RAIDER KNOWN

Gisborne Herald, Volume LXVIII, Issue 20629, 3 December 1941, Page 5

RAIDER KNOWN

HUNTED BY NAVY POWERFUL NAZI SHIP CAREER OF DESTRUCTION iElee. Tel. Copyright—United Press Assn.) (British Official Wireless.) Reed. 11.30 a.m. RUGBY, Dec. 2. The armed merchant raider which H.M.A.S. Sydney brought to action and destroyed is known to have been the s.s. Steirmark, of 9400 tons. This vessel had been known for some time as raider No. 41 and had been sailing under the name of Kormoral. Like other raiders she indulged from time io time in various disguises and bore the flag of any nationality her cap lain deemed at the time would suit his purpose. The Steirmark was built at Hamburg in 1938 for the Hamburg-Amer-ika Line. She was designed with a view to employment as an armed merchant raider in wartime.

Before leaving Germany towards the end of 1940 the necessary alterations were carried out to convert her into a powerful raider. It is known that she carried at least six 5.9 in. guns and two aircraft and that she was further fitted with under-water torpedo tubes in addition to those fitted on her deck. She had a speed of 18 knots. Her complement was 400 officers and men. Formidable Vessel She was a formidable vessel. Raider No. 41 started operations,in the area of the Cape Verde Islands, sinking the Greek ship Antonis and two British ships, the British Union and Africa Star. She then operated in company with another merchant raider and together they sank one other ship before the end of January. She then went south to meet the tanker Nordmark and refuel and transfer prisoners. The raider now operated in the South Atlantic and her next victims were the Agnita and 3raftsman, which were sunk some time between the last week of March and the second week of April. In the next two and a half months she attempted only one attack and this intended victim escaped. It was not until June 26 that the raider again operated. She. then sank the Volbit and Mareeba between Ceylon and Sumatra, having left the South Atlantic for the Indian Ocean in May. After these sinkings the raider made no attempts on ships for ihree months. She dared not go on the main trade routes disguised for it was realised that the sinking of the Volbit and Mareeba must have given away her position. It was not until September 26 that Raider No. 41 made any further attack. She then sank the Greek ship Stamatios Gemdiricos. Again her position was given away by the mere fact of this one success and she spent two months trying to elude naval patrols which finally secured her destruction. It is a remarkable tribute to the huntingpporerw r er of the heavily-employ-ed British naval forces that this powerful ship should have been so driven from pillar to post that she was unable to do far greater damage than she did during her period at sea. .