Pinguin 1940
| Laid down as transport ship Kandelfels. |
Contruction Data
| Laid down: |
A.G. Weser Bremen, 1936 |
| Launched: |
|
| Commissioned: |
06.02.1940 (as auxiliary cruiser) |
| Fate: |
sunk on 08.05.1941 |
| Costs: |
|
Technical Data
| Size: |
17600 t |
| Length: |
155 m |
| Beam: |
18,7 m |
| Draft: |
8,7 m |
| Armament: |
6 x 15 cm; 1x 7,5 cm; 2 x 3,7 cm,;4x 2 cm;
2 x torpedo tubes, 2 x Heinkel He 114 float planes
(later replaced with one Arado Ar 196) , 300 mines
|
| Performance: |
7600 shp, 17 kn |
History
| The auxiliary cruiser Pinguin
left Germany on 15.06.1940. Besides merchant warfare, it had the secondary task to resupply German U-Boats, therefore it had a payload of 25 spare torpedoes on board. After a short operation time in the Atlantic, the ship operated most of its time in the Indian Ocean. It got famous during a raid into Antarctic waters where it captured three whale factory ships and 11 whale hunters. After 357 days of operation, the Pinguin
was surprised by the British cruiser Cornwall
near the Seychelles on 08.05.1941. After a hit in the mine storage, the Pinguin
exploded and sunk. On its operation between 15.06.1940 and 08..05.1941 in the Atlantic, Indian Ocean and Antarctica, the Pinguin
sunk or captured 32 ships with 154619 t. |
|
