The ''Pinguin'' was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) **Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

auxiliary cruiser (''Hilfskreuzer'') which served as a commerce raider in

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 World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. The ''Pinguin'' was known to 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 It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic.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 ...

'' as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British

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 Fr ...

as Raider F. The name ''Pinguin'' means

penguin Penguins (order Sphenisciformes , family Spheniscidae ) are a group of aquatic flightless birds. They live almost exclusively in the Southern Hemisphere: only one species, the Galápagos penguin, is found north of the Equator. Highly adap ...

Early history

Formerly a freighter named ''Kandelfels'', she was built by

AG Weser Aktien-Gesellschaft „Weser" (abbreviated A.G. „Weser”) was one of the major German shipbuilding companies, located at the Weser River in Bremen. Founded in 1872 it was finally closed in 1983. All together, A.G. „Weser" built about 1,400 ...

in 1936, and was owned and operated by the Hansa Line,

Bremen Bremen ( Low German also: ''Breem'' or ''Bräm''), officially the City Municipality of Bremen (german: Stadtgemeinde Bremen, ), is the capital of the German state Free Hanseatic City of Bremen (''Freie Hansestadt Bremen''), a two-city-state cons ...

. In the winter of 1939/40, she was requisitioned by the ''Kriegsmarine'' (KM) and converted to a war ship by DeSchiMAG,

. Her main armament was taken from the obsolete

battleship A battleship is a large armour, armored warship with a main artillery battery, battery consisting of large caliber guns. It dominated naval warfare in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The term ''battleship'' came into use in the late 1 ...

Raider voyage

''Pinguin'' was one of the first wave of raiders sent out by the ''Kriegsmarine'', sailing on 15 June 1940 under the command of ''

Fregattenkapitän Fregattenkapitän, short: FKpt / in lists: FK, () is the middle field officer rank () in the German Navy. Address In line with ZDv 10/8, the official manner of formally addressing military personnel holding the rank of ''Fregattenkapitän'' ...

'' (later '' Kapitän zur See'') Ernst-Felix Krüder. Slipping through the Denmark Straits, ''Pinguin'' made for her patrol area in the

Southern Ocean The Southern Ocean, also known as the Antarctic Ocean, comprises the southernmost waters of the World Ocean, generally taken to be south of 60° S latitude and encircling Antarctica. With a size of , it is regarded as the second-smal ...

. In 10½ months at sea she accounted for 28 ships, totalling 136,000 tons ( GRT). Her most successful coup was the capture, on 14 January 1941, of most of the Norwegian whaling fleet in

Antarctica Antarctica () is Earth's southernmost and least-populated continent. Situated almost entirely south of the Antarctic Circle and surrounded by the Southern Ocean, it contains the geographic South Pole. Antarctica is the fifth-largest cont ...

, totalling 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 11

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. These were sent back as prizes to Europe, arriving in

Bordeaux Bordeaux ( , ; Gascon oc, Bordèu ; eu, Bordele; it, Bordò; es, Burdeos) is a port city on the river Garonne in the Gironde department, Southwestern France. It is the capital of the Nouvelle-Aquitaine region, as well as the prefectu ...

, 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 ...

in March 1941. One of the whalers was retained as an auxiliary raider and re-named ''Adjutant''. ''Adjutant'' went on to lay mines around New Zealand waters.Search for WW2 german mines
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Fate

On 8 May 1941, ''Pinguin'' was sunk in a

battle A battle is an occurrence of combat in warfare between opposing military units of any number or size. A war usually consists of multiple battles. In general, a battle is a military engagement that is well defined in duration, area, and for ...

with the British

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 T ...

. She was the first auxiliary cruiser of the ''Kriegsmarine'' to be sunk in the war. 532 lives, among them 200 prisoners, were lost when ''Pinguin'' blew apart when the mines stored on board took a hit and exploded. ''Cornwall'' rescued 60 crew members and 22 prisoners who were originally crew of the 28 merchant ships the raider had either sunk or captured.

Notes

References

Bibliography

* * * * * * * Ivanov, Lyubomir and Ivanova, Nusha. Whaling period. In: ''The World of Antarctica''. Generis Publishing, 2022. pp. 91-94.

External links

The ''Royal New Zealand Navy'' Official History describes the operations of ''Pinguin''

External links

DreadnoughtProject.org
original plan images of the vessel.
German Commerce Raider HK33 (Battle LIne series) Part 1 of 3

German Commerce Raider HK33 (Battle LIne series) Part 2 of 3

* ttps://archive.org/stream/cruiseoftheraide007441mbp/cruiseoftheraide007441mbp_djvu.txt Cruise Of The Raider HK 33
Operations of the Pinguin

Cruises Of The Secret Raiders.
{{DEFAULTSORT:Pinguin 1936 ships Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine Maritime incidents in May 1941 Ships built in Bremen (state) World War II commerce raiders World War II cruisers of Germany World War II shipwrecks in the Indian Ocean Naval magazine explosions