On September 27, 1942, the German OKM (Oberkommando der Marine), the high command of the Kriegsmarine, received a radiogram from the blockade breaker Tannenfels, reporting that the auxiliary cruiser Stir had sunk as a result of a battle with an "enemy auxiliary cruiser" in the Caribbean. Thus ended the odyssey (however, short-lived) of "ship No. 23", the last German raider who managed to break into the Atlantic.
"Stir" after commissioning
Enrolled in the corsairs
With the outbreak of World War II, the German command still pinned high hopes on auxiliary cruisers. Admirals, like generals, always prepare for the wars of the past. The successful campaigns of "Meuwe", the odyssey of "Wolf", the dramatic epic of "Seadler" were still too fresh in the memory. There were many living witnesses of these military deeds then. The German command reasonably believed that with the help of cruisers-raiders converted from merchant ships - in fact, inexpensive weapons - it was possible to introduce significant chaos and confusion in the vast communications of the allies, to divert significant forces of the enemy navy to search and patrol. Therefore, in the pre-war plans of the Kriegsmarine, a significant place was given to the actions of raiders against enemy transport arteries. But it would seem that many analogies that echo the previous war, upon closer examination, turned out to be only external in comparison with the current war. Radio engineering was striding forward with a broad gait - the means of communication, search and detection improved by an order of magnitude. A completely new format for naval operations was given by aviation, which spread its wings over the 20 interwar years.
Nevertheless, with the outbreak of World War II, the German command sent surface forces along with the still few ocean-going submarines into the ocean. At first, these were warships of special construction, but after the death of "Count Spee" and especially "Bismarck", such undertakings were recognized as dangerous and costly adventures. And the struggle on communications completely passed to the "steel sharks" of Admiral Dönitz and auxiliary cruisers.
The stories of the German raiders are picturesque and dramatic. They are replete with numerous vivid combat episodes. At the start of the war, pirate luck often winked at them. However, the Allies made titanic efforts to turn the Atlantic, if not into an Anglo-American lake, then at least into a pocket backwater. The means, forces and resources thrown into the struggle for communications were simply colossal. In the summer of 1942, despite the seemingly impressive successes of German sailors, especially submariners, this strategy began to bear its first, barely noticeable fruits. The number of regions in the ocean where the German raiders and supply ships could feel more or less calm was inexorably decreasing. The breakthrough into the Atlantic by German ships became more and more problematic. The star of the twentieth century corsairs was waning. It was in such conditions that the “ship No. 23”, which became known as the auxiliary cruiser “Stier”, was being prepared to go to sea.
The ship was built in 1936 at the Germaniaverft shipyard in Kiel and received the name "Cairo". It was a standard motor ship with a displacement of 11,000 tons, equipped with one seven-cylinder diesel engine. Before the war, it operated on regular commercial cargo flights for the Deutsche Levant Line as a banana carrier. After the outbreak of World War II, "Cairo", like many other civilian ships, was requisitioned for the needs of the Kriegsmarine. Initially, it was converted into a minelayer to participate in the never-completed Operation Sea Lion. After the initial successes of the German raiders in the communications of the allies, the German command decides to increase the pressure and increase the number of auxiliary cruisers operating in the ocean. Since the spring of 1941, the ship stopped at the side of the shipyard in German-occupied Rotterdam. Throughout the summer and autumn, intensive work was carried out on it to convert it into an auxiliary cruiser. On November 9, the former dry cargo ship was enrolled in the Kriegsmarine under the name "Stir" and began to prepare for the voyage. The ship received the standard armament for the German raiders of the Second World War - 6 × 150-mm guns. Anti-aircraft armament consisted of 1 × 37-mm guns and 2 × 20-mm machine guns. The Stir also carried two torpedo tubes. The armament range included a seaplane for reconnaissance. Captain zur see Horst Gerlach was appointed to command a crew of 330.
The crew spent the whole winter and early spring of 1942 preparing for the campaign. The raider received a huge number of different supplies needed for autonomous navigation. After the appropriate work, the estimated cruising range in economic progress should have reached 50 thousand tons. By May 1942 all the preparatory work was finally completed.
Breakthrough
By the time the Stir was scheduled to leave, the situation in the English Channel was such that for the raider to successfully break through from the dangerous narrowness of the English channel, the Germans had to carry out a whole military operation. Much has changed since the breakthrough of the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prince Eugen from Brest (Operation Cerberus, February 1942).
On the afternoon of May 12, the Stir disguised as an auxiliary ship Sperrbrecher 171 left Rotterdam under the escort of four destroyers (Condor, Falke, Seadler and Iltis). After leaving the mouth of the Meuse River, 16 minesweepers joined the convoy, which went ahead of the raider and destroyers. German intelligence reported on the possible presence of British torpedo boats in the strait. By nightfall, the German unit entered the Strait of Dover. Shortly before three o'clock, the convoy came under fire from a British 14-inch battery, but to no avail. While the Germans were maneuvering, trying to get out of the zone of destruction of coastal guns, English boatmen crept up to them almost imperceptibly, which managed to launch an attack from the side of a friendly coast. In a fleeting battle, the Iltis and the Seadler were sunk. The British missed the MTK-220 torpedo boat.
On May 13, the Stir arrived in Boulogne, where it replenished its ammunition (the raider generously used lighting shells and small-caliber artillery in the night battle). Then the ship moved to Le Havre to get from there to the mouth of the Gironde on May 19. Here the raider took over the supplies for the last time and filled the fuel tanks to capacity.
From here Horst Gerlach took his ship south. This was the last successful breakthrough of a German raider into the Atlantic in World War II.
Auxiliary cruiser "Stir" in the ocean
Hike
When the tension caused by going to sea and crossing the Bay of Biscay subsided somewhat, the crew began to get involved in the weekdays of the campaign. Initially it was not very easy: "Stir" was packed to capacity with various equipment and supplies. “It seemed to us that the ship was going to Antarctica,” - recalled a participant in the trip. The corridors and decks were littered with bales, crates, sacks and barrels. Soon the raider reached the first area of operations near Fernando de Noronha (archipelago northeast of the Brazilian coast).
On June 4, Stir opened its own account. The first prey was the British steamship Gemstone (5000 grt). Gerlach successfully entered from the direction of the sun and was only discovered when he opened fire from a distance of 5 miles. The Briton did not offer resistance - the team was transported to the raider, and the steamer was torpedoed. Interrogation of prisoners showed that the ship was transporting iron ore from Durban to Baltimore.
The morning of June 6 began with a rain squall, on the edge of which an unknown ship was seen. It turned out to be a Panamanian tanker, which immediately turned stern to the raider and opened fire from two guns. The chase began. "Stir" had to use up 148 rounds of its "main" caliber and, in addition, slam a torpedo into the stern of the fleeing tanker before the battle was over. "Stanwak Kolkata" (10 thousand brt) went in ballast from Montevideo for cargo to Aruba. The captain and the radio operator, along with the radio station, were destroyed by the first salvo of the raider, therefore, fortunately for the Germans, the distress signal was not transmitted.
On June 10, a rendezvous with the supply tanker Carlotta Schliemann took place. Refueling was difficult: at first the Germans had to redo the connections of the fuel hoses, then it suddenly turned out that, due to an error of the senior mechanic of the "supplyman", the raider was pumping fuel containing more than 90% of sea water. Enraged Gerlach, as a senior in rank, gave him the appropriate dressing.
Meanwhile, bad weather set in, with storms and poor visibility. The commander of "Stir" decides to ask the headquarters for permission to go to the west coast of South America, where, in his opinion, there were more favorable "hunting" conditions. On July 18, the raider again replenishes fuel from the Carlotta Schliemann, this time refueling takes place normally. Not receiving the go-ahead from the headquarters, Gerlach circles in a given area, not finding much-needed prey. On July 28, there was a rare meeting of two "hunters": "Stir" met with another auxiliary cruiser - "Michel". The commander of the latter, Rukshteshel, after consulting with Gerlach, decided to stay together for a while in order to conduct training exercises and exchange some supplies. Both German commanders considered the area off the northeast coast of Brazil unsuccessful to operate; shipping here, in their opinion, was extremely irregular. The joint voyage of the two ships took place until August 9, after which, wishing each other a "happy hunt", the raiders parted. The Michel headed for the Indian Ocean.
Literally a few hours after parting with a colleague in the craft, a large ship was seen heading on a parallel course. Gerlach approached cautiously and fired a warning shot. To the surprise of the Germans, the "merchant" turned around and went to meet him. At the same time, his radio station began to work, transmitting the QQQ signal (warning of a meeting with an enemy raider). “Stir” began to work to defeat. The ship responded with a small-caliber cannon, the shells of which did not reach the German ship. Only after the twentieth volley did the Englishman stop, having a strong fire at the stern. "Dalhousie" (7000 tons displacement, went from Cape Town to La Plata in ballast) was finished off by a torpedo.
Alarmed by the alarm sent by the English ship, Gerlach decided to move south - to the Cape Town-La Plata line. The raider commander, in addition, plans to make a stop near some remote island in order to carry out routine repairs, to carry out preventive maintenance of the main power plant. The Germans refused to stay at the small volcanic island of Gough (Tristan da Cunha archipelago), which they looked after at first. The sea was rough and no suitable anchorage was found.
"Stir" was frankly unlucky with the search. The Arado-231 onboard seaplane, originally intended for large submarines, became mocked and unsuitable for flight. Several times the raider's radio operators recorded powerful and close sources of radio signals. On September 4, a sentinel on the mast noticed a large ship moving at high speed. The Germans identified it as a French liner "Pasteur" with a displacement of 35 thousand tons, under the control of the Allies. The low speed (11-12 knots) did not allow the Stir to rush in pursuit, and Gerlach only hoped that they would not be recognized from the liner or would be mistaken for a harmless merchant.
Raider two days before his death. The stripped board is clearly visible
The fruitless search continued. The raider was running out of coal reserves - it was needed for the operation of desalination plants. Not less than twenty tons per week. A radiogram has come from the headquarters, informing that in early October "Stir" is waiting for a meeting with the supply ship "Braque", from which fresh provisions, spare parts and accessories will be received, and, most importantly, the loss of ammunition will be replenished. In the near future, Gerlach was ordered to meet again with "Michel", who took care of the blockade breaker "Tannenfels", which was going with a cargo of scarce raw materials from Japan to Bordeaux. On September 23, the ships met near Suriname. "Michel" soon disappeared into the Atlantic again, and the raider's crew, taking advantage of the situation, decided to start painting the sides and minor repairs. Fortunately, in the German instructions it was indicated that at the moment there are no ships passing through this area. The instructions soon turned out to be wrong.
Fight and death
On the morning of September 27, the Stir crew was still doing paintwork. The Tannenfels was nearby. A certain amount of provisions was reloaded from it to the raider, in addition, the commander of the blockade breaker "presented" a Japanese seaplane to Gerlach, which, however, was received without enthusiasm - it did not have a radio station and bomb racks.
Dry cargo ship "Stephen Hopkins"
There was light fog and drizzle on the sea. At 8.52, the signalman from the mast shouted that he saw a large ship on the right side. The signal "Stop or I will shoot" was immediately raised. The bells of a loud battle rang out on the "Shtir" - a combat alert was announced. At 8.55 the crews of the main caliber guns reported their readiness to open fire. The ship ignored the signal and at 8.56 a German raider opened fire. After four minutes, the enemy responded. In this campaign, "Stiru" was simply "lucky" to "peaceful traders" by no means a timid dozen. Subsequently, already in his report, the commander of the German ship will write that he collided with a well-armed auxiliary cruiser armed with at least four guns. In fact, "Stir" met with an ordinary Liberty-class bulk carrier "Stephen Hopkins" armed with one 4-inch gun from the First World War and two 37-mm anti-aircraft guns on the bow platform.
Mid-twentieth-century Americans were people made of somewhat different test material than those of today. The guys whose grandfathers explored the Wild West, and whose fathers built industrial America, still remembered what it meant to be "free and courageous." General tolerance had not yet thinned the brains, and the American dream was still trying to flash the chrome of a Ford radiator, to bass with the roar of Liberators and Mustangs, and not flicker on the TV screen as an ugly clown in pink pantaloons from McDonald's.
Stephen Hopkins did not hesitate to take an unequal battle with an enemy ship, which was several times superior to it in the weight of a salvo. Almost exactly a month earlier, on August 25, 1942, in the distant Arctic, the old Soviet icebreaking steamer Sibiryakov entered into a desperate and courageous battle with the battleship Admiral Scheer, armed to the teeth. It is unlikely that the Hopkins team knew about this - they were just doing their duty.
The American turned sharply to the left, and "Stir", respectively, to the right, not allowing the enemy to leave. "Tannenfels" meanwhile jammed the radio station of the bulk carrier. As soon as the raider turned around, he immediately received two direct hits. The first projectile jammed the rudder in the extreme right position, so the raider began to describe the circulation. The second hit was quite serious. The shell pierced the engine room and smashed one of the diesel cylinders. Other damage was also caused by shrapnel. The engine stopped. However, inertia continued to move the "Stir", and he was able to introduce the guns of the left side into battle. Gerlach tried to torpedo the Hopkins, but could not, because all the electrical equipment of the ship was out of order. German 150-mm guns fired heavily, despite the fact that the lifts were not working, and the shells had to be pulled out of the hold by hand. The American bulk carrier was already on fire and stopped. With a well-aimed hit, the Germans destroyed his weapon. By the way, the crew of this only gun, not even covered by an anti-fragmentation shield, was destroyed shortly after the start of the battle. The crew numbers were occupied by volunteer sailors, who were also mowed down by shrapnel. In the last minutes of the battle, 18-year-old cadet Edwin OʼHara fired at the enemy alone until the explosion destroyed the gun. He was posthumously awarded the Naval Cross "For Valor". The destroyer D-354, which entered service in 1944, will be named after him.
At 9.10 the Germans ceased fire for a few minutes: the opponents were divided by a storm of rain. At 09.18 the shooting resumed. The raider managed to get several more direct hits. The crippled enemies lay in sight of each other. The American bulk carrier was on fire. Seeing the complete hopelessness of further resistance, Captain Buck orders to abandon the ship. At about 10 o'clock, the Stephen Hopkins sank. Captain Paul Buck and seriously wounded senior mate Richard Mozkowski, who refused to leave the ship, as well as senior mechanic Rudy Rutz, who did not return from the engine room, remained on board.
The unlucky corsair came at a cost to the unlucky corsair in a duel with his latest victim. During the battle, "Stir" received 15 (according to other sources, 35 - the Americans also beat from anti-aircraft guns) hits. One of the shells that exploded in the bow hold broke the pipeline connecting the bow fuel tanks with the engine room. A fire was raging there, which was less and less controlled. It was not possible to restore the full power supply. The fire equipment was not functioning. Hand-held fire extinguishers were used, but after a few minutes they were empty. The Germans lower boats and barrels behind the boat: they are filled with water, and then, with great difficulty, manually, are lifted onto the deck. With the help of buckets and other improvised equipment, it was possible to stop the spread of fire towards hold No. 2, where the torpedoes were stored. The Kingstones, with the help of which it was possible to flood this hold, were not available. The fire cut off the calculations of the torpedo tubes, but the torpedo officer with the volunteers carried out a daring rescue operation and rescued the people trapped in the interdeck space at the waterline level. Attempts to start fire hoses from Tannenfels were unsuccessful due to excitement.
At 10.14 the engines were started, but the steering wheel was still practically motionless. After another 10 minutes, it was reported from the smoky engine room that there was no way to maintain the operation of the power plant due to strong smoke and rising temperatures. Soon, the heat forced the sailors to retreat from the auxiliary helm station. The situation has become critical. Gerlach gathers his officers on the bridge for an emergency meeting, at which the state of the ship at the moment was considered hopeless. The fire was already approaching the torpedo hold, and the Stir was already directly threatened by the fate of the Cormoran, which, after a battle with the Australian cruiser Sydney, was destroyed by a fire and not exposed its own mines.
"Stir" is sinking
An order was given to leave the ship. Tannenfels is ordered to come as close as possible. Boats and life rafts go overboard. For a guarantee, the Germans install explosive charges. As soon as the blockade-breaker finished picking up the people, the Stir exploded and sank at 11.40. During the battle, three Germans were killed, among them the ship's doctor Meyer Hamme. 33 crew members were injured. Of the 56 people on board the Hopkins, 37 (together with the captain) died in battle, 19 survivors drifted at sea for more than a month, covering almost 2 thousand miles, until they reached the coast of Brazil. Of these, four died on the way.
The German ship tried hot on the trail to find and pick up the Americans, but poor visibility prevented this venture. On November 8, 1942, the Tannenfels arrived safely in Bordeaux.
The commander of the West Group, Admiral General W. Marshall, greets the surviving members of the Stir crew aboard the blockade breaker Tannenfels. Bordeaux, 8 November 1942
End of the era of raiding
Utility cruiser crew member badge
The Stir was the last German raider to sail relatively safely into the ocean. In October 1942, while trying to break through to the Atlantic, the hitherto successful Comet was killed. In February 1943, the last petrel for allied communications bursts into the ocean "Togo", but only to be badly damaged by the British "Beaufighters" of the air patrol. After a disastrous "New Year's battle" in the Arctic, Raeder leaves the post of commander of the fleet, and his post is taken by an adherent of uncompromising submarine warfare Karl Dönitz. Operations involving surface ships in the open ocean cease - all heavy ships are concentrated in the Norwegian fjords or are used in the Baltic as training ships. Aviation and modern detection systems put an end to the era of auxiliary cruisers - trade fighters.
The struggle at sea completely passes into the hands of the "grinning bearded men", submarine commanders. Gradually, there will be more and more boats, and fewer and fewer bearded men. Places in the central posts and in the cuttings will be occupied by beardless youths. But that's a completely different story.
