HSK KORMORAN

HSK Kormoran: The World War II German Merchant Raider Essay

The HSK Kormoran, also known as Schiff 41 or Raider G by its Allied adversaries, is a renowned German auxiliary cruiser that operated during the World War II naval campaigns. Kormoran, which means “sea crow,” served as a merchant raider, disrupting Allied shipping lines with its guile and firepower. This disguised warship, based on the merchant vessel Steiermark, epitomized the German strategy of leveraging deception and commerce raiding to challenge the numerically and technologically superior Allied navies. Kormoran is infamous for its mutually destructive engagement with the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney in November 1941, a battle that remains one of the most contentious and analyzed naval encounters of the war. This article delves into the origins, distinctive characteristics, and critical roles of the Kormoran in various battles and operations throughout the Second World War.

Design and Development
Origins of the Ship

The Kormoran was the civilian merchant vessel Steiermark before being acquired by the Kriegsmarine, the German Navy, for conversion into a commerce raider. Steiermark, built in 1938 by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel for the Hamburg-Amerika Line, was a state-of-the-art cargo ship designed for service on the East Asia trade route. The freighter had a gross register tonnage of 8,736 tons, with a length of 164 meters (537 feet), a beam of 20.2 meters (66 feet), and a draught of 10.3 meters (33 feet). Propelled by a diesel-electric power plant with four 9-cylinder diesel engines providing electric motors with power, it had a maximum speed of 18 knots (21 mph), making it one of the fastest merchant vessels of its time. The propulsion plant provided a nearly year-long cruising range at 10 knots, an essential feature for a future raider.

Conversion to a Merchant Raider

When war broke out in 1939, the Kriegsmarine seized Steiermark and selected it to be converted into a merchant raider, or Handelsstörkreuzer, with the identifier HSK-8. From January to March 1940, the vessel was transformed at Deutsche Werft AG in Hamburg-Finkenwerder into a warship while retaining the appearance of a civilian freighter. In this guise, Kormoran was sent to the Far East to prey on Allied merchant shipping. In this guise, the Kriegsmarine’s requirements to mount a concealed arsenal that could hunt and destroy Allied shipping from a distance were also addressed.

The ship’s primary armament was six 15-centimeter (5.9-inch) guns, all salvaged from older warships, the most notable being one from the battlecruiser SMS Seydlitz. Hidden behind false hull plates in the forecastle and quarterdeck and fake cargo hatch walls on the centerline were the 15-centimeter guns. When not in disguise, they were quickly raised on the deck and hidden behind a mast by false superstructures. The ship’s secondary anti-aircraft armament consisted of five 2-centimeter (0.8-inch) guns, four of which were quickly elevated on a hydraulic platform on the main deck while the fifth was manually elevated forward. Finally, two 3.7-centimeter ex-army anti-tank guns, concealed by sheet metal panels on the funnels, rounded out the Kormoran’s concealed anti-aircraft armament. The Kormoran had six torpedo tubes, with a twin launcher on the upper deck and single underwater tubes amidships, also built for low-speed firing. The ship was also equipped with several hundred sea mines and an LS-3 fast boat.

The ship’s diesel-electric propulsion system was also retained, with four 9-cylinder diesel engines providing 6,000 horsepower (4,500 kW) to electric motors driving the three propellers. The system was reliable but plagued by engine issues, with frequent stops to resupply the bearings’ white metal. The ship was easy to camouflage in Allied and neutral uniforms, with a camouflage pattern that could be rapidly changed to mimic Soviet Vyacheslav Molotov or Dutch Straat Malakka. Kormoran had a powerful look with her armament safely hidden below decks. The presence of false superstructures also made it appear like an older vessel rather than a state-of-the-art freighter.

What Made Kormoran Special

Unique Strategies and Tactics

Kormoran was the largest, most modern of nine merchant raiders built by the Kriegsmarine for commerce-raiding operations on a large scale. Germany, with the hopes of defeating Britain’s Royal Navy and its numerous allies at sea, had few choices in how to wage war. For a variety of reasons, including German reluctance to rearm openly, as required by the Treaty of Versailles, the Kriegsmarine was vastly outnumbered by Allied naval warships in every category. Germany turned to asymmetric warfare tactics, and the creation of commerce raiders to supplement its surface fleet and U-boats was the result of this approach. Merchant raiders like Kormoran caused problems for the Allies because they put out to sea and sank or captured Allied merchant ships in the long hours and long miles between the United Kingdom and the Empire or the North American and South American theatres of war. They forced the Allies to spend money and use up naval warships of all types, particularly destroyers, by attacking Allied shipping. Merchant raiders were a significant irritation, representing not only a threat to Allied shipping lines but also a propaganda success for the Kriegsmarine, but in the end, they provided limited damage and created more problems for the German war effort. Merchant raiders were armed and designed to hunt at sea, not just pounce on victims but to fight back until they were either sunk or overwhelmed.

The ship would often hide behind its disguise as a neutral or Allied freighter, a feat it could do by altering its camouflage and launching a QQQQ “suspicious ship” distress signal to entice a target within range of the 15-centimeter weapons’ arc of fire. The low speed at which this could be achieved was no problem for the Kormoran because of the weapons’ low-speed design. In this way, Kormoran was able to use guile to outfight and outgun any Allied warship within her limited range because the Kormoran could never hope to match them in speed or power. Kormoran would not fire until a target was closing with her to provide a surprise attack; she often found that the speed at which she could close on a target with her concealed weapons was also the maximum range of the concealed guns’ arc of fire, so it was an all-or-nothing game. The Kormoran’s crew, trained by Korvettenkapitän Theodor Detmers to keep up the ruse as long as possible, reacted slowly to signals, as they knew from experience that merchant ships were reluctant to pass a warship without confirmation of its true nature. Most warships in the peacetime era, as they knew, were slower than them in convoy or working at a greater distance from their trade routes and thus no threat.

Design Features

The Kormoran’s diesel-electric propulsion and high fuel capacity allowed her to carry ample supplies, mines, and prisoners, enabling her to transfer supplies to other Kriegsmarine vessels, including U-boats, merchant raiders, and the cruiser Admiral Scheer. The wide cruising range permitted the Kormoran to rendezvous with the supply ships Nordmark and Kulmerland, as well as other Kriegsmarine vessels, such as Pinguin, Admiral Scheer, and several U-boats, to deliver fuel, food, ammunition, and water, while also picking up white metal, a lubricant used in her engines. Furthermore, Kormoran could modify its appearance to masquerade as various Allied and neutral merchant ships, using different camouflage colors and patterns to resemble Soviet Vyacheslav Molotov or Dutch Straat Malakka, allowing her to blend in and avoid suspicion. The Kormoran could also conceal her weaponry and mount a surprise attack on unsuspecting targets, leveraging her firepower and armor protection to outgun and outfight her opponents. These design elements made the Kormoran a versatile and formidable tool in the German Kriegsmarine’s arsenal, capable of sinking enemy ships, laying mines, and supporting other German vessels during the Second World War.

Key Roles in Battles and Operations

December 1940–April 1941 Atlantic

Kormoran began her career on December 3, 1940, when she left Gotenhafen for Stavanger, Norway, then passed through the Denmark Strait into the North Atlantic, disguised as the Soviet freighter Vyacheslav Molotov. The mission was given to Theodor Detmers, with the route chosen to cross the Atlantic Ocean. The strategic goal was to hunt down Allied merchant shipping and lay mines in the North Atlantic shipping lanes and to intercept Allied convoys. On January 6, 1941, the Greek freighter Antonis, with 4,800 tons of British coal, was sunk after being captured by Kormoran, which set her adrift after opening her seacocks. Kormoran had sunk her with gunfire and rammed her after the Antonis, having failed to respond to a warning shot, surrendered. The sinking of the Antonis without a fight was a disappointing early moment for Kormoran.

Kormoran encountered the tanker British Union at night on January 18, 1941. When the British Union lit her distress signal lamp, Kormoran, after failing to make contact, fired at her with her 15-centimeter guns. Despite the ship returning fire with a smaller armament and four 0.303 in Vickers machine guns, the German ship’s armor and heavier weapons overpowered the tanker, setting her on fire. Kormoran torpedoed British Union and sank her with gunfire after setting her on fire. The captured ship’s human and simian crew was rescued by Kormoran, and the destroyer HMS Arawa, with an Australian crew, later fired on Kormoran as she was leaving the scene but missed, forcing her to the next captured victim.

The next ship Kormoran attacked and sank was the refrigerator ship Afric Star on January 29, 1941, with gunfire. Afric Star was scuttled after her crew was captured, and her captain was held for interrogation. The captured ship’s human and simian crew was rescued by Kormoran, and the crew of the other ship, an Australian crewed HMS Arawa, later fired on Kormoran as she was leaving the scene but missed, forcing her to the next captured victim. The next ship Kormoran attacked and sank was the freighter Eurylochus on March 2, 1941. Kormoran sank her with gunfire and scuttled her after her crew was captured.

Kormoran met up with Nordmark in the Atlantic on February 27, 1941, and transferred 450 tons of fuel and water. Kormoran would meet Admiral Scheer, two U-boats, and the tanker Admiral Meuse on March 19, 1941. Kormoran’s diesel engine troubles were addressed during the rendezvous with the first U-boat by replenishing white metal, a bearing lubricant. On March 22, 1941, the raider torpedoed and sank the tanker Agnita, while on March 25, Kormoran captured the Canadian tanker Canadolite, which would go to Bordeaux as a prize. Canadolite is the only ship Kormoran captured that was not sunk.

April 1941–November 1941 Indian Ocean

Kormoran transferred to the Indian Ocean in April 1941. On June 26, 1941, Kormoran sank the Yugoslav freighter Velebit after it failed to respond to her warning shot and did not receive permission to approach. On the same day, Kormoran sank the Australian ship Mareeba with gunfire. Both ships were scuttled after their crews were captured by Kormoran. Mareeba was the only ship to fire on Kormoran before the German ship attacked, and the captured ship’s human crew was rescued. Kormoran transferred 450 tons of fuel and water to Nordmark off the Portuguese Azores on July 17, 1941. Kormoran would lay mines off the coast of Australia near Newcastle, New South Wales, in August, as well as the approaches to Spencer Gulf in South Australia. Kormoran and German submariners were involved in this part of the German strategy of disrupting Australian trade.

On September 26, 1941, the Kormoran sank the Greek freighter Stamatios G. Embiricos, and on October 13, 1941, Kormoran rendezvoused with the supply ship Kulmerland. Kormoran transferred 4,000 tons of fuel and other supplies to Kulmerland in October 1941, extending her operational radius. The raider sank or captured 11 ships for a total of just over 68,000 tons sunk during her Indian Ocean deployment by the end of November 1941. Kormoran and the mines she laid accounted for ships totalling just over 3,500 tons during her time in the Indian Ocean.

Battle with the HMAS Sydney (November 19, 1941)

Kormoran was engaged in commerce-raiding operations in the Indian Ocean in November 1941. Kormoran sank three ships in November 1941 before her career ended on November 19, 1941, in a one-sided gunnery duel with HMAS Sydney, an Australian light cruiser of the modified Leander class with a top speed of 32.5 knots (60 km/h), eight 6-inch (15 cm) guns, and 1,950 men. Kormoran sighted Sydney, masquerading as the Dutch merchant ship Straat Malakka, around 0830 hours on November 19, 1941. Captain Joseph Burnett, Commander of Sydney, had the ship on a direct collision course at 15 knots (28 km/h). After being hailed three times by Sydney and ordered to identify itself, Kormoran replied in a slow manner to keep suspicion at bay, and Detmers ordered the Dutch flag to be raised. When Sydney opened fire on Kormoran as the Kormoran was returning fire, it was well to the rear and broadside to her, so Detmers ordered the German naval ensign to be raised.

Kormoran had her concealed 15-centimeter guns unmasked to her rear by then, which struck Sydney’s bridge and director tower, where all her fire control instruments were concentrated. Sydney’s fire was wild and high, and as Kormoran was getting her secondary armament in position with her 3.7-centimeter and 2-centimeter guns. Sydney’s open upper decks were raked by the Kormoran’s secondary battery, and one torpedo landed in the Sydney’s bow as she dodged the raider’s gunfire, causing critical damage to her propulsion system and setting her on fire. Sydney was still firing in a wild, inaccurate manner with her 6-inch guns when Kormoran’s upper deck dual torpedo tube was destroyed. As a result, her effective fire control system was destroyed, and with no comms, her guns were falling short by a mile. Kormoran landed roughly 500 rounds of fire on Sydney before the cruiser began to list and retreat as she was burning and took a direct hit on her engine room that disabled it. Sydney struck her from the tail and set the raider on fire as she was still dodging its fire. Kormoran had left around 700 rounds on Sydney by the time it became apparent that she had sunk.

The battle was over in 35 minutes, but the Kormoran was engulfed in flames on her mine hold that could not be controlled and were waiting for the fuel from Sydney’s shell to ignite. Detmers ordered the Kormoran abandoned, and she was scuttled with charges before she was eventually lost around midnight on November 19, 1941. Of the 405 men aboard Kormoran, 82 were killed or injured, while all 645 men aboard Sydney were lost when the crippled ship’s oil began to list to starboard and set the superstructure on fire. Captain Burnett was on his deathbed when Sydney sank with all hands, leaving the ship’s secret identifying call sign, the details of which are still unconfirmed today.

The Kormoran’s casualties were less than those of Sydney, where all 645 men on board died. Detmers ordered the Kormoran’s crew to abandon ship after the fire on her upper deck became uncontrollable. Sydney took the Kormoran’s surrender and still fought fire on fire. The last message sent from Kormoran, an EIC distress signal with a request for water, turned Sydney around and led the battle to its fatal conclusion for her as she drove to the cruiser. After scuttling the raider, Detmers instructed the majority of the crew to make for Timor, while the other 317 Kormoran survivors were rescued by the Pinguin. Kormoran’s weapons survived the battle, as did much of the Kormoran, until an explosion occurred while the Kormoran was under the supervision of its crew. Kormoran and Sydney were both destroyed in the process of the German merchant raider’s only engagement with warships in the Second World War. Despite the Kormoran’s original success, the battle with HMAS Sydney was to be its undoing and ended its otherwise successful career.

Aftermath and Legacy

Kormoran’s destruction and the loss of Sydney sent shockwaves through the Allied forces. For the Kriegsmarine, it seemed to validate the concept of the merchant raider and her pursuit of vessels as important as Sydney but was essentially wasted with her loss in the Indian Ocean. The battle forced the Allies to commit resources to closing the Indian Ocean to all shipping, as patrols were stepped up. Kormoran’s Indian Ocean deployment sank or captured 11 ships totalling more than 68,000 tons sunk in action or mines laid and accounted for 35,000 tons. Kormoran was one of the war’s most successful commerce raiders despite the fact that her own loss had a limited effect on the war. The battle between Kormoran and Sydney lasted from 0830 hours to 0915 hours on November 19, 1941, with the ships in contact until 0945 hours as they both broke for cover.

The exact cause of the Sydney’s sinking and the circumstances of the battle is controversial since the battle was described primarily by German accounts of the 317 Kormoran survivors and Sydney, an Australian warship that had no survivors. Sydney was a large part of Australia’s naval defense and, therefore, was the center of a cover-up or a conspiracy involving a third party, possibly the Japanese, to blame for the sinking. German lies to save the lives of 317 of their men and cover up the situation were the other half. The German accounts of the battle were unconfirmed by Australian material until both wrecks were discovered in 2008 by commercial salvors working in a charted area 20 kilometers apart off Western Australia. The wreck of Sydney was found first in 2008, and it took eight years to locate Kormoran. The wrecks revealed nothing to support any cover-up or outside interference, which were all rumors.

The Sydney showed damage consistent with the German version of the battle in its remains, despite the discovery of third-party ordnance on Sydney, but the latter is common in a long-running war. The close approach the Sydney made on Kormoran, despite Detmers orders to keep her broadside to Sydney at all times, as well as what the Sydney was doing for the last half-hour before she sank, is still debated. In her brief career, Kormoran had made the long hours and long miles between the United Kingdom and the Empire or the North American and South American theatres of war that much more dangerous. Kormoran cost the Kriegsmarine little in material, as she sank in shallow water and was located quickly, but her destruction, as well as that of Sydney, sent shockwaves through the Allied forces.

final thoughts

The Kormoran was a remarkable ship for its time, unique in its design, operations, and the battle that ended its short but eventful career. The Kormoran was a disguised warship that carried significant firepower for a seemingly small merchant raider while also having a self-sufficient endurance of over a year at sea. The Kormoran was a rare vessel in the Kriegsmarine that masqueraded as neutral or Allied merchant vessels to allow it to choose its targets and keep enemy warships at bay, despite its stealth capabilities being limited. The HSK Kormoran was the embodiment of Germany’s asymmetric naval warfare strategy during the Second World War. Its success in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans before its final encounter with HMAS Sydney and the legacy it left behind are a testament to the ship and the Kriegsmarine in general.