Action of 4 April 1941

Part of Second World War, Battle of the Atlantic

Date	4 April 1941
Location	mid Atlantic Ocean 14°30′N 40°30′W / 14.5°N 40.5°W / 14.5; -40.5Coordinates: 14°30′N 40°30′W / 14.5°N 40.5°W / 14.5; -40.5
Result	German victory

Belligerents

United Kingdom

Nazi Germany

Commanders and leaders

J.A. Blackburn

Otto Kähler

Strength

1 auxiliary cruiser

Casualties and losses

74 killed
~100 wounded
195 captured
1 auxiliary cruiser sunk

none
1 auxiliary cruiser damaged

The Action of 4 April 1941 was a naval battle fought during the Atlantic Campaign of the Second World War. A German commerce raider encountered a British auxiliary cruiser and sank her with heavy losses after an hour of fighting.

The Kriegsmarine auxiliary cruiser Thor was raiding in the mid Atlantic in early 1941. On that cruise, the Germans engaged two other British armed merchant cruisers (HMS Alcantara and HMS Carnavon Castle) in surface battles but they ended indecisively. So when Thor encountered HMS Voltaire, her crew were already battle tested and anxious to sink an enemy combatant. Thor was 122 m (400 ft 3 in) long and weighed 9,200 long tons (9,300 t), she was armed with six 150 mm (5.9 in), two 37 mm (1.46 in) and four 20 mm (0.79 in) naval guns along with four 533 mm (21.0 in) torpedo tubes. The raider also carried an Arado Ar 196A-1 floatplane for reconnaissance and had a complement of 349 officers and crewmen.

HMS Voltaire was larger than the raider—displacing 13,245 long tons (13,458 t)—but with a smaller crew of 269 men and officers. She had eight 152 mm (6.0 in) and two 76 mm (2.99 in) naval guns, including at least one anti-aircraft mount. Thor was returning to Germany when she found Voltaire heading to Freetown about 900 mi (780 nmi; 1,400 km) southwest of the Cape Verde Islands.

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