Photo. www.photoship.co.uk
Built 1927
Tonnage 7,468 / 9,600 tons
Cargo: 9,911 tons of Oil
Route: Trinidad - Capetown
Sunk 19 APR 42 by raider Michel on pos. 23º 00” S 20º 00”W
3 Dead
60 POW
Having rendezvoused with his supply-ship Charlotte Schliemann, Michel opened her account on April 19, with this 7,469-ton Shell-owned British tanker en route for the Cape with 9,911 tons of Admiralty oil, which radioed for help, and increased speed when challenged. Out of a crew of sixty-three, sixty were picked up, and she was dispatched with demolition charges.
Ruckteschell’s practice was to follow his prey unseen to determine her course and speed, and then lower his Leichter Schnellboot Torpedo Boats. These ‘ light speedboats’ would then get ahead of the enemy ship in a great arc so that they would neither be heard or seen, to lie in wait, their torpedoes at the ready, to attack from the opposite direction to the raider.
By Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser / Raider) - Michel (bismarck-class.dk)