplies and equipment for submarines that were on board the raider. On the same day the tanker left. The Kormoran remained at this point in the Atlantic for another three days. During this time, the ship's hull was repainted black, and two hundred 150-mm shells were received from the Alsterufer. In turn, the raider sent 77 prisoners to him. Meanwhile, Detmers managed to discuss with Rogge the tactics of operations in the Indian Ocean, where the Cormoran was heading on the orders of the command, and examined the Atlantis. On April 24, the raider said goodbye to his compatriots and left for the southeast.

Having spent some time unsuccessfully on the West African trade routes, on May 1–2, the Kormoran rounded the Cape of Good Hope 300 miles to the south and entered the Indian Ocean, which welcomed another German raider with a strong storm. As we moved north, the weather began to improve. By this time, there was a shortage of vitamins on Kormoran. Of the fresh vegetables, only one onion was available, and Detmers complained to KTV that the ship "stinks like the Balkans." Along the way, they changed their disguise, and now the raider has become similar to the Japanese ship Sakito-Maru. On May 9, they learned the sad news about the death of the Penguin, after which the frigate captain received an order from the RWM to go to the Falchen point (14 ° S / 73 ° E), where the Penguin reconnaissance was waiting for him » Adjutant and supply ship Alstertor. The Kormoran got there five days later. When meeting with the commander of the "Adjutant" Lieutenant-zur-see Hemmer, Detmers refused to join the voyage. The frigate captain explained this by the fact that his tactics did not involve the use of a "second eye" in the form of an ex-whaler, who barely developed 14 knots. The commander of the raider was dissatisfied with another command order, according to which he had to refuel the supply and scout with fuel, spending more than 200 tons on this. A caustic entry appeared in the journal that using an auxiliary cruiser as a tanker was too expensive. Then several people were taken from the Alstertor to replace those who had left for the Canadolight, including two prize officers, after which they parted with the supplier the next day.

For almost a month, the raider operated in vain in a triangle roughly bounded by the Chagos archipelago, Ceylon and Sabang. This led to the appearance among the crew of a sad joke that two letters in the name of the last sunken transport "Nikolaos D. L." means in German "der Letzte" - "the last". On June 5, the camouflage was changed again on the Kormoran, turning it into the Japanese Kinka-Maru transport. Twice they managed to send a seaplane for reconnaissance, but even that did not find anything. On the night of June 12-13, the raider met a brightly lit ship heading for Colombo, which the Germans considered American. On the 15th it seemed that fortune smiled on the frigate-captain. The observers noticed a medium-sized passenger ship in the aft sector, sailing on the same course as the Kormoran. Detmers ordered the speed to be gradually reduced in order to let him get closer. When the unknown was already close, suddenly, due to a misunderstood command, the nose equipment for setting up a smoke screen started working on the raider, throwing a huge puff of white smoke into the air. This was enough for the failed victim to run away, sounding alarms. Detmers had to make changes to the order for the use of smoke equipment during a combat alert.

Unable to achieve results on trade routes, Detmers decided to try his luck with mines, and on June 19 entered the waters of the Bay of Bengal. Even before going to sea, approaches to the ports of Rangoon, Calcutta, Madras and the Sunda Strait were identified as places of possible setting. However, here too, Kormoran failed. About two hundred miles from Madras, smoke appeared on the horizon, and then the masts of some large vessel, which very much resembled an enemy auxiliary cruiser. When it changed course and headed towards the Kormoran, the frigate captain decided not to tempt fate and ordered to leave at maximum speed. The unknown person pursued the German ship for about an hour, and then gradually fell behind and disappeared over the horizon. It was indeed the English auxiliary cruiser Canton. Although the British did not suspect an enemy raider of the escaped "Japanese", they nevertheless thwarted the mine setting. And since a hurricane was raging in the Calcutta area, chosen as the second goal, at that moment, Detmers decided to temporarily abandon the supply of barriers and headed southeast, leaving the Bay of Bengal. The mines remained on board, subsequently playing a fatal role in the fate of the ship.

The chain of failures that pursued the cruiser was finally interrupted at 2 a.m. on June 26, when the ship's pilot Oberleutnant zur See Heinfried Al, who was on watch, noticed a ship. Having approached at close range, the Kormoran several times transmitted the order to stop and not use the radio. However, transport did not respond to these demands. Then Detmers ordered to repeat the order on the radio and fire several warning shots, including lighting shells. And even after that, the merchant, although maintaining radio silence, continued to move. The raider opened fire to kill, constantly interrupted by orders to stop, achieving 29 hits in seven minutes. A very strong fire broke out on the ship in several places, and the Germans stopped shelling. Soon, one boat was found, in which there were nine sailors from the Yugoslav Velebit (4135 brt, 1911), which belonged to the Yugoslav Ocean Shipping Company. A ship with a crew of 34 sailed in ballast from Bombay to Mombasa for a cargo of rice. The reason for disobeying the order to stop was also found out. It turned out that the captain was absent from the bridge at that moment, dealing with some kind of trouble in the engine room, and the second officer on duty did not know Morse code. Deciding that the "Yugoslav" got it in full, the frigate captain did not spend any more ammunition on him and, leaving the flaming ruin to the will of the wind and waves, went to the southeast.

Only a few hours had passed when, at almost noon, the observers noticed the smoke of another vessel sailing from the Tenth Degree Strait (between the Andaman and Nicobar Islands) towards Ceylon. The raider took cover in a successfully turned up rain squall and began to sneak up on the victim. At 17.28, when the distance was reduced to six kilometers, Detmers ordered the transport to stop and not use the radio. However, the captain of the Marib (3472 brt, 1921), owned by the Australian United Shipping Company, M. B. Skinner, did not think to obey, and at 17.30 a message about the attack flew on the air. True, after twelve minutes the team had to launch lifeboats, as German shells destroyed the radio room and caused serious damage to the engine room. Fortunately, none of the forty-eight sailors were injured during the shelling. It turned out that the Mariba was sailing with 5,000 tons of sugar on board from Batavia to Colombo. Since the ship had already begun to sink, the Germans had nothing left to do but to finish it off with explosive charges. After the death of the transport, the raider urgently left these waters, since the frigate captain did not have a firm conviction that his radio operators had managed to jam the signals for help.

Detmers then moved into a low-visited zone in the south (6°S/86°E), where he stayed until 17 July. During this time, the Kormoran once again carried out repairs to engines and electrical equipment, and, as far as possible, cleaned the overgrown bottom. Once again, they changed their camouflage, deciding that disguise as a "Japanese" no longer justifies itself. Now the raider looked like the Dutch ship Straat Malacca. For greater credibility, they even installed a wooden model of the gun, which was made by ship carpenters, at the stern. During this period, an accident occurred - sailor Hans Hofmann died from electric shock while welding the float of a seaplane. By 19 July, Detmers finally abandoned plans to lay minefields in the Bay of Bengal. Then for some time the Kormoran cruised north and east, but the trade routes were deserted. After that, the raider headed southeast past Sumatra and Java to the northwestern coast of Australia, checking the exits from the Sunda Strait and Bali Strait along the way. On August 13, 200 miles west of Carnarvon, visual contact was made with an unknown vessel, but the Germans refused to pursue. The frigate captain was going to lay minefields at Carnarvon and Geraldton, but then refused, deciding that shipping from these ports was too small. The Cormoran then set off on its return journey. On August 28, for the first time after leaving Norway, German sailors saw land. It was the top of Mount Boa Boa on the island of Engano, located off the southwestern coast of Sumatra. In the KTV of the cruiser, the commander noted that the spectacle that opened up was like "a fairy tale of the southern seas."

From Sumatra "Kormoran" moved to Ceylon. On the first day of autumn, when HSK-8 was one hundred and fifty miles south of the island, lookouts spotted a ship on the horizon, but it soon disappeared behind a rain squall. Detmers attempted to use a seaplane, but rough seas prevented this. As a result, an entry appeared in the log:

“Without a catapult, a seaplane operates only under favorable circumstances. It is rarely used."

Having received information from the RWM that it was planned to send the Thor to replace the Kormoran, Detmers decided to go to the western Indian Ocean and try his luck there. Having rounded the Chagos archipelago from the south, the raider went north. The weather was excellent and finally we managed to get the airborne seaplane into the air several times. But aerial reconnaissance did not bring any results.

The sailing wasted for almost three months, until the evening of September 23, the watchmen noticed an unknown vessel in ballast with navigation lights on, which seemed to be a sign of “neutral”. However, the frigate captain decided to check it out. After the raider approached a close distance, he was ordered to stop and identify himself. To their surprise, the Germans found that in front of them was the Greek Stamatios G. Embirikos (3941 brt, 1936), which belonged to the Embirikos Line and was on its way from Mombasa for cargo to Colombo. The Greeks offered no resistance to the boarding team. Detmers, following the example of Krüder, was going to use this gift of fate as an auxiliary minelayer, but then it turned out that there was only enough coal to reach the port of destination. Already with the onset of a new day, the ship had to be sent to the bottom with explosive charges. The Greeks launched three lifeboats, two of which managed to escape under the cover of darkness. The Germans were able to intercept only the one in which the captain and five other crew members were. True, a seaplane that took off at sunrise quickly discovered the fugitives and brought a raider on them. Another 25 captured sailors joined their comrades.

Kormoran remained in the area until 29 September. Detmers then proceeded to rendezvous with the supply ship Kulmerland, which left Kobe on 3 September. The meeting was supposed to take place at the secret point "Marius" (32°30' S/97° E) on the very border of the "Siberia" region. Arriving at the rendezvous point on October 16, the raider found a supply that had arrived earlier. Due to bad weather, German ships headed northwest in search of calmer waters to transfer fuel and provisions. Kormoran received 4000 tons of diesel fuel, 225 tons of lubricating oil, a large batch of babbitt and food for six months of sailing. The prisoners followed in the opposite direction, five sick sailors from the raider, including the navigator Lieutenant Commander Gustav Petzel, a copy of the KTV and mail. The Kulmerland departed on the 25th, and the Kormoran headed west, where it spent several days repairing its engines.

After the mechanics put the propulsion system in order, Detmers again moved to the Australian coast. He intended to lay a minefield off Perth and in Shark Bay, and then return to the Bay of Bengal again. These plans had to be temporarily abandoned - the RWM reported that a convoy would pass through the area of ​​\u200b\u200bthe proposed barrier under the protection of the heavy cruiser Cornwall. The Kormoran headed northwest, where she cruised for several days. Then he again moved east towards Shark Bay. This decision of Detmers turned out to be fatal ...


On November 19 the weather was excellent with excellent visibility. The raider was moving in a north-north-east direction at a ten-knot course. Shortly before four o'clock in the afternoon, when the coast remained about 112 miles (approximately 26 ° S and 111 ° E), the orderly reported to the commander who was in the wardroom that smoke had been noticed on the horizon. Detmers went up to the bridge. It soon became clear to him that a warship was moving towards the raider. It turned out to be the Australian light cruiser Sydney, returning home after escorting the Zeeland liner, which was carrying troops to Singapore. The situation was hopeless: "Kormoran" could not count on flight, since "Sydney" (8815 tons; 32.5 knots; 8x152-mm, 4x102-mm, 8x533-mm TA) had an advantage in firing range and could shoot the raider from a safe distance. His defense and survivability were incomparably the best. Detmers subsequently wrote in his memoirs that he did not think of surrendering, but "only knew that he had to make every effort to increase our chances." He ordered to turn to the south-west, directly into the sun, so that its rays would blind the Australians and give full speed. However, at 16.28 diesel No. 4 failed and the speed dropped to 14 knots.

About an hour after the raider was discovered, the cruiser approached to a distance of seven miles to starboard and ordered to be identified. Kormoran transmitted the correct call sign Straat Malacca - " RKQI”, but at the same time the signal was raised between the pipe and the foremast, so they practically did not see it on the Sydney approaching from the stern. This was followed by a request for a destination, the answer to which - "To Batavia" - also looked very plausible. Trying to confuse the enemy, as well as dragging out time, the German radio operators constantly sent distress signals on the air about an attack on the merchant of an unknown ship. The cruiser, meanwhile, was approaching closer, pointing the guns of the bow towers at the Kormoran and preparing the seaplane for launch. At the same time, the Australians periodically signaled " IK”, which the Germans could not understand.

In the end, the commander of the cruiser, captain Joseph Burnett, got tired of all this comedy and was followed by a direct request: “Show me your secret call sign. Further delay can only worsen the situation.” "Sydney" has already caught up with "Kormoran" and was almost on its traverse on the starboard side at a distance of 900 meters. In response to the raider, at 17.30 they lowered the Dutch flag, raised the flag of the Kriegsmarine and, dropping camouflage shields in a record six seconds, opened fire. The first single shot fell into the sea with underflight, but the subsequent volley from a 37-mm machine gun and three 150-mm guns covered the bridge of the cruiser, destroying the fire control system. The Germans immediately activated the rest of the anti-aircraft guns and fired two torpedoes from the starboard apparatus. Simultaneously with the second salvo of the raider, the main caliber of Sydney opened fire, but due to the sun blinding the gunners' eyes, the shells fell with a flight. At 5-second intervals, Kormoran hit Sydney with two more volleys. The shells hit the middle part of the ship, the bridge and the aircraft, which caught fire. Then the raider's 150-mm guns shifted their fire to the forward turrets. 20 mm automatic guns concentrated their fire on the enemy deck, destroying anti-aircraft artillery and torpedo tubes, 37 mm continued to fire on the bridge and the bow superstructure. Around the time Kormoran fired her eighth and ninth salvos, her torpedo hit the Sydney ahead of the bow turret, putting both turrets out of action. The second passed. After a torpedo hit, the bow of the cruiser was almost completely submerged in water. The Australians had only aft towers that switched to independent control, which was not slow to affect the rate of fire. Still, three six-inch shells hit the target. The first pierced the raider's tube and exploded off the opposite side, killing two people in the radio room; the second exploded in the auxiliary boiler room, knocking out the fire-fighting system; the third destroyed the transformers of the main engines. The hit of the second shell also caused a fire in the engine compartment. As a result, at about 17.45, when the raider turned to the left, hoping to finish off Sydney, his speed dropped sharply, and communication with the engine room was lost. The engine team, headed by senior mechanic captain-lieutenant Shter, continued to fight the fire, but subsequently almost all of them died - only one person managed to escape.

The enemy fared even worse. The Australian cruiser was in flames and had a trim on the bow. While the Kormoran maintained a course of 260°, the Sydney veered sharply into the opposite direction. The Germans watched as the roof of the second bow tower was thrown into the sea. At 1735 the Sydney passed only a hundred yards astern of the Kormoran. Probably, the steering was also out of order on it, or, as the Germans considered, the Australians tried to ram the enemy. Detmers ordered a temporary cessation of firing as the light cruiser moved out of range of the raider's starboard guns. Four torpedo trails were soon seen - apparently, the Australians managed to activate the starboard torpedo tubes that remained intact. The Germans also fired four torpedoes in response, which missed the enemy. Around 17.50, the battle resumed - the raider opened fire with the left side from a distance of 60 hectometers. Ten minutes later, another torpedo was fired at the retreating cruiser to no avail. Detmers ordered a ceasefire at 18.25, when it was already dark. The Australian ship, engulfed in flames, at that moment was at a distance of about nine kilometers. It went south at about a five-knot course, and by 1900 it disappeared into the darkness.

In total, during the battle, Kormoran fired about 550 150-mm shells and achieved, according to German data, more than fifty hits (underwater studies showed at least 87 hits of 150-mm shells). At the same time, about twenty crew members died. Meanwhile, the fire intensified and began to get close to the mine compartment. The frigate captain realized that the raider could no longer be saved and gave the order to leave the ship, as well as to install explosive charges at the fuel tanks. At the same time, a tragedy occurred - one of the inflatable rafts, launched first, after a while leaked and capsized. All the people on it - about forty people, mostly wounded - drowned. Having received the news that the mine compartment was beginning to fill with smoke, Detmers, having taken the flag of the ship, was the last to leave the Kormoran at 24.00. Explosive charges went off 10 minutes later. The detonation of mines literally turned the stern part into dust and in 0.35 the raider quickly sank at a point with coordinates 26 ° 34? S and 111° E 317 German sailors and 3 Chinese laundresses remained on the waves. 80 people died - 2 officers and 78 sailors.

And what about his opponent? The Germans observed the glow in the direction where the Sydney went until about 22 o'clock. And that is all. Later it turned out that, having discovered the raider and went on rapprochement, Burnett did not report this. Thus, the command was in complete ignorance of the fate of the ship. The arrival of "Sydney" was expected on November 20, and they worried about him only after three days. No one responded to a radio request. This caused alarm, and a full-scale search began the next day, which included aircraft, Australian ships, the Dutch light cruiser Tromp and several merchant ships. The first news came in the evening when the British tanker Trokas reported that about two hundred miles west of Caernarvon had picked up twenty-five German navies from a rubber raft. Subsequently, it turned out that the first twenty-six people from the Cormoran were saved by the famous liner Aquitania on the morning of the 24th, but its captain, observing radio silence, reported this only three days later, when approaching Sydney. On November 25, a lifeboat with 57 Germans on board landed ashore 75 miles north of Carnarvon, soon another appeared nearby, on which there were 46 more. The next day, the government ship Kulinda picked up a raft with 31 sailors in the sea, and in the evening "Centaur" found a boat, which housed 62 people, led by Detmers. The skipper was afraid to transfer such a number of Germans to his board and towed the boat to the nearest port, where they arrived two days later. The last 73 people from the Kormoran were rescued by the Australian Navy auxiliary ship Yandra on the 27th. Only on November 30, the Prime Minister of Australia officially announced the death of the Sydney and 645 of its crew. All that remained of the cruiser was a boat riddled with shrapnel, which was washed ashore two weeks later by waves. The official report of the commission investigating the death of the ship stated that Captain Burnett showed criminal frivolity, allowing the enemy to reduce the distance so much that the advantage of the cruiser over an armed merchant ship was nullified (by order, warships were ordered not to approach unidentified ships closer than six miles).

The mystery of the death of "Sydney" for many years remained one of the mysteries of the Second World War. There was even a version that it was allegedly torpedoed by a Japanese submarine, but then this tragic story was classified for reasons of high politics. The search for the lost cruiser was undertaken repeatedly, and only in March 2008 they were crowned with success. On March 12, the Australian research vessel Geosaunder discovered at a point with coordinates 26 ° 05? S and 111°4? o.d. at a depth of 2560 m, the remains of the Kormoran hull. Four days later, at a distance of 12.2 miles from them (26 ° 14? S / 111 ° 13? W), at a depth of 2468 m, “Sydney” was also found. An analysis of the damage received showed that several factors could have led to the death of the cruiser. Firstly, rough seas caused additional flooding through holes located above the waterline. Secondly, the possible destruction of watertight bulkheads, which led to an increase in roll and a decrease in stability.


However, let us return to the sailors of the Kormoran, who were sent to the camp. On December 4, 1941, Theodor Detmers, while in captivity, became a holder of the Knight's Cross, and on April 1, 1943 he received the rank of captain-zur-see. In January 1945, the commander of the Kormoran suffered a blow that temporarily paralyzed him. The raider team was released only at the very beginning of 1947. During his stay in the camp, one of the sailors died of illness. When Detmers and his men arrived at the port of Melbourne on January 21 for repatriation to the fatherland, they noticed a ship on a nearby pier that had a very familiar appearance. By some mystical coincidence, it turned out to be the same Dutch "Straat Malacca", under which the "Kormoran" disguised itself in its last battle. The long odyssey of the captain zursee and his crew ended on February 28 in Cuxhaven. Detmers, who subsequently suffered another blow, was declared unfit for military service and lived in his house in the Hamburg suburb of Ralstadt. Like his other colleagues, he published a memoir about sailing on a raider. The commander of the Kormoran died on November 4, 1976 at the age of 74.

The voyage of HSK-8 lasted just under a year - 352 days. During this time, he sank and captured 11 merchant ships with a total capacity of 68,274 GRT. The advantages of using a completely new ship as a raider, but at the same time a ship that had not been tested by the sea, turned into its disadvantages. Almost the entire campaign of "Kormoran" took place under the sign of the repair of the power plant and the search for babbit, so necessary for casting new bearings. When this problem was solved, fate gave the raider too little time to replenish the battle account. And yet, many ships can envy the career finale of this, perhaps, not the most remarkable participant in the Second World War at sea - to die with valor in a difficult unequal battle, letting a obviously stronger enemy sink to the bottom.


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"Kormoran"

Kormoran - cormorant) - German auxiliary cruiser during World War II. HSK-8, the former merchant ship "Steiermark" (German: Steiermark), was designated "Ship No. 41" in the German Navy, and "Raider G" in the British Navy.

History of creation

The Kormoran was built in Kiel at the Germaniawerft shipyard and launched on September 15, 1938 as the merchant ship Steiermark of the GAPAG, the Hamburg-America Line. Renamed "Kormoran" ("Kormoran" or "Cormorant"), she began service in the Kriegsmarine on October 9, 1940 under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Theodor Detmers.

fighting

raider campaign

Fight with "Sydney" and death

Main article: Fight between Sydney and Kormoran

On November 19, 1941, off the coast of Western Australia, in the afternoon, the Kormoran met the light cruiser Sydney. In an open battle with a light cruiser, the raider had a very slim chance of winning. The German captain went to the trick, raising the Dutch flag and introducing himself as a merchant ship. This ploy worked and the Sydney approached the Kormoran from the stern at a distance of 1000 m for a standard screening procedure. The Kormoran suddenly opened fire almost point-blank. "Sydney" was hit by a 150 mm projectile in the commander's bridge, a torpedo from the raider hit the cruiser in the area of ​​​​the front gun turrets, putting them out of action. "Sydney" tried to ram the auxiliary cruiser, perhaps just lost control, the torpedoes fired by her missed the target, but one of the volleys caused a fire in the Kormoran's engine room. A fire also broke out on the Australian cruiser. The crews of the ships began to fight the fire. Both vessels received a strong trim on the bow. "Kormoran" was forced to stop, the crew abandoned the ship, a few hours later it exploded. "Sydney", shrouded in smoke, disappeared over the horizon, but never reached its native port. (According to: Friedrich Ruge. War at sea 1939-1945)

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Ships sunk and captured:

Date Vessel Name Type Ownership Tonnage, GRT Cargo Fate

raider campaign

Fight with "Sydney" and death

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Notes

Literature

  • F. Ruge. War at sea, 1939-1945. St. Petersburg: Polygon, 2002, ISBN 5-89173-027-8

Links

  • (English)
  • http://www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i070818.html

An excerpt characterizing Kormoran (auxiliary cruiser)

I looked up and saw my dad, who was leaning on the door frame, and all this time he was watching me with great interest. Dad came up and, affectionately hugging me by the shoulders, quietly said:
- Come on, let's go, you will tell me why you fought so hotly here ...
And then I felt very light and calm in my soul. Finally, he will know everything, and I will never have to hide anything from him again! He was my best friend, who, unfortunately, did not even know half the truth about what my life really was ... It was not fair and it was unfair ... And I only now realized how strange everything was this is the time to hide my “second” life from dad just because it seemed to mom that dad would not understand ... I should have given him such a chance even earlier and now I was very glad that I could do it at least now ...
Sitting comfortably on his favorite sofa, we talked for a very long time ... And how much I was delighted and surprised that, as I told him about my incredible adventures, my father's face brightened more and more! .. I I realized that my whole “incredible” story not only does not scare him, but, on the contrary, for some reason makes him very happy ...
“I always knew that you would be special with me, Svetlenkaya ...” when I finished, dad said very seriously. - I am proud of you. Can I help you with something?
I was so shocked by what had happened that for no reason, I burst into tears uncontrollably ... Dad cradled me in his arms like a small child, quietly whispering something, and I, from happiness that he understood me, did not I heard, only I understood that all my hated "secrets" were already behind, and now everything will definitely be fine ...
I wrote about this birthday because it left in my soul a deep trace of something very important and very kind, without which my story about myself would certainly be incomplete ...
The next day, everything seemed normal and everyday again, as if that incredibly happy birthday didn’t happen yesterday ...
The usual school and household chores almost completely loaded the hours allotted for the day, and what was left - as always, was my favorite time, and I tried to use it very "economically" in order to learn as much useful information as possible, and as much as possible "unusual" in to find yourself and in everything around you ...
Naturally, they didn’t let me near the “gifted” neighbor boy, explaining that the baby had a cold, but as I later learned from his older brother, the boy felt absolutely fine, and apparently “sick” only for me ...
It was very unfortunate that his mother, who at one time had probably gone through a rather “thorny” path of the same “unusual”, categorically did not want to accept any help from me, and tried in every possible way to protect her sweet, talented son from me. But this, again, was only one of those many bitter and hurtful moments of my life when no one needed the help I offered, and I now tried to avoid such “moments” as carefully as possible... Again, it is impossible for people there was something to prove if they didn't want to accept it. And I never considered it right to prove my truth “with fire and sword”, so I preferred to leave everything to chance until the moment when a person comes to me himself and asks for help.
From my school girlfriends, I again moved away a little, because lately they have almost always had the same conversations - which boys they like best, and how one or the other could “get” ... Frankly, I couldn’t understand why it attracted them so much then that they could ruthlessly spend such free hours dear to all of us on this, and at the same time be in an absolutely enthusiastic state from everything they said or heard to each other. Apparently, for some reason I was still completely and completely not ready for this whole complex epic “boy-girl”, for which I received an evil nickname from my girlfriends - “proud” ... Although, I think that it was the pride I wasn’t in any way ... But it was just that the girls were infuriated that I refused the “events” they offered, for the simple reason that honestly I wasn’t interested in it yet, and I didn’t see any serious reason to throw away my free time causes. But naturally, my schoolmates didn’t like my behavior in any way, since, again, it singled me out from the general crowd and made me different, not the same as everyone else, which, according to the guys, was “inhuman” according to the school. ..
So, again, half “rejected” by my school friends and girlfriends, my winter days passed, which no longer upset me at all, because, having been worried about our “relationship” for several years, I saw that, in the end, in this makes no sense, since everyone lives as he sees fit, well, what will come of us later is, again, a private problem for each of us. And no one could force me to waste my "valuable" time on empty talk, when I preferred to spend it reading the most interesting books, walking along the "floors" or even riding along the winter paths on Snowstorm ...
Dad, after my honest story about my “adventures”, for some reason (to my great joy!!!) stopped considering me a “little child” and unexpectedly opened me access to all his previously unauthorized books, which tied me even more to "loneliness at home" and, combining such a life with grandma's pies, I felt absolutely happy and certainly not alone in any way ...
But, as it was before, it was clearly “contraindicated” for me to quietly engage in my favorite reading for a long time, since, almost without fail, something “extraordinary” was bound to happen ... So that evening, when I was calmly reading a new book, crunching with pleasure the freshly baked cherry pies, Stella suddenly appeared in an excited and disheveled voice and declared in a peremptory voice:
“It’s good that I found you – you should come with me right now! ..
- And what happened? .. Where to go? – Surprised by such unusual haste, I asked.
- To Maria, Dean died there ... Well, come on !!! – impatiently shouted girlfriend.

Abstract on the topic:

Kormoran (auxiliary cruiser)



Plan:

    Introduction
  • 1 History of creation
  • 2 Combat
    • 2.1 raider campaign
      • 2.1.1 Fight with "Sydney" and death
    • 2.2 Results
  • 3 Modern research
    • Notes
    Literature

Introduction

"Kormoran"(German Kormoran- Cormorant) - German auxiliary cruiser of the Second World War. HSK-8, former merchant ship Steiermark Steiermark), in the German Navy it was designated as "Ship No. 41", in the British Navy - "Raider" G "".


1. History of creation

The Kormoran was built in Kiel at the Germaniawerft shipyard and launched on September 15, 1938 as the merchant ship Steiermark of the GAPAG, the Hamburg-America Line. Renamed "Kormoran" ("Kormoran" or "Cormorant"), she began service in the Kriegsmarine on October 9, 1940 under the command of Captain 2nd Rank Theodor Detmers.

2. Fighting

2.1. raider campaign

2.1.1. Fight with "Sydney" and death

November 19, 1941, off the coast of Western Australia, in the afternoon, the Kormoran met a light cruiser "Sydney". In an open battle with a light cruiser, the raider had a very slim chance of winning. The German captain went to the trick, raising the Dutch flag and introducing himself as a merchant ship. This ploy worked and the Sydney approached the Kormoran from the stern at a distance of 1000 m for a standard screening procedure. The Kormoran suddenly opened fire almost point-blank. "Sydney" was hit by a 150mm projectile in the commander's bridge, a torpedo from the raider hit the cruiser in the area of ​​​​the front gun turrets, putting them out of action. "Sydney" tried to ram the auxiliary cruiser, perhaps just lost control, the torpedoes fired by her missed the target, but one of the volleys caused a fire in the Kormoran's engine room. A fire also broke out on the Australian cruiser. The crews of the ships began to fight the fire. Both vessels received a strong trim on the bow. "Kormoran" was forced to stop, the crew abandoned the ship, a few hours later it exploded. "Sydney", shrouded in smoke, disappeared over the horizon, but never reached its native port. (According to: Friedrich Ruge. War at sea 1939-1945)


2.2. results

Ships sunk and captured:

date of Vessel name Type Affiliation Tonnage, brt Cargo Fate
1941-01-06 January 6, 1941 Anthony cargo ship 03729 3 729 4,800 tons of coal
1941-01-18 January 18, 1941 british union tanker Great Britain 06987 6 987 sunk by torpedo
1941-01-29 January 29, 1941 Africa Star refrigerator Great Britain 11900 11 900 5,708 tons of meat and 634 tons of butter sunk by demolition charges
1941-01-29 January 29, 1941 Eurylochus cargo ship Great Britain 05723 5 723 16 heavy bombers without engines sunk by torpedo
1941-03-22 March 22, 1941 Agnita tanker Great Britain 03552 3 552 sunk by torpedo
1941-03-25 March 25, 1941 Canadolite tanker 11309 11 309 sent to France as a prize
1941-04-09 April 9, 1941 Craftsman cargo ship Great Britain 08022 8 022 large anti-submarine network to protect the harbor of Cape Town sunk by artillery and torpedoes
1941-04-12 April 12, 1941 Nicholas D.L. cargo ship 05486 5 486 sunk by torpedo
1941-06-26 June 26, 1941 Velebit cargo ship Yugoslavia 04153 4 153 sunk by artillery
1941-06-26 June 26, 1941 Mareeba cargo ship Great Britain 03472 3 472 5,000 tons of sugar sunk by demolition charges
1941-09-26 September 26, 1941 Stamatios G Embiricos cargo ship 03941 3 941 sunk by demolition charges
1941-11-19 November 19, 1941 Sydney light cruiser Australia 6,830 tons - sunk by artillery in battle

During the war, Kormoran sank and captured 11 ships, the total tonnage of which was about 70 000 brt.


3. Modern research

The search for "Sydney" did not stop after the war. Researchers regularly reported the discovery of the remains of an Australian cruiser, but each time it turned out that there was a mistake. . In March 2008, the Australian Prime Minister confirmed the discovery of the remains of both ships.

Notes

  1. Scuba Diving News CDNN - Cyber ​​Diver News Network - www.cdnn.info/news/industry/i070818.html
  2. See article en:Search for HMAS Sydney and HSK Kormoran

Literature

  • F. Ruge. War at sea, 1939-1945. St. Petersburg: Polygon, 2002, ISBN 5-89173-027-8
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This abstract is based on an article from the Russian Wikipedia. Synchronization completed 07/10/11 01:44:33
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