German Auxiliary Cruiser Thor

''Thor'' (HSK 4) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' in World War II, intended for service as a commerce raider. Also known to the ''Kriegsmarine'' as ; to the Royal Navy she was Raider E. She was named after the Germanic deity Thor.

Early history

Formerly the cargo ship ''Santa Cruz'', she was built by Deutsche Werft, Hamburg, (DWH) in 1938, and was owned and operated by the Oldenburg Portuguese Line (OPDR), Hamburg. In the winter of 1939–40 the navy requisitioned her and had her converted into an auxiliary warship by DWH. She was commissioned as the commerce raider ''Thor'' in March 1940.

First cruise

''Thor'' began its first combat cruise on 6 June 1940, under the command of Captain Otto Kähler. ''Thor'' spent 329 days at sea, and sank or captured 12 ships with a combined tonnage of .

''Thor'' stopped her first victim on 1 July, the 9290-ton Dutch cargo ship ''Kertosono'', which was carrying a cargo of petrol, timber, asphalt, and agricultural machinery. Kähler decided to send her under a prize crew to Lorient, France, where she arrived safely 12 days later. At the time, ''Thor'' was disguised as a Yugoslavian freighter.

On 7 July ''Thor'' encountered ''Delambre'', a 7,030 GRT British freighter. ''Thor'' fired several broadsides, the third of which hit ''Delambre'', stopping her dead in the water, after which ''Thor''s boarding party scuttled the ship with demolition charges.

Two days later ''Thor'' intercepted the Belgian freighter ''Bruges'', which was carrying a cargo of wheat. ''Bruges'' was scuttled, and her crew of 44 was taken aboard ''Thor''. On the 14th, ''Thor'' stopped another freighter carrying wheat, the British ''Gracefield'', and sank her by demolition charges.

On 16 July ''Thor'' attacked the British freighter ''Wendover'' without warning, as ''Wendover'' was seen to be armed. ''Wendover'' was hit by several shells from ''Thor'' and set on fire. A boarding party set demolition charges which caused ''Wendover'' to capsize, and she was then sunk by gunfire. 36 of the ''Wendover's'' crew of 40 survived: two crew including the radio operator were killed in the attack; two more were wounded and died of their injuries while aboard ''Thor''.

The Dutch freighter ''Tela'', ''en route'' to the UK, was intercepted on 17 July. ''Thor'' fired a shot across her bow; she stopped without sending distress signals. The crew of 33 abandoned ship and were taken aboard ''Thor'', and ''Tela'' was sunk by demolition charges.

On 28 July, ''Thor'' encountered the British armed merchant cruiser HMS ''Alcantara'', which was armed with eight six-inch (150 mm) main guns. Kähler turned away from ''Alcantara'' and tried to outrun her for three hours until he realized ''Alcantara'' was faster than ''Thor''. At that point Kähler decided to turn and fight, hoping to inflict enough damage on ''Alcantara'' to allow ''Thor'' to escape. ''Thor'' scored three early hits on ''Alcantara'': one between her bridge and funnel, a second aft, and a third on her waterline that caused flooding in her engine room, forcing ''Alcantara'' to reduce speed. ''Thor'' turned away from ''Alcantara'' and received two hits from her six-inch guns, killing three crew members. Instead of risking further combat, ''Thor'' made her escape under cover of a dense smokescreen.

After the battle with ''Alcantara'', ''Thor'' repaired her battle damage, cleaned her boilers and changed her disguise. ''Thor'' rendezvoused with the supply ship ''Rekum'' on 25 August and then returned to Brazilian waters. Two weeks later, on Sept 8, the Yugoslav ''Federico Glavic'' was stopped, but allowed to proceed unmolested, as Yugoslavia was neutral at the time. On 26 September ''Thor''s float plane discovered the Norwegian whale-oil tanker ''Kosmos'', which was carrying over 17,000 tons of whale oil. The ''Kosmos'' would have been a highly valuable prize ship, but the fact that she was short of fuel, slow, and easily recognizable made keeping her as a prize unfeasible. Kähler ordered ''Kosmos'' to be sunk by gunfire.

On 8 October ''Thor'' caught the 8,715-ton British refrigeration ship ''Natia''. ''Thor'' scored a direct hit, which stopped ''Natia'' dead in the water, though she continued wireless transmissions. ''Thor'' hit ''Natia'' seven or eight more times with gunfire, and a torpedo that tore open her side. Another 35 rounds were fired before she sank. 84 of ''Natia's'' 85 crew were taken aboard ''Thor'', bringing her total to 368. Most of these prisoners were transferred to the supply ship ''Rio Grande'' in mid November.

On 5 December ''Thor'' encountered another armed merchant cruiser, , a 20,062-ton ship armed with eight and two three-inch anti-aircraft guns. ''Thor'' carried three of her four guns aft, so Kähler decided to force ''Carnarvon Castle'' into a stern chase. ''Thor's'' gunners found their target in the fourth salvo, after which Kähler changed course, turning the chase into a circular fight in order to bring ''Thor's'' entire broadside to bear. ''Thor'' was in command of the engagement; her gunners registered more than 20 hits, forcing ''Carnarvon Castle'' to turn and flee to Montevideo, Uruguay. Six of ''Carnarvon Castle''s crew had been killed, and 32 more were wounded. After this engagement ''Thor'' was ordered to rendezvous with the to transfer men for prize crews for 's captured whaling fleet.

On 25 March ''Thor'' intercepted , an 8,800 ton British passenger ship. After scoring several hits on the fleeing ship, Kähler allowed her to be abandoned, before firing 16 rounds into her waterline, sinking her. German wireless operators intercepted a message from a nearby British warship approaching at full speed from about away. Kähler decided to not risk encountering it and assumed that the British ship would arrive and assist those in the water. Unfortunately, the British warship failed to find the survivors and 331 out of about 520 survivors were ultimately rescued, primarily by the Spanish ships ''Cabo de Hornos'', ''Raranga'', and ''Bachi''. Thirty-three survivors eventually reached land at Sao Luis, on the coast of Brazil, after 23 days and adrift at sea. On the same day, 25 March, ''Thor'' stopped the 5,045-ton Swedish motor vessel ''Trollenholm''. Sweden was neutral but ''Trollenholm'' was found to have been chartered by the British to take coal from Newcastle to Port Said. In less than 90 minutes, all 31 crewmen from ''Trollenholm'' were transferred to ''Thor'' and the freighter was sunk by demolition charges.

On her return trip to Germany, ''Thor'' encountered a third armed merchant cruiser off the Cape Verde islands. This was , a 13,245 GRT ship armed with eight and three guns. ''Thor'' approached head on and in response to ''Voltaire's'' AAA signals (an order for a ship to identify itself), fired a shot across ''Voltaire's'' bow. ''Thor''s first salvo hit ''Voltaire''s generator and radio room, rendering her unable to transmit signals. ''Voltaire'' was turned into an inferno. Two of ''Voltaire's'' six-inch guns continued to fire, but they scored only one hit on ''Thor'', disabling her radio aerial. ''Voltaire''s obsolete guns overheated and had to cease firing, at which point the ''Voltaire'' raised a white flag. ''Thor'' began rescuing ''Voltaire''s crew from a safe distance of to avoid damage from any secondary explosions. ''Voltaire''s captain and 196 men were rescued out of a crew of 296.

The last ship intercepted by ''Thor'' on her first cruise was on 16 April, on her way back to Germany; the Swedish ore carrier ''Sir Ernest Cassel''. Two warning shots were fired, which stopped the ship; her crew was taken aboard ''Thor'' and she was sunk by demolition charges.

Second cruise

''Thor'' first attempted to start her second cruise in the evening 19 November 1941. However at 21:30 on the next day it collided , in dense fog, with the Swedish ore-carrier ''Bothnia''. The 1,343-ton Swedish ship sank, while ''Thor'' returned to Kiel for repairs to its damaged bow.

''Thor'' finally set out on her second cruise on 30 November 1941 under the command of Captain Günther Gumprich. ''Thor'' sank or captured 10 ships on her second cruise, a total of 58,644 tons, during 328 days of operation.

''Thor'' found her first victim on 23 March, the 3,490-ton Greek freighter ''Pagasitikos''. Her crew of 33 was taken aboard ''Thor'', and she was sunk by a torpedo. The next day, 24 March, ''Thor'' replenished her stocks from the supply ship ''Regensburg''.

On 30 March ''Thor'' chased the 4,470-ton British freighter ''Wellpark'' for seven hours. Gumprich sent his seaplane to strafe the freighter, but this was abandoned when ''Thor'' opened fire on ''Wellpark''. Within 15 minutes, the ''Wellpark's'' crew abandoned ship, and she was sunk.

On 1 April ''Thor'' intercepted another British freighter, the 4,565-ton ''Willesden''. Gumprich again ordered his floatplane to destroy the vessel's radio aerial before opening fire from ''Thor''. After the plane's strafing run, ''Thor'' opened fire with her guns, and set oil drums on the ''Willesden's'' deck on fire, forcing most of the crew to abandon the ship. The only remaining crew were the gunners, but they managed to fire only six shots before they were also forced to abandon ship. ''Thor'' fired 128 shells into ''Willesden'' and finished her off with a torpedo.

Two days later on the 3rd, the Norwegian freighter ''Aust'' fell victim to the same tactics. She was unable to send a distress or raider signal before she was disabled and sunk by demolition charges.

On 10 April ''Thor'' detected the 4,840-ton British freighter ''Kirkpool'' on her radar, the first installed on an armed merchant cruiser. Poor visibility and fog forced Gumprich to abandon his usual tactics and instead shadow ''Kirkpool'' until nightfall. At close range, ''Thor'' attacked first with a torpedo and a salvo of her guns, both of which missed. The second salvo scored three hits and set ''Kirkpool's'' bridge and wheelhouse alight. With the helm unattended, ''Kirkpool'' veered towards ''Thor'' in what appeared to be an attempt to ram her attacker, which was avoided. ''Kirkpool's'' crew began abandoning ship, and after a three-hour search, 32 men were rescued from the water, including ''Kirkpool''s captain, chief engineer and first officer. The ship was sunk with a torpedo.

All of ''Thor''s victims thus far were near the Cape of Good Hope, in the shipping lanes. The Kriegsmarine High Command (SKL) ordered ''Thor'' to move into the Indian Ocean, but warned her to be aware of Japanese submarines operating in the area.

On 10 May ''Thor's'' seaplane sighted the 7,130-ton Australian liner ''Nankin'', en route to Bombay. From a range of 13,000 yards ''Thor'' opened fire with her guns, scoring several hits. ''Nankin''s captain gave the order to abandon ship and lowered his flags. The crew attempted to scuttle her, but the German boarding party managed to repair the damage done to the ship's engines. ''Nankin'' was renamed ''Leuthen'' and taken as a prize ship to rendezvous with ''Regensburg''. Following resupply and prisoner transfer, ''Leuthen'' and ''Regensburg'' both sailed to Japanese-held ports. She was carrying secret papers from the New Zealand "Combined Intelligence Centre" in Wellington to the C-in-C, Eastern Fleet in Colombo.

On 14 June ''Thor's'' radar picked up a contact at 10,000 yards, and by using a converging course, was able to approach to within 1,800 yards, ''Thor'' attacked what turned out to be the 6,310-ton Dutch Shell tanker ''Olivia''. The first salvo set ''Olivia'' ablaze, killing most of the crew. The third officer, three other Dutchmen and eight Chinese were able to lower one boat, but ''Thor'' was able to find only one man in the water. These 12 men were adrift for a month before their boat capsized in the breakers off Madagascar; one Dutch and seven Chinese mariners had died during the month at sea.

Five days later on the 19th, ''Thor'' intercepted the Norwegian oil tanker ''Herborg''. Her seaplane disabled ''Herborg''s radio aerial, and a warning salvo from ''Thor'' brought ''Herborg'' to a stop. The entire crew was taken aboard ''Thor'', and a prize crew took the renamed ''Hohenfriedburg'' to Japan.

On 4 July ''Thor'' stopped another Norwegian oil tanker, the 5,895-ton ''Madrono'', in the same manner as ''Herborg''. A prize crew took her to Japan as well, renamed as ''Rossbach''. ''Rossbach'' was eventually torpedoed by the American submarine , in the Kii Channel, Japan, in May 1944.

''Thor's'' tenth and final victim was on 20 July, the British refrigerated freighter ''Indus''. She put up a fight, turning away at full speed and firing her stern gun, but she fired only two shots before a shell from ''Thor'' hit the gun directly, killing the chief gunner and destroying the gun. The freighter's radio operator kept up a steady stream of distress signals, until another shell from ''Thor'' hit the bridge, killing him and knocking out the radio, and setting the bridge on fire. ''Indus'' was now a raging inferno, and most of her crew went overboard. ''Thor'' ceased firing and rescued 49 survivors before finishing ''Indus'' off.

''Thor'' transferred her prisoners to the blockade runner ''Tannenfels'', and made for Yokohama, Japan, ''via'' Batavia in the Japanese-occupied Dutch East Indies.

Yokohama

''Thor'' reached Yokohama on 9 October 1942, where she began refitting for a third voyage. On 30 November explosions on the supply ship destroyed her superstructure, sending a large amount of burning debris onto ''Thor'', which was moored alongside. Both ships were rapidly set ablaze, along with ''Nankin/Leuthen'' and the Japanese freighter ''Unkai Maru''. All four ships were destroyed in the fire and 12 of ''Thor's'' crew were killed. ''Thor'' was wrecked beyond repair and was abandoned. Her captain, Gumprich, later commanded the on her second raiding voyage, from which he did not return. Some survivors of the ship were sent to France on the blockade runner ''Doggerbank'' and killed when the ship was mistakenly sunk by on 3 March 1943 with all but one of her 365 crew lost.

References

External links

German newsreel Hilfskreuzer ''Thor''

{{DEFAULTSORT:Thor
1938 ships
Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine
Germany–Japan relations
Maritime incidents in November 1942
Ships built in Hamburg
Ship fires
World War II commerce raiders
World War II cruisers of Germany
World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean