MAIMOA

BUILT BY PALMERS IN NEWCASTLE IN 1920. SHE WAS THE SISTER SHIP TO 'TAIROA'. SHE WAS SUNK IN THE INDIAN OCEAN IN 1940 BY THE GERMAN MERCHANT RAIDER ' PINGUIN '. PINGUIN SHELLED MAIMOA AND FORCED HER CREW TO ABANDONED HER AND THEN SANK HER  WITH GUNFIRE, AFTER A THREE HOUR CHASE. PRIOR TO PINGUIN FIRING ON HER THE RAIDERS SPOTTER PLANE HAD CARRIED AWAY MAIMOA'S RADIO ANTENNA AND ALSO DROPPED TWO BOMBS, WHICH HAD MISSED HER. THE DECK CADET LED A PARTY TO RIG A TEMPORARY RADIO ANTENNA, AND THE RADIO OFFICER ( MR BOLLARD ) SPENT ABOUT AN HOUR AND A HALF SENDING DISTRESS MESSAGES OUT, NOTIFYING THE POSITION OF THEMSELVES AND THE RAIDER.  MAIMOA'S CREW WERE PICKED UP BY THE RAIDER AND TRANSFERRED TO A CAPTURED NORWEGIAN TANKER WHICH TOOK THEM TO THE FRENCH PORT OF BORDEAUX WHERE THEY WERE PUT A SHORE IN 1941 AND SENT ACROSS FRANCE  BY TRAIN TO CAPTIVITY IN  GERMANY, MAIMOA'S  FOURTH AND FIFTH ENGINEER OFFICERS  ALONG WITH TWO OTHER OFFICERS FROM OTHER BRITISH VESSELS ESCAPED BY JUMPING FROM THE TRAIN AND MAKING THEIR WAY BACK TO THE U.K VIA SPAIN, TWO OF THEM REACHING THE  U.K LATER IN 1941, BUT THE OTHER TWO DID NOT REACH HOME UNTIL 1942. THE SHIPS CAPTAIN AT THE MAIMOA'S LOSS WAS CAPTAIN H COX. HER SISTER SHIP 'TAIROA' HAD BEEN SUNK THE PREVIOUS YEAR BY THE 'ADMIRAL GRAF SPEE IN THE SOUTH ATLANTIC.

KANDELFELS / PINGUIN

PINGUIN WAS A GERMAN MERCHANT RAIDER COMMANDED BY CAPTAIN KRUDER, SHE STARTED OUT LIFE AS HANSA LINES  KANDELFELS. SHE REEKED HAVOC IN THE INDIAN OCEAN AND SOUTH ATLANTIC. SHE SANK THIRTY-TWO VESSELS, IN A CRUISE LASTING ONLY ELEVEN MONTHS. SHE SANK SHAW SAVILL & ALBIONS 'MAIMOA' AND CAPTURED THE 'PELAGOS' ( FORMERLY THE WHITE STAR/SHAW SAVILL & ALBION ' ATHENIC' ) IN 1940 SHE LAID MINES ALONG THE VICTORIA COAST, AUSTRALIA ONE OF THE MINES SUNK THE AMERICAN VESSEL 'CITY OF RAYVILLE',  A BRITISH WARSHIP WAS ALSO MINED. SHE WAS EVENTUALLY SUNK BY H.M.S CORNWALL NEAR THE SEYCHELLES IN 1941. 340 OF THE PINGUIN CREW DIED ALONG WITH 200 PRISONERS THAT SHE WAS CARRYING. 60 ODD CREW MEMBERS AND 20 PRISONERS WERE PICKED UP FROM THE SEA BY CORNWALL ( SHELLS FROM  CORNWALL HAD HIT THE REMAINING MINES THAT PINGUIN HAD ONBOARD, WHICH ACCOUNTED FOR HER BLOWING UP ) THE BOTTOM PICTURE SHOWS PENGUIN DISGUISED AS THE GREEK MERCHANTMAN 'KASSOS'

H.M.S CORNWALL

THE WAS LAUNCHED IN 1926 AT DEVONPORT.SHE WAS THE  FIFTH VESSEL TO BEAR THE NAME 'CORNWALL, AND WAS A VESSEL OF ALMOST 10,000 TONS. IN 1942 WHILE OPERATING IN WATERS NEAR CEYLON  WITH HER SISTER SHIP DORSETSHIRE, THE PAIR WERE SPOTTED BY JAPANESE DIVE BOMBERS AND ATTACKED, BEING OVERWHELMED BY ALMOST FIFTY PLANES BOTH VESSELS WERE SUNK VERY QUICKLY. OUT OF CORNWALL'S CREW OF 650, 190 WERE KILLED.