German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran
The German
auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8, Schiff 41, Raider G) was built by Germania-Werft of
Kiel and originally launched on
September 15,
1938 as
Steiermark of the Hamburg-America line.
She entered service as an auxiliary cruiser on
October 9,
1940,
commanded by
Fregattenkapitän Theodor Detmers.
The largest of the German raiders, she operated in the South Atlantic,
Indian Ocean, and the South Pacific. Kormoran sank ten merchant ships
for a total of 56,965 tons. Her career lasted 352 days (December 3, 1940, to November 19, 1941), ending when she encountered the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney. Lured into range of the raider's guns, Sydney was lost with all hands, raising the former's total to 68,274 tons. However, Sydney did enough damage that Kormoran foundered. Detmers and about 320 of his crew were rescued and spent the remainder of the war in an Australian prisoner of war camp.
General Characteristics
- Length: 164 meters (515 feet)
- Beam: 20.2 meters (66 feet)
- Draft: 8.5 meters (30 feet)
- Displacement: 8736 tons
- Crew: 401 men
- Drive system: Diesel engine
- Performance: 16000 HP
- Speed: 18 knots
- Armament:
- six 15cm (5.9-inch) guns
- two twin 37mm cannon
- five 20mm FlaK
- four twin 53.3cm (21-inch) torpedo tubes above the waterline; two single below
- 390 mines
- 2 Arado 196 airplanes
- 1 light speedboat
- Complement: 397 officers and men