''Adjutant'' was a ''

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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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) commerce raider that served 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 opposin ...

. The vessel was initially the Norwegian whaler ''Pol IX'' until captured in 1941 by the German auxiliary cruiser . Renamed ''Adjutant'', the vessel was used as a minelayer in the South Atlantic and Indian oceans. After suffering engine trouble, the ship was scuttled on 1 July 1941.

Construction and career

Built as the Norwegian whaler ''Pol IX'', she was captured on 14 January 1941 by the German auxiliary cruiser ''Pinguin''. She was renamed ''Adjutant'' and used as a commerce raider. Captained by ''Adjutant'' Hemmer and used a first as a scout, she then was used as a minelayer in the South Atlantic Ocean and

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 ...

. On the night of 24–25 July 1941 the ship lay ten mines in the approaches to Lyttleton Harbour,

New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...

. She was not detected at all, and this action was not discovered until four years later when they were revealed by captured German documents. She was scuttled in the

Pacific Ocean The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the continen ...

on 1 July 1941 by the German auxiliary cruiser after suffering engine trouble off the

Chatham Islands The Chatham Islands ( ) (Moriori: ''Rēkohu'', 'Misty Sun'; mi, Wharekauri) are an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean about east of New Zealand's South Island. They are administered as part of New Zealand. The archipelago consists of about te ...

References

External links

Adjutant (ex-Pol IX) (+1941) wrecksite.eu

{{DEFAULTSORT:Adjutant 1937 ships Ships built on the River Tees World War II mine warfare vessels of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Pacific Ocean Maritime incidents in July 1941 Auxiliary ships of the Kriegsmarine Scuttled vessels of Germany Captured ships