''Michel'' (HSK-9) was an
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 ...
of
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany (lit. "National Socialist State"), ' (lit. "Nazi State") for short; also ' (lit. "National Socialist Germany") (officially known as the German Reich from 1933 until 1943, and the Greater German Reich from 1943 to 1945) was ...
's ''
Kriegsmarine'' that operated as a
merchant raider
Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels.
History
Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...
during
World War II
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 opposing ...
. Built by
Danziger Werft
Danziger Werft ( en, The International Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, pl, Stocznia Gdańska) was a shipbuilding company, in Danzig (now Gdańsk, Poland), in what was then the Free City of Danzig. It was founded in 1921 on the si ...
in
Danzig 1938/39 as the freighter ''Bielsko'' for the Polish Gdynia-America-Line (GAL), she was requisitioned by the
Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of
World War II
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 opposing ...
and converted into the
hospital ship
A hospital ship is a ship designated for primary function as a floating medical treatment facility or hospital. Most are operated by the military forces (mostly navies) of various countries, as they are intended to be used in or near war zones. I ...
''Bonn''. In the summer of 1941, she was converted into the auxiliary cruiser ''Michel'', and was commissioned on 7 September 1941. Known as ''Schiff'' 28, her
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
designation was Raider H. She was the last operative German raider of World War II.
Construction and conversion
When the auxiliary cruiser
''Widder'' returned from her cruise to Germany, her engines were almost worn out. The hospital ship ''Bonn'' was converted into an auxiliary cruiser and mounted the weapons used by the ''Widder''.
First raiding voyage
Although ''Michel'' was scheduled to leave at the end of November 1941, she was unable to sail until March 1942 because of reconstruction delays. She then moved under heavy escort through the
English Channel
The English Channel, "The Sleeve"; nrf, la Maunche, "The Sleeve" (Cotentinais) or ( Jèrriais), (Guernésiais), "The Channel"; br, Mor Breizh, "Sea of Brittany"; cy, Môr Udd, "Lord's Sea"; kw, Mor Bretannek, "British Sea"; nl, Het Kana ...
to a port in occupied France. She set off on her cruise sailed on 20 March 1942,commanded by
''Fregattenkapitan'' (later
''Kapitan zur See'')
Helmuth von Ruckteschell
Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (22 March 1890 − 24 September 1948) was a German naval officer during World War II; he was one of the most successful merchant raider commanders of Nazi Germany, serving as the captain of the commerce raiders '' Wid ...
, the former commander of ''Hilfskreuzer'' 3, the raider ''Widder'').
''Michel'' grounded on her first attempt to run through the
Channel and had to return to port. She managed to reach the
Atlantic
The Atlantic Ocean is the second-largest of the world's five oceans, with an area of about . It covers approximately 20% of Earth's surface and about 29% of its water surface area. It is known to separate the " Old World" of Africa, Europe an ...
on 20 March on her second try. On 14 and 15 March, British forces attacked the cruiser and her escorts, but without success. ''Michel'' began her operations in the South Atlantic and sank the British tanker ''Patelle'' () on 19 April. On 22 April her small
torpedo boat
A torpedo boat is a relatively small and fast naval ship designed to carry torpedoes into battle. The first designs were steam-powered craft dedicated to ramming enemy ships with explosive spar torpedoes. Later evolutions launched variants of ...
, LS 4 ''Esau'' sank the American tanker ''Connecticut'' (), but an attack on the faster British freighter ''Menelaus'' failed on 1 May. The
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
now sent the heavy cruiser
HMS ''Shropshire'' and two AMCs to track her down. Nevertheless, ''Michel'' sank the Norse freighter ''Kattegat'' () on 20 May.
LS 4 ''Esau'' discovered the struggling US
Liberty ship
Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
SS ''George Clymer'' () and scored two torpedo hits, though the freighter did not sink. The nearby British AMC ''
Alcantara'' rescued her crew, but the ship had to be abandoned. The German ship retreated when the British AMCs came in sight and escaped detection. The British mistakenly presumed the ''George Clymer'' had been torpedoed by a
submarine.
Other successes followed as ''Michel'' crossed the South Atlantic and entered 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 t ...
. After a successful cruise of eleven and a half months, she arrived in Japan in March 1943, having offloaded the rescued allied sailors at
Singapore
Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, bor ...
.
During her 346 days at sea, ''Michel'' had intercepted and sunk 15 allied merchant ships, for a total of 98,586 tons (GRT).
Second raiding voyage
After a refit, ''Michel'' sailed from
Yokohama
is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of T ...
on her second cruise on 21 May 1943, now under the command of KzS
Günther Gumprich, who had previously commanded the ''
Thor
Thor (; from non, Þórr ) is a prominent god in Germanic paganism. In Norse mythology, he is a hammer-wielding god associated with lightning, thunder, storms, sacred groves and trees, strength, the protection of humankind, hallowing, an ...
''.
She sailed along the west coast of Australia and crossed the Pacific Ocean to the coast of South America. ''Michel'' encountered and sank three allied ships over a five-month period, for a total of , before making her return to Japan.
The first prey of ''Michel'' was the 7715 GRT Norwegian freighter ''Høegh Silverdawn,'' sunk south-east of
Cocos Islands
)
, anthem = "''Advance Australia Fair''"
, song_type =
, song =
, image_map = Australia on the globe (Cocos (Keeling) Islands special) (Southeast Asia centered).svg
, map_alt = Location of the Cocos (Keeling) Islands
, map_caption = ...
(25.40S- 92.00E) on the early hours of 15 June, whilst on a voyage from
Fremantle, Australia, to
Abadan,
Iran
Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also called Persia, is a country located in Western Asia. It is bordered by Iraq and Turkey to the west, by Azerbaijan and Armenia to the northwest, by the Caspian Sea and Turkmeni ...
, with ammunition and general cargo. A total of 30 crew and 6
passengers were killed. Three survivors were saved after 11 days on a raft. Another 14 survivors arrived at
India
India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...
after 32 days and 3.100 nm in a damaged lifeboat.
The second merchant ship to be sunk by ''Michel'' in her second voyage was also Norwegian, the 9940 GRT tanker ''Ferncastle'', which went down the same day that ''Høegh Silverdawn''. The tanker was first torpedoed by ''Michel''
's midget motor torpedo boat LS4 ''Esau'', and then shelled by the auxiliary cruiser. A total of 24 seamen died, 18 in the raider's attack and six others aboard one of the tanker's lifeboats before being rescued.
The fate of her last victim, the 9977 GRT Norwegian tanker ''India'', sunk in the southern Pacific on 11 September 1943 with a loss of all hands, would not be known until after the war's end.
[Norwegian victims of Michel – MT ''India''](_blank)
/ref> On 29 August, ''Michels lookouts had sighted what they identified as a ''Pensacola''-class cruiser. Gumprich ordered a northern course to avoid the powerful enemy warship. The log of the American light cruiser USS ''Trenton'' shows that she had a radar contact which lasted for 15 minutes on the previous day. ''Trenton'' was patrolling between and . Had the American cruiser investigated, the crew of the ''India'' might have been saved.
Fate
Almost within sight of Japan and only out from port, ''Michel'' was spotted by the US submarine ''Tarpon'' on 20 October 1943.[, p. 484] In one of the few instances of American submarines attacking a German ship during World War II, ''Tarpon'' fired a total of eight torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es in four successive strikes, of which four torpedo
A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es struck home and detonated - the Mark 14 torpedo
The Mark 14 torpedo was the United States Navy's standard submarine-launched anti-ship torpedo of World War II. This weapon was plagued with many problems which crippled its performance early in the war. It was supplemented by the Mark 18 elec ...
having reliability problems. ''Michel'' sank, taking down 290 of her crew, including the captain. The 116 survivors reached safety in Japan after a three-day journey in open boats. Scores of others had been left on rafts and floating wreckage, but the Japanese Imperial Navy
The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
search aircraft reported they had seen nothing. This caused some friction with the German Navy officers in Japan, who felt the Japanese seemed unconcerned about rescuing possible German survivors. The loss of the ''Michel'' marked the end of the cruises of German auxiliary commerce raiders.
Raiding career
First cruise:
* 1942-04-19
* 1942-04-22
* 1942-05-20
* 1942-06-07
* 1942-06-11
* 1942-07-15 ''Gloucester Castle''
* 1942-07-16
* 1942-07-17
* 1942-08-14
* 1942-09-10 MS American Leader
* 1942-09-11
* 1942-11-02 [Other sources, such a]
Wrecksite
credit with sinking ''Reynolds''
* 1942-11-29
* 1942-12-08
* 1943-01-02
Second cruise:
* 1943-06-15 .
* 1943-06-17
* 1943-09-11
References
Bibliography
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
on Bismarck & Tirpitz, with list of all captured ships.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michel
World War II commerce raiders
World War II cruisers of Germany
Ships built in Danzig
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean
1939 ships
Ships sunk by American submarines
Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine
Germany–Japan relations
Maritime incidents in October 1943