German auxiliary cruiser Michel
| History | |
|---|---|
 Nazi Germany
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| Class and type: | Auxiliary cruiser |
| Name: | Bielsko |
| Operator: | Gdynia-America-Line |
| Builder: | Danziger Werft, Danzig |
| Launched: | April 1939 |
| Fate: | Requisitioned by Kriegsmarine, 1939 |
 Nazi Germany
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| Name: | Michel |
| Operator: | Kriegsmarine |
| Yard number: | 9 |
| Commissioned: | 7 September 1941 |
| Renamed: |
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| Reclassified: |
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| Nickname(s): |
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| Fate: | Sunk on 17 October 1943 by U.S submarine USS Tarpon east of Yokohama |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 10,900 tons (4,740 GRT) |
| Length: | 132 m (433 ft) |
| Beam: | 16.8 m (55 ft) |
| Draught: | 7.4 m (24 ft) |
| Propulsion: | 2 MAN 8-cyl. Diesel, one shaft, 6,650 shp (4.889 MW) |
| Speed: | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
| Range: | 34,000 nautical miles (63,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
| Complement: | 395 (incl. 18 officers), 5 prize-officers |
| Armament: | (1939) 6 × 15cm L/45 C13 (taken from AMC Widder), 1 × 10,5 cm L/45, 2 × 3.7 cm, 4 × 2 cm, 6 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes (2 twins overwater, 2 mounted singles underwater) + the small Torpedo boat LS 4 Esau |
| Aircraft carried: | 2 Arado Ar 196 A-2 |
Michel (HSK-9) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Danziger Werft in Danzig 1938/39 as the freighter Bielsko for the Polish Gdynia-America-Line (GAL), she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of World War II and converted into the hospital ship Bonn. In the summer of 1941, she was converted into the auxiliary cruiser Michel, and was commissioned on 7 September 1941. Known as Schiff 28, her Royal Navy designation was Raider H. She was the last operative German raider of World War II.
When the AMC Widder returned from her cruise to Germany, her engines were almost worn out. The hospital ship Bonn was converted into an AMC and mounted the weapons used by the Widder.
Although Michel was scheduled to leave at the end of November 1941, she was unable to sail until March 1942 because of reconstruction delays. She then moved under heavy escort through the English Channel to a port in occupied France. She set off on her cruise sailed on 20 March 1942,commanded by FK (later KzS) Helmuth von Ruckteschell, the former commander of HSK 3, the raider Widder).
Michel grounded on her first attempt to run through the Channel and had to return to port. She managed to reach the Atlantic on 20 March on her second try. On 14 and 15 March, British forces attacked the cruiser and her escorts, but without success. Michel began her operations in the South Atlantic and sank the British tanker Patelle (7,469 gross register tons (GRT)) on 19 April. On 22 April her small torpedo boat sank the American tanker Connecticut (8,684 GRT), but an attack on the faster British freighter Menelaus failed on 1 May. The Royal Navy now sent the cruiser HMS Shropshire and two AMCs to track her down. Nevertheless, Michel sank the Norse freighter Kattegat (4,245 GRT) on 20 May.
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