The action of 8 May 1941 was a
single ship action
A single-ship action is a naval engagement fought between two warships of opposing sides, excluding submarine engagements; called so because there is a single ship on each side. The following is a list of notable single-ship actions.
Single-shi ...
fought during the
Second World War
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
by the
British
British may refer to:
Peoples, culture, and language
* British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies.
** Britishness, the British identity and common culture
* British English, ...
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
and the ''
Kriegsmarine
The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with the a ...
'' (German Navy)
auxiliary cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
/ (Raider F to the
Admiralty
Admiralty most often refers to:
*Admiralty, Hong Kong
*Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964
*The rank of admiral
*Admiralty law
Admiralty can also refer to:
Buildings
* Admiralty, Traf ...
). The engagement took place in the
Indian Ocean
The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or ~19.8% of the water on Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia to the east. To the south it is bounded by th ...
off the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
archipelago, north of
Madagascar
Madagascar (; mg, Madagasikara, ), officially the Republic of Madagascar ( mg, Repoblikan'i Madagasikara, links=no, ; french: République de Madagascar), is an island country in the Indian Ocean, approximately off the coast of East Africa ...
. ''Pinguin'' caused slight damage to ''Cornwall'', before its fire on ''Pinguin'' caused an explosion and sank it.
A British sailor was killed and about of the and Indian
Merchant Navy prisoners on ''Pinguin'', captured from over thirty merchant vessels, were also killed. Of the crew of killed and rescued along with the Merchant Navy prisoners. ''Cornwall'' returned to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
for repairs until 10 June.
Background
HMS ''Cornwall''
''Cornwall'' (Captain
P. C. W. Manwaring) was a
heavy cruiser
The heavy cruiser was a type of cruiser, a naval warship designed for long range and high speed, armed generally with naval guns of roughly 203 mm (8 inches) in caliber, whose design parameters were dictated by the Washington Naval Tr ...
of the ''Kent'' subclass, built in the mid-1920s. It had a displacement of , carried eight guns in four twin turrets, four
anti-aircraft guns
Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...
in two twin turrets, two four-barrel
2-pounder pom-pom guns and two
machine gun
A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles) a ...
s. ''Cornwall'' had an aircraft catapult, three
Supermarine Walrus
The Supermarine Walrus (originally designated the Supermarine Seagull V) was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and manufactured by Supermarine at Woolston, Southampton.
The Walrus f ...
amphibious aircraft
An amphibious aircraft or amphibian is an aircraft (typically fixed-wing) that can take off and land on both solid ground and water, though amphibious helicopters do exist as well. Fixed-wing amphibious aircraft are seaplanes ( flying boats ...
and had a maximum speed of .
''Pinguin''
The auxiliary cruiser ''Pinguin'' (
Ernst-Felix Krüder), was originally the
freighter ''Kandelfels'', which had been launched in 1936. After conversion to an auxiliary cruiser it became to the . ''Pinguin'' was armed with six guns, a gun, two anti-aircraft guns, four
autocannon
An autocannon, automatic cannon or machine cannon is a fully automatic gun that is capable of rapid-firing large-caliber ( or more) armour-piercing, explosive or incendiary shells, as opposed to the smaller-caliber kinetic projectiles (bull ...
, two
torpedo tube
A torpedo tube is a cylindrical device for launching torpedoes.
There are two main types of torpedo tube: underwater tubes fitted to submarines and some surface ships, and deck-mounted units (also referred to as torpedo launchers) installed aboa ...
s, 300
mines and an
Arado Ar 196
The Arado Ar 196 was a shipboard reconnaissance low-wing monoplane aircraft built by the German firm of Arado starting in 1936. The next year it was selected as the winner of a design contest and became the standard aircraft of the ''Kriegsmarin ...
A-1
floatplane
A floatplane is a type of seaplane with one or more slender floats mounted under the fuselage to provide buoyancy. By contrast, a flying boat uses its fuselage for buoyancy. Either type of seaplane may also have landing gear suitable for land, ...
. By 15 January, ''Pinguin'' (''Raider F'' to the British) had
Norwegian
Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to:
*Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe
*Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway
*Demographics of Norway
*The Norwegian language, including the ...
merchant vessels by
commerce raiding
Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than enga ...
. It had captured three
factory ship
A factory ship, also known as a fish processing vessel, is a large ocean-going vessel with extensive on-board facilities for processing and freezing caught fish or whales. Modern factory ships are automated and enlarged versions of the earlier wh ...
s and eleven
whaler
A whaler or whaling ship is a specialized vessel, designed or adapted for whaling: the catching or processing of whales.
Terminology
The term ''whaler'' is mostly historic. A handful of nations continue with industrial whaling, and one, Japa ...
s belonging to the same whaling company. The prizes were sent to Occupied
France
France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
where one was renamed and was used as minelayer for the German raiders in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. In April, ''Pinguin'' sank three British merchant ships in the Indian Ocean, close to the
Equator
The equator is a circle of latitude, about in circumference, that divides Earth into the Northern and Southern hemispheres. It is an imaginary line located at 0 degrees latitude, halfway between the North and South poles. The term can als ...
.
Prelude
After sinking ''Clan Buchanan'' on 28 April, ''Pinguin'' sailed north-west and on 4 May, fuelled and provisioned ''Adjutant'', which was sent away to wait at a rendezvous near the
Saya de Malha Bank
The Saya de Malha Bank (also the Sahia de Malha Bank, modern Portuguese: ''saia de malha'', English: ''mesh skirt'') or Mesh Skirt Bank, is one of the largest submerged ocean banks in the world, a part of the vast undersea Mascarene Plateau.
...
. Just after on 7 May, ''Pinguin'' intercepted and sank the tanker ''British Emperor'', which was on passage from Durban to Abadan, about east-south-east of
Cape Guardafui
Cape Guardafui ( so, Gees Gardafuul, or Raas Caseyr, or Ras Asir, it, Capo Guardafui) is a headland in the autonomous Puntland region in Somalia. Coextensive with Puntland's Gardafuul administrative province, it forms the geographical apex of th ...
. ''Emperor'' had sent a distress message and ''Cornwall'', en route to refuel at the
Seychelles
Seychelles (, ; ), officially the Republic of Seychelles (french: link=no, République des Seychelles; Creole: ''La Repiblik Sesel''), is an archipelagic state consisting of 115 islands in the Indian Ocean. Its capital and largest city, V ...
Islands, intercepted the message when about south of the attack. ''Cornwall'' altered course to north-north-west and increased speed to . A plan was devised to catch the raider, using the Walrus spotter aircraft carried by ''Cornwall'' to close the raider's ''furthest on'' line and then search to cover the largest potential variations of the raiding ship's speed and course.
''Cornwall'' increased speed to , heading north between the Seychelles and the
Chagos Archipelago
The Chagos Archipelago () or Chagos Islands (formerly the Bassas de Chagas, and later the Oil Islands) is a group of seven atolls comprising more than 60 islands in the Indian Ocean about 500 kilometres (310 mi) south of the Maldives archi ...
. Vice-Admiral
Ralph Leatham
Admiral Sir Ralph Leatham KCB (3 March 1888 – 10 March 1954) was a Royal Navy officer who served as Commander-in-Chief, Plymouth during World War II.
Naval career
Leatham joined the Royal Navy in 1900 as a cadet on the training ship Britan ...
, the Commander-in-Chief
East Indies Station
The East Indies Station was a formation and command of the British Royal Navy. Created in 1744 by the Admiralty, it was under the command of the Commander-in-Chief, East Indies.
Even in official documents, the term ''East Indies Station'' was ...
, ordered other ships to participate in the search. was sailing westwards at from
Nine Degree Channel
The Nine Degree Channel is a channel in the Indian Ocean between the Laccadive Islands of Kalpeni and Suheli Par, and Maliku Atoll (Minicoy Island). These two subgroups of islands, together with the Amindivi Subgroup, form the Indian Union Terr ...
towards
Socotra
Socotra or Soqotra (; ar, سُقُطْرَىٰ ; so, Suqadara) is an island of the Republic of Yemen in the Indian Ocean, under the ''de facto'' control of the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council, a secessionist participant in Yemen’s ...
, while , which was north of Cape Guardafui, sailed for
Eight Degree Channel, making for
Colombo
Colombo ( ; si, කොළඹ, translit=Koḷam̆ba, ; ta, கொழும்பு, translit=Koḻumpu, ) is the executive and judicial capital and largest city of Sri Lanka by population. According to the Brookings Institution, Colombo me ...
. , steaming from the
Gulf of Aden
The Gulf of Aden ( ar, خليج عدن, so, Gacanka Cadmeed 𐒅𐒖𐒐𐒕𐒌 𐒋𐒖𐒆𐒗𐒒) is a deepwater gulf of the Indian Ocean between Yemen to the north, the Arabian Sea to the east, Djibouti to the west, and the Guardafui Channe ...
, passed Cape Guardafui that morning at , to a position about south-east of the headland. The ship then turned south-west at towards the Equator, about from the African coast. Farther west, the
armed merchant cruiser
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...
, patrolled from the Equator to a position to the south-west.
On the afternoon of 7 May, the two aircraft on ''Cornwall'' flew reconnaissance sorties for three hours and then altered course to get on the line of the main ''Vignot'' search. This was plotted for a mean speed of for an hour after the time of the raider report, assuming that the raider needed an hour to sink ''British Emperor'' and then depart at full speed until dark. At ''Cornwall'' turned onto a bearing of east-south-east and slowed to search on this line, before the moon set. At dawn, ''Cornwall'' sent both aircraft to search an area three knots on either side of the raider's estimated speed and turned east at (steaming away from the raider). At on 8 May, one of the aircraft sighted a ship heading south-west at , about west of ''Cornwall'' but did not report the sighting until landing at about At ''Cornwall'' altered course to about west-by-south and increased speed to . The second aircraft was launched again at and at it reported that the unknown ship was steaming at and had hoisted the signal letters of a Norwegian motor-vessel ''Tamerlane'', which the raider resembled but was not on the list of expected ships.
Battle
''Cornwall'' increased speed to then to . At an aircraft was launched to give the bearing, course and speed of the suspected ship by wireless; the ship became visible from ''Cornwall'' at The ship began transmitting ''raider reports'', claiming to be ''Tamerlane''. Despite orders to heave-to and two warning shots, the ship maintained course and speed for more than an hour, until the range was fewer than yards. At ''Cornwall'' turned to port and the suspected raider made a larger turn to port, opening fire with five guns just before
Due to mechanical failures, ''Cornwall'' did not return fire for about two minutes and was frequently straddled by shells fired at a rapid rate, before firing two salvoes from the forward The fore steering gear of ''Cornwall'' was disabled by a shell hit and after going out of control for a moment, the after steering gear used. By all of ''Cornwall's'' guns had opened fire, with the advantage of superior range finders and director
fire-control system
A fire-control system (FCS) is a number of components working together, usually a gun data computer, a director, and radar, which is designed to assist a ranged weapon system to target, track, and hit a target. It performs the same task as a ...
s, instead of local gun control. A salvo hit ''Pinguin'', which blew up at and sank north of the Seychelles, about from where it had sunk ''British Emperor''.
Aftermath
Analysis
The commerce-raiding voyage of the ''Pinguin'' had lasted from 22 June 1940 – 8 May 1941 and the ship sank or captured of About of shipping was sent to Germany as
prizes
A prize is an award to be given to a person or a group of people (such as sporting teams and organizations) to recognize and reward their actions and achievements. . ''Cornwall'' returned to
Durban
Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...
for repairs until 10 June; the tactics of the captain of ''Cornwall'' in shadowing, attempted to identify and closing with ''Pinguin'' was criticised by the Admiralty. The crew of ''Pinguin'' had been skilful in disguising the ship and it was difficult to approach a suspicious, yet unidentified ship. A raider had the tactical advantage in deciding when to open fire, before it was unmasked and investigating ships courted danger if the vessel approached from a direction favourable to a raider's guns and torpedoes. Allied ships were given secret call signs and a system was devised for the investigating ship to refer to the Admiralty by wireless to verify ship identities. The new methods made ship identification much easier but took months to implement and similar events occurred when ships were either allowed to sail on and turned out to be raiders or were intercepted and sprang a surprise on the British warship.
![HMS Bermuda aircraft](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/b/b3/HMS_Bermuda_aircraft.jpg)
The success against ''Pinguin'' and other raiders was due to the navy Operational Intelligence Centre (OIC) of the
Naval Intelligence Division, at the Admiralty. The OIC tracked raiders, based on the position of the sinking of Allied merchant ships and by collating rare sightings and distress signals. German commerce-raiders kept radio silence, avoided common shipping routes, searched for independently routed vessels and tried to prevent their victims from transmitting wireless messages. From May to November 1941, the Germans lost ''Pinguin'' and two more commerce raiders but
Enigma
Enigma may refer to:
*Riddle, someone or something that is mysterious or puzzling
Biology
*ENIGMA, a class of gene in the LIM domain
Computing and technology
* Enigma (company), a New York-based data-technology startup
* Enigma machine, a family ...
decrypts by the
Government Code and Cypher School
Government Communications Headquarters, commonly known as GCHQ, is an intelligence and security organisation responsible for providing signals intelligence (SIGINT) and information assurance (IA) to the government and armed forces of the Unit ...
(GC&CS) were only involved in one sinking.
German commerce-raiders used the (Home Waters) Enigma settings, known as ''Dolphin'' to the British, before departing and when returning to Germany. The seven raiders at sea in May 1941 had sailed in 1940 before Enigma intelligence became available to the British. When at sea, Enigma-equipped raiders used the settings if they broke radio silence, which
Hut 4
Hut 4 was a wartime section of the Government Code and Cypher School (GC&CS) at Bletchley Park tasked with the translation, interpretation and distribution of '' Kriegsmarine'' (German navy) messages deciphered by Hut 8. The messages were largely ...
at
Bletchley Park
Bletchley Park is an English country house and estate in Bletchley, Milton Keynes ( Buckinghamshire) that became the principal centre of Allied code-breaking during the Second World War. The mansion was constructed during the years following ...
never managed to penetrate. ''Atlantis'', the third raider lost in 1941, was sunk by on 22 November after the British read U-boat signals in the setting, introduced in October 1941, to arrange a re-fuelling rendezvous.
Casualties
A British sailor, near the stern of ''Cornwall'', was killed when ''Pinguin'' opened fire. Among the men on ''Pinguin'' were and Indian merchant sailors, captured from over thirty merchant vessels. Of the crew of the captain and were killed and rescued, along with the Merchant Navy prisoners.
Footnotes
Bibliography
*
*
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*
*
Further reading
*
*
*
External links
Allen, T. ''Pinguin'' wrecksite
{{DEFAULTSORT:19410508
Conflicts in 1941
Naval battles of World War II involving Germany
A
Maritime incidents in May 1941
History of Seychelles
British Seychelles
1940s in Seychelles
May 1941 events
Germany–United Kingdom military relations