''Stier'' (HSK 6) was an

auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in lo ...

Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...

's ''

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Nazi Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official military branch, branche ...

'' during

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

. Her ''Kriegsmarine'' designation was Schiff 23, to the

Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...

she was Raider J. The name ''Stier'' means "

bull A bull is an intact (i.e., not Castration, castrated) adult male of the species ''Bos taurus'' (cattle). More muscular and aggressive than the females of the same species (i.e. cows proper), bulls have long been an important symbol cattle in r ...

" and also represents the

Taurus constellation Taurus (Latin, 'Bull') is one of the constellations of the zodiac and is located in the northern celestial hemisphere. Taurus is a large and prominent constellation in the Northern Hemisphere's winter sky. It is one of the oldest constellations, ...

in the

German language German (, ) is a West Germanic language in the Indo-European language family, mainly spoken in Western Europe, Western and Central Europe. It is the majority and Official language, official (or co-official) language in Germany, Austria, Switze ...

. She was the last German raider to break out into the Atlantic in World War II.

Early history

Built by

Germaniawerft Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft (often just called Germaniawerft, "Germania (personification), Germania shipyard") was a German shipbuilding company, located in the harbour at Kiel, and one of the largest and most important builders of U-boats for ...

in 1936 as the freighter ''Cairo'', she was operated by the Atlas Levant Line (ALL) until being requisitioned for

services in November 1939. After merchant warfare operations in the

Baltic Sea The Baltic Sea is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that is enclosed by the countries of Denmark, Estonia, Finland, Germany, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Russia, Sweden, and the North European Plain, North and Central European Plain regions. It is the ...

, she was converted into a mine layer and was planned to be used during

Operation Sea Lion Operation Sea Lion, also written as Operation Sealion (), was Nazi Germany's code name for their planned invasion of the United Kingdom. It was to have taken place during the Battle of Britain, nine months after the start of the Second World ...

. After this operation was canceled, the now renamed ''Stier'' was modified into an auxiliary cruiser in April 1941, first at the Wilton shipyard

Rotterdam Rotterdam ( , ; ; ) is the second-largest List of cities in the Netherlands by province, city in the Netherlands after the national capital of Amsterdam. It is in the Provinces of the Netherlands, province of South Holland, part of the North S ...

and later at

Oderwerke Oderwerke or Stettiner Oderwerke was a German shipbuilding company, located in Stettin. History Oderwerke was founded on January 28, 1903, and built 154 ships prior to World War I. During World War II Oderwerke built two German Type VII submar ...

Stettin Szczecin ( , , ; ; ; or ) is the capital and largest city of the West Pomeranian Voivodeship in northwestern Poland. Located near the Baltic Sea and the German border, it is a major seaport, the largest city of northwestern Poland, and se ...

, and Kriegsmarinewerft, in Gotenhafen (

Gdynia Gdynia is a city in northern Poland and a seaport on the Baltic Sea coast. With an estimated population of 257,000, it is the List of cities in Poland, 12th-largest city in Poland and the second-largest in the Pomeranian Voivodeship after Gdańsk ...

Raiding voyage

On 10 May 1942 she left Germany for operations in the

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

. Moving by stages down the

English Channel The English Channel, also known as the Channel, is an arm of the Atlantic Ocean that separates Southern England from northern France. It links to the southern part of the North Sea by the Strait of Dover at its northeastern end. It is the busi ...

, and after an engagement with British coastal forces on the 13th which saw the loss of two torpedo boats (German) and one MTB (British), ''Stier'' reached Royan in occupied France on the 19th. From there she departed under the command of ''

Fregattenkapitän () is the middle ranking senior officer in a number of Germanic-speaking navies. Austro-Hungary Belgium Germany , short: FKpt / in lists: FK, is the middle Senior officer military rank, rank () in the German Navy. It is the equivalent o ...

'' (later ''

Kapitän zur See Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The rank is equal to the army rank of colonel and air force rank of group captain. Equivalent ranks worldwide include ...

'') Horst Gerlach for operations in the South Atlantic. On a cruise of 4½ months she sank three ships. On 27 September 1942, she engaged and sank American cargo ship , whose resistance inflicted so substantial damage that Stier had to be scuttled by her crew. During her operation the ''Stier'' sank four ships, totalling 29,409 tons (GRT).

Final engagement

On 27 September 1942 ''Stier'' encountered the American

Liberty ship Liberty ships were a ship class, class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Although British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost cons ...

''Stephen Hopkins'' en route from

Cape Town Cape Town is the legislature, legislative capital city, capital of South Africa. It is the country's oldest city and the seat of the Parliament of South Africa. Cape Town is the country's List of municipalities in South Africa, second-largest ...

Paramaribo Paramaribo ( , , ) is the capital city, capital and largest city of Suriname, located on the banks of the Suriname River in the Paramaribo District. Paramaribo has a population of roughly 241,000 people (2012 census), almost half of Suriname's p ...

. Closing in foggy conditions, the two ships sighted each other around 08:52 AM at a distance of 4,000 yards. Gerlach sent his men to action stations; the master of the ''Stephen Hopkins'' was suspicious of the unidentified vessel and did the same. The ''Stephen Hopkins'' had a small defensive armament (1 × 4 inch gun astern, 2 x 37mm guns of an unknown model forward, and 6 x machine guns), but when firing commenced, around 08:55, she put up a spirited defense. She scored several hits on ''Stier'', damaging her engines and steering gear. However, overwhelmed by fire from ''Stier'', the ''Hopkins'' drifted away; by 10 a.m. she had sunk. Forty-two of her crew were killed in the action, and three more died later; the fifteen survivors finally reached

Brazil Brazil, officially the Federative Republic of Brazil, is the largest country in South America. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by area, fifth-largest country by area and the List of countries and dependencies by population ...

31 days later. ''Stephen Hopkinss commander, Captain Paul Buck, was posthumously awarded the

Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal The Merchant Marine Distinguished Service Medal is a decoration of the United States Merchant Marine (USMM). The decoration is the highest award which can be bestowed upon members of that service. It is awarded to any seaman in the USMM who, on ...

for his actions. So was

United States Merchant Marine Academy The United States Merchant Marine Academy (USMMA or Kings Point) is a United States service academies, United States service academy in Kings Point, New York. It trains its midshipman, midshipmen (as students at the academy are called) to serv ...

cadet A cadet is a student or trainee within various organisations, primarily in military contexts where individuals undergo training to become commissioned officers. However, several civilian organisations, including civil aviation groups, maritime ...

Edwin Joseph O'Hara, who single-handedly fired the last shots from the ship's 4-inch gun. Meanwhile, ''Stier'' had been heavily damaged: unable to make headway, and not responding to the helm. Gerlach made the decision to scuttle the ship and prevent her from falling into Allied hands. After the scuttling charges were exploded, ''Stier'' sank at 11:40 AM. All but two of her crew survived the fight, and returned to France on the German supply ship , which was accompanying ''Stier'' at the time of the action.

Raiding career

Citations

References

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Stier World War II commerce raiders World War II cruisers of Germany Ships built in Kiel World War II shipwrecks in the Atlantic Ocean 1936 ships Maritime incidents in September 1942 Auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine Naval magazine explosions