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Orion (auxiliary cruiser)

"Orion" ( German: Orion ) - German auxiliary cruiser during the Second World War . HSK -1, the former cargo ship Kurmark ( German: Kurmark ), in the German fleet was designated as “Ship No. 36”, in the British fleet - “Raider“ A “”.

"Orion"
Orion
HSK Orion.jpg
Auxiliary cruiser Orion
Service
Germany
Class and type of vesselAuxiliary Cruiser
ManufacturerBlom und Foss
Launched1930 year
StatusSunk on May 4, 1945
Main characteristics
Displacement15 700 t
7021 gross
Length148 m
Width18.6 m
Draft8.2 m
EnginesBlom und Voss steam turbines, one shaft, 2 boilers
Speed14.8 knots
Sailing range18,000 nautical miles
Crew356 people
Armament
Artillery6 × 150 mm L / 45 C13
1 × 75 mm L / 33 Schneider / Creuznot
Flak2 × 37 mm
4 × 20 mm
Mine torpedo armament6 × 533 mm torpedo tubes
228 naval mines EMC
Aviation group1 Arado Ar 196 A-1 aircraft

Content

Creation History

The Kurmark was built in 1930 at the Blom und Foss shipyard in Hamburg for the GAPAG Hamburg-America line. For reasons of economy, the power plant removed from the New York liner was reused, which subsequently led to numerous technical problems.

Together with the Neumark (later Widder ), the Kurmark was one of the first vessels converted into auxiliary cruisers of the Kriegsmarine under the program that began on September 5, 1939 .

Fighting

Raider Hike

As one of Germany's first auxiliary cruisers in World War II, the Orion left its base on April 6, 1940 , under the command of 2nd-Class Captain Kurt Weicher . Disguising himself as a ship of a neutral state, he marched to the south of the Atlantic Ocean , where he sank his first ship, the Hacksby.

In May 1940, he circled Cape Horn and entered the Pacific Ocean , in June in the territorial waters of New Zealand, he set mines near Auckland . On the night of June 13-14, the Niagara liner blew up on them and sank. Later, two more ships hit these mines, as well as two trawlers and a minesweeper. Further, Orion raided the Pacific and Indian Oceans and attacked 4 more ships, one of them was sent as a prize to France, the rest was sunk.

October 20, 1940 he met with the auxiliary cruiser "Comets" and the auxiliary vessel "Kulmerland". Together, they added another 7 vessels to their account, the largest of which was the Rangitain liner. The following year, they parted ways.

The next 6 months of cruising in the Indian Ocean brought only one victory - the ship Chaucer was sunk (July 1941).

The Orion returned to Bordeaux on August 23, 1941 , 510 days after the start of the campaign, having completed 127 337 miles and sunk 10 ships.

Fate

In 1944 it was renamed the "Hector" and was used as a training artillery ship. In January 1945, the name "Orion" was returned to him and used as a transport for the evacuation of refugees from eastern Germany across the Baltic Sea . On May 4, 1945 , on the way to Copenhagen , near Swinemuende , he was sunk by bombs during a raid on the 51st USSR mine and torpedo regiment . Of the more than 4,000 people on board, 150 escaped.

In 1952, the hull was disassembled for metal.

Results

Sunken and captured vessels:

dateVessel NameType ofAffiliationTonnage, brt [1]CargoFate
April 24, 1940Haxbycargo ship  Great Britain5 207sunk by artillery and a torpedo
June 19, 1940Tropic seacargo ship  Norway750 8 750prize sent to Bordeaux, sunk British Navy on the way
August 16, 1940Notoucargo ship  France2 489sunk by subversive charges
August 20, 1940Turakinacargo ship  Great Britain9 691sunk by artillery and torpedoes
October 14, 1940Ringwoodcargo ship  Norway7 203sunk by subversive charges
July 29, 1941Chaucercargo ship  Great Britain5 790sunk by artillery and torpedoes

Sunk in mines installed by Orion [2] :

dateVessel NameType ofAffiliationTonnage, brt [1]CargoFate
June 19, 1940Niagarapassenger liner  Great Britain13 415blown up on a mine and sank
June 1940Puriricargo ship  New Zealand927blown up on a mine and sank
June 1940Port bowen8 276blown up on a mine and sank
June 1940Britannic1 500blown up on a mine and sank

Together with Comet:

dateVessel NameType ofAffiliation [3]Tonnage, brt [1]CargoFate
November 25, 1940Holmwoodcargo ship  New Zealand546sunk by artillery
November 27, 1940Rangitanepassenger liner  Great Britain16 712sunk by artillery
December 6, 1940Trionacargo ship  Australia4 413phosphatessunk by artillery and torpedoes
December 7, 1940Vinnicargo ship  Norway5 181sunk by subversive charges
December 7, 1940Komatacargo ship  Australia3 900sunk by subversive charges
December 8, 1940Triadiccargo ship  Australia6 378sunk by subversive charges
December 8, 1940Triastercargo ship  New Zealand6 032sunk by subversive charges

The tonnage of vessels sunk and captured by Komet is about 80,000 gross tonnage (the tonnage of vessels sunk together with Komet is divided between them).

Notes

  1. ↑ 1 2 3 The tonnage of vessels listed in the table in other sources may vary slightly. [1]
  2. ↑ Data shown in the table in other sources may vary. [2]
  3. ↑ The ownership of vessels listed in the table in other sources may vary. [3] [4]

Literature

  • F. Ruge. War at Sea, 1939-1945 . - SPb. : Polygon, 2002 .-- 392 p. - (Military Historical Library). - ISBN 5-89173-027-8 .
  • E. Porten. German fleet in the second world war . - Yekaterinburg: Mirror, 1997 .-- 240 p. - (Sea battles close-up).
  • A.V. Platonov, Yu.V. Apalkov. German warships 1939-1945.
  • SD Waters. German raiders in the Pacific . - 1949. - 31 p. - (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945).
  • WD Dawson. 18 Battalion and Armored Regiment, Second New Zealand Expeditionary Force . - 1961. - 677 p. - (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945).
  • SD Waters. The Royal New Zealand Navy . - 1956. - (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945).
  • WG McClymont. To Greece . - 1959. - 538 p. - (Official History of New Zealand in the Second World War 1939-1945).

Links

  • Bismarck & Tirpitz. Hilfskreuzer (Auxiliary Cruiser - Raider) - Orion (English)
  • German Naval History. Orion (HSK1 )
  • Die grossen Schiffseinheiten der deutsche Kriegsmarine 1933-1945. Schiff 36 - HSK 1 "ORION" (German)
  • Lexikon der Wehrmacht. Schiff 36 "Orion" (German)
  • NZETC.Orion (Ship )
Source - https://ru.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Orion_(Auxiliary_cruiser)&oldid=90739613


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