False Flags by Stephen Robinson

Author:Stephen Robinson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Exisle
Published: 2016-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

The Germans sentenced Fry to death but later reprieved his sentence after Swiss intervention. He was awarded the British Empire Medal and his citation read: ‘Fry was the chief ringleader and displayed courage and determination in pursuing the project of liberation by forceful measures.’ 13

PINGUIN AT ‘ANDALUSIA’

On 15 February the Pinguin, Ole Wegger and the whale catchers rendezvoused with the Nordmark and Duquesa at ‘Andalusia’. As Krüder needed additional sailors for his prize vessels before they could proceed to Europe, the Seekriegsleitung arranged prize crews from the Scheer, which boarded the Duquesa. 14 The raider received meat and eggs from the Duquesa, but she had been reduced to a shell because her crew had been forced to burn her materiel to feed the furnaces, and the Germans scuttled her on 18 February.

The supply ship Alstertor commanded by Captain Wilhelm Nielsen arrived that day with additional supplies for the raiders, including shells, torpedoes, mines and two Arado seaplanes. 15 Krüder gave Captain Nielsen a copy of his war diary and the crew received mail from home, but the transfer of supplies did not take place immediately as Krüder decided to conduct this work at the Kerguelen Islands. He also retained the whale catcher Pol IX as a reconnaissance vessel, renaming her Adjutant, and Oberleutnant Hemmer took command.

The Ole Wegger commanded by Oberleutnant Blaue and ten whale catchers departed for Bordeaux on 20 February while the Pinguin, Adjutant and Alstertor headed towards the Cape of Good Hope. The tanker Spichern refuelled the whale catchers in the North Atlantic and their voyages continued without incident until 13 March, when the sloop Scarborough intercepted Star XIX and Star XXIV near Gibraltar. The British boarded Star XXIV and allowed her to pass, but when the sloop approached Star XIX the prize crew scuttled their ship, forcing the crew of Star XXIV to do the same. The Pelagos, Solglimt and Ole Wegger arrived safely in Bordeaux and the eight surviving whale catchers reached France and subsequently became auxiliary anti-submarine vessels and minesweepers. 16

KORMORAN AND PINGUIN

Detmers planned to patrol the waters between St Helena and Cape Town before mining the approaches to Walvis Bay, but anticipated little success, believing the area to be quiet given the recent operations of the Thor and Scheer. On 14 February he cancelled the mining operation due to heavy seas and the Kormoran proceeded south-west to patrol the Cape Town–Freetown route. The raider’s engine bearings again broke down as the stock of white metal was simply too weak. Two groups of technicians worked alternate shifts to mould new bearings and Detmers requested fresh stocks, and the Seekriegsleitung ordered him to rendezvous with the Pinguin, where Krüder would supply him with white metal. The raider meanwhile stayed in the South Atlantic and Detmers expressed frustration: ‘The order means that our real task is postponed for an extra month, since it will hardly be possible to do anything in the allotted operational area.’ 17

On 25 February the Kormoran and Pinguin rendezvoused south-east of St Helena.

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