Battle of Trindade

History
Cap Trafalgar by Willy Stöwer
German Empire
Name:	Cap Trafalgar
Owner:	Hamburg Südamerikanische Dampfschifffahrts-Gesellschaft
Builder:	AG Vulcan, Hamburg (Germany)
Yard number:	334
Launched:	31 July 1913
In service:	1 April 1914
Homeport:	Hamburg
Fate:	Sunk in combat, 14 September 1914
General characteristics
Tonnage:	18,710 GRT
Displacement:	23,640 tons
Length:	613 ft (187 m)
Beam:	72 ft (22 m)
Installed power:	15,000 shaft horsepower
Propulsion:	Twin steam 4-cylinder triple expansion engines with turbines; 3 screws
Speed:	17 knots

Sinking of SMS Cap Trafalgar

Part of World War I
War at Sea

Carmania sank Cap Trafalgar off Trindade.

Date	September 14, 1914
Location	Off the coast of the island of Trindade Brazil, South Atlantic Ocean 20°29′S 29°18′W / 20.483°S 29.300°W / -20.483; -29.300Coordinates: 20°29′S 29°18′W / 20.483°S 29.300°W / -20.483; -29.300
Result	British victory

Belligerents

German Empire

United Kingdom

Commanders and leaders

Julius Wirth †

Noel Grant

Strength

1 auxiliary cruiser

Casualties and losses

16-51 killed,
unknown wounded,
279 captured,
1 auxiliary cruiser sunk

9 killed,
unknown wounded,
1 auxiliary cruiser damaged

SMS Cap Trafalgar (also called Cape Trafalgar) was a German passenger liner converted to an auxiliary cruiser during World War I. The ship holds the distinction of being the first armed merchant cruiser to have been sunk by a ship of the same class; she was destroyed in a furious action in the South Atlantic in September 1914 soon after the start of the war.

The passenger liner SS Cap Trafalgar was built at the AG Vulcan Shipyard on the Elbe River in Hamburg, Germany for the Hamburg-South America Line for their service between Germany and the River Plate (Río de la Plata). She was named after the Spanish Cape Trafalgar, scene of the famous Battle of Trafalgar in 1805. A three-funneled vessel of 613 ft (187 m) length and 72 ft (22 m) beam, she measured 18,710 GRT and could carry nearly 1,600 passengers (400 1st class, 276 2nd class, 913 3rd or steerage class. A triple-screw vessel, her outer propellers were powered by two triple-expansion steam engines, and the centre screw by an exhaust turbine, an arrangement similar to that of the RMS Titanic.

When Cap Trafalgar began her maiden voyage on 10 April 1914 from Hamburg for South American ports in Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, she was the largest vessel hitherto on the South American service and among the most luxurious.

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Wikipedia