RAIDER MICHEL 12 SHIPS SUNK - MICHEL SCHIFF 28

Built: 1936

Tonnage: 4245/8370 dwt

Cargo: Ballast

Shelled, sunk by Raider Michel 20/05/42 in pos. 28º 11’S 11º 30’W

0 Dead

32 POW

On May 8, after the embarrassing and frustrating experience of ‘The Menelaus Affair’ on May 1, during which his strategy failed miserably, partly due to the skill of her master, Captain J.H.Blyth, and partly due to errors of judgement made by the LS boat’s commander, the intended victim, the 10,000-ton Blue Funnel liner escaped, the Michel Michel once more rendezvoused with the Charlotte Schliemann, to re-fuel and transfer prisoners.

Ruckteschell had had to deploy his Arado seaplane to find the tanker after several attempts to meet her had failed.

Nearly three weeks later, on May 20, the crew of this 4,245-ton Norwegian freighter, running in ballast for La Plata, was completely unaware of the raider’s presence until sixteen 150mm shells demolished their bridge, radio room and engine room, amazingly with no casualties, and surrendered, without manning their gun or sending out any signals.

They were all taken off, and their ship scuttled with demolition charges