As a footnote: I once read a book on the Doolittle Raid in which the author commented that James Doolittle’s family name was somewhat ironic because, on the contrary to “doing little,” the man was actually a powerhouse with a long list of accomplishments in various aviation-related fields, both theoretical and applied. He was, among other things, a test pilot and an aeronautical engineer, a record-setter and a prize winner, with many of these accomplishments pre-dating the outbreak of WWII in 1939 (at which time he was a reserve officer in the Air Corps, having resigned his regular commission in 1930; he returned to active duty in the Air Corps in 1940). WWII added more items to his C.V., the Doolittle Raid being the most famous example but by no means the only one.
Favorite German Merchant Raider
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I’ve always liked Merchant raiders. I thought this might be a good topic for a poll.
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KOMET!
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you brought this topic back from the dead
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You’re welcome.
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necromancer !
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I just started a book on the German WWI raider Wolf. The ship was at sea for 15 months.
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Never heard of these ships Worsham. You keep doing this to me!
Hope you enjoy your book. -
@wittmann:
Never heard of these ships Worsham. You keep doing this to me!
Hope you enjoy your book.These ships have some great stories. The Atlantis captures a ship that held the complete review of the entire British defense of the Far East and turned this info over to the Japanese.
The Kormoran got into a close broadside gun fight with a Australian light cruiser and both ships sank.
The Penguin capture an entire British whale fleet.
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It is funny, because I would associate these “pirate” ventures more with the 17th North Americas or later 19th century Civil War. But that is silly, as Merchant Shipping is big money and horrifically it still happens today!
A Cruiser nonetheless, was the Kormoran armed with 6inch guns too or was it one lucky shot from a smaller piece? -
I’ve read the story of the Kormoran.
Awesome… ;)
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ABWorsham,
––I too, have read many accounts of German “Q-ships”. They formed a unique and interesting piece of the whole war puzzle. The book on the “Wolf” is an excellent one I’m sure you’ll enjoy. I commend you for your thoughts on this subject.
----I also like the accounts of the three ships FDR had re-flagged as U.S. Naval vessels in order to position in front of the Japanese invasion forces headed for the “Malay Barrier”. Their purpose was stated as “recon”, and although not officially ordered as such, were a suicide-type mission to bring America into the war.
----The “Lanikai” had a fascinating string of adventures in it’s escape after the war started.“Tall Paul”
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@wittmann:
It is funny, because I would associate these “pirate” ventures more with the 17th North Americas or later 19th century Civil War. But that is silly, as Merchant Shipping is big money and horrifically it still happens today!
A Cruiser nonetheless, was the Kormoran armed with 6inch guns too or was it one lucky shot from a smaller piece?She was armed with 5.9’’ guns, 37mm tank guns, 20mm AA and 4 torpedo tubes. Plus several hundred mines.
From my reading the Australia cruiser did not give the Raider enough distance in attempt to discover the idenity of the unknown ship. The Raider attempt to pass itself of as a dutch ship with some sucess until over the radio the question was asked, "about secret code phrase.’
It was at that time the Germans raised the battle flag and got the first shots of the battle. The cruiser did not have all its guns ready for battle. Both ships ripped one another to pieces. With the Kormoran fired a torpedo which blew the cruiser up.
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Thank you Worsham.
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This is the June 1941 Life article in which photographer David E. Scherman published the “mug shot” he took at sea of the raider Atlantis (operating under the false name “Tamesis”), on which he’d been held prisonner. He managed to smuggle the film back to New York when he was freed, American being still neutral at the time. I’ve heard that the photo was soon distributed to every warship in the Royal Navy, who from that point onward knew what the notorious raider looked like. They caught and sank her four months later.
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@CWO:
This is the June 1941 Life article in which photographer David E. Scherman published the “mug shot” he took at sea of the raider Atlantis (operating under the false name “Tamesis”), on which he’d been held prisonner.�  He managed to smuggle the film back to New York when he was freed, American being still neutral at the time.�  I’ve heard that the photo was soon distributed to every warship in the Royal Navy, who from that point onward knew what the notorious raider looked like.�  They caught and sank her four months later.
According the book, The German Raider Atlantis, the Zamzam was not acting as a neutral ship by not lighting itself during the night.
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Here is a story of a mine discovered on the beach in New Zealand from the WWI German Raider Wolf.
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