The Raider Kormoran by Captain Theodor Detmers.
The Raider Kormoran by Captain Theodor Detmers.
Published by William Kimber, 1959, First Edition.
Very good hardback with price-clipped jacket. Blue cloth boards have minor marks, small bump to top of spine, and bottom edge. Rear corner is creased/bumped which has led to some light corner creasing of pages. Abrasion to ffep where inscription has been erased, with bookseller's stamp in bottom corner. Foxing to edges of some pages. Binding firm. Jacket has light shelf-wear, rubbed and foxed. 206 pages, illustrated.
The German Raider Kormaran, whose final resting place at the bottom of the ocean, close to the wreck of HMAS Sydney, has only recently been found. The captain of the German Q ship that sank and was sunk by the cruiser Sydney tells his dramatic story. In July 1940, Detmers became captain of the commerce raider Kormoran, and captured or destroyed 11 enemy merchant ships. On November 19, 1941 the Kormoran was intercepted by HMAS Sydney. Detmers tried to pose as a Dutch merchant ship. He allegedly lacked the necessary naval codes, however, and was finally forced to engage Sydney. He sank the Australian cruiser in battle off Western Australia. His own ship was severely damaged and had to be scuttled, after which Detmers was captured and became a prisoner of war . Detmers was held as a POW at HM Prison Dhurringile until January 1947. In December 1941, Detmers was awarded the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross and in 1943, was promoted to the rank of Kapitän zur See. He had earlier received the first class Iron Cross. Detmers and the battle between Sydney and Kormoran was also mentioned in the Wehrmachtbericht on Wednesday, 3 December 1941. While a prisoner, he wrote a coded account of the battle between HMAS Sydney and German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran that survived the war. Detmers tried to escape Australian captivity with other members of his crew, via a tunnel and then hoping to capture a sailboat to get to Indonesia; however, the attempt was unsuccessful.
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