- PRECIOUS CARGO LOST
26)TRAFALGAR (RAIDER ATLANTIS)
Photo Copyright http://rapidttp.co.za/museum
Built: 1924
Tonnage: 4,530 / 7,800 tons
Cargo: 4.500 tons of coal and two aircraft.
Route: UK – Table Bay - Alexandria
Sunk 24 May 41 by raider Atlantis on pos. 25º 00S 01º 00’ W
12 Dead
33 POW
A week after having narrowly missed being caught, while stopped, by the British battleship HMS Nelson and the aircraft carrier HMS Eagle, as they passed, a mere 7,000 yards astern, Atlantis used one of her new Arados to locate her next victim, the 4.530-ton British freighter Trafalgar, with a cargo of 4.500 tons of coal and two aircraft.
Having stalked her all day, she was attacked and battered to a standstill by six rapid salvos, which left her deck cargo, the aircraft, on fire, her funnel and mast down, rudder jammed, 12 of her crew dead and the rest in the water.
On fire, abandoned and circling for a possible collision with Atlantis, Rogge ordered a torpedo fired to finish her off.
The torpedo went out of control, briefly threatening the raider itself, narrowly missing her bows, and having missed with a second torpedo, finally washed the treacherous fires out with a third.
Rescue operations were difficult in the dark, but due to the small red flashlights pinned to their lifejackets, 33 survivors were eventually picked up.
By https://www.bismarck-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/atlantis.html
