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- BLOCKADEBRECHER

14)KARIN (SCUTTLED)




Photo. https://www.shipsnostalgia.com/gallery/showphoto.php/photo/1199681/cat/510


Built 1931


Tonnage 7,322 / 9,410 dwt   


Cargo: 2,000 tons of tin and 2,000 tons of rubber


Route. Penang - Germany


Scuttled 10 MAR 43 on pos. 07º 00’S  21º 00’W   


0 Dead


72 POW


Former Dutch Kota Nopan, she was captured 17/08/41 in south Atlantic by Raider Komet. Sent to France she was incorporated to the German Navy as Karin. Sunk 10/03/43 with demolition charges set by the crew to avoid capture by US Navy Cruiser Savannah and Destroyer Eberle  on pos. 07º 00’S  21º 00’W   


When German ship was intercepted, Destroyer Eberle dispatched a 14 men boarding party. When the boat came along scuttling charges set by German crew began to explode killing seven Americans. The remaining seven men decided to return when other demolition charges ignited sealing the fate of the Blockade Runner.  


Seeing the impossibility to save the ship or getting access to documents the boarding party abandoned the ship. They were picked up in the water along with 72 Germans. The blockade went to the bottom with 2000 tons of tin and 2000 tons of rubber. 


Savannah had recovered the entire crew of Karin(11 officers and 61 men; made up of 21 regular navy and 40 merchant marine) from the four boats a short time earlier. As the cruiser had approached the lifeboats, men in them were seen to throw navigational instruments and weapons over the side. The prisoners and most of their luggage were taken from the boats, but an assortment of fine food, drink and other articles was left behind. These items included Japanese rice beer, French champagne, canned salmon, sardines, oranges, bread still warm from the oven, and women's shoes with Hong Kong labels. 


Orders from higher authority directed the Savannah to hold the prisoners incommunicado, separate the officers from the men, keep them under strict surveillance, and under no circunstances question or solicit any information from them. The Germans behaved well and were landed in the United States on 28 March. The naval prisoners with the exception of the doctor and two pharmacists, were taken to an Interrogation Center (likely Fort Hunt in Washington, DC) for questioning. The merchant seamen were interrogated on Ellis Island.    



Above artistic rendition on the capture of the German Blockade runner Karin. By www.davidbruhn.com



https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=19&v=pcaLUvUlI4g&feature=emb_logo


Above an archival footage on the Brazilian fishermen collecting tons of rubber bales from the German Blockade runner Karin. The same was bound from Dutch East Indies to a German port.


 

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