Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet: The Deadliest Ships of World War II

James P. Duffy, Gordon G. Vessels

Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001 - History - 222 pages

They were the deadliest ships of World War II--nine German commerce raiders disguised as peaceful cargo ships, flying the flags of neutral and allied nations. In reality, these heavily armed warships roamed the world's oceans at will, like 20th-century pirates. They struck unsuspecting freighters and tankers out of the darkness of night or from behind a curtain of fog and mist. For almost three years they led the Royal Navy on a deadly chase from sea to sea, seeding Allied ports with hundreds of mines and, on one occasion, even bombarding a shore installation.

Masquerading as unarmed merchantmen, the raiders carried an awesome array of weapons cleverly hidden behind false structures and concealed inside empty packing crates on their decks. Seaplanes and motorboats helped them seek out their victims on the vast seas. They then fed off of these unsuspecting targets, pumping fuel from their prey into their own tanks and taking food from captured pantries to feed their own crews and the thousands of prisoners that they picked up along the way. These secret ships also acted as supply ships for U-boats, helping their fellow hunters remain at large for longer periods. At sea for months--or even years--those raider sailors lucky enough to survive were hailed as heroes when they returned home.

What people are saying

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Zare - LibraryThing

This is an interesting review of activities of nine German WW2 auxiliary cruisers that wreak havoc on Allied commercial routes together with their submersible brethren from the very beginning of ...

LibraryThing Review

User Review  - Shrike58 - LibraryThing

While Muggenthaler's "German Raiders of World War II" still feels better written, Duffy's book has the virtues of being more readily available and being somewhat informed about the impact of World War ...

Contents

• ATLANTIS UNDER TEN FLAGS: 3
• ORION THE BLACK RAIDER: 37
• WIDDER THE RAM: 67
• THOR DEADLY BANANA BOAT: 79
• PINGUIN THE FIRST CASUALTY: 107
• KOMET THANK YOU STALIN AND LENIN: 127
• KORMORAN DUEL TO THE DEATH: 145
• MICHEL THE LAST SURVIVOR: 167
• STIER SUNK BY A LIBERTY SHIP: 185
• IDENTITIES OF THE RAIDERS: 203
• TECHNICAL DATA: 205
• ARMAMENT DATA: 207
• WAR RECORDS OF THE RAIDERS: 209
• THE SYDNEY CONTROVERSY: 211
• BIBLIOGRAPHIC ESSAY: 213
• INDEX: 215

About the author

JAMES P. DUFFY is a writer specializing in military history. He is the author of 12 books, including Hitler Slept Late and other Blunders that Cost Him the War (Praeger, 1991), The Assassination of John F. Kennedy: A Complete Book of Facts with Vincent L. Ricci (1992), Target Hitler: The Plots to Kill Adolf Hitler with Vincent L. Ricci (Praeger, 1992), Czars: Russias Rulers for Over One Thousand Years with Vincent L. Ricci (1995), and Lincolns Admiral: The Civil War Campaigns of David Farragut (1997). is a writer specializing in military history. He is the author of 12 books, including two on World War II and one on the American Civil War.

Bibliographic information

• Title: Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet: The Deadliest Ships of World War II; International history
• Authors: James P. Duffy, Gordon G. Vessels
• Edition: illustrated
• Publisher: Greenwood Publishing Group, 2001
• ISBN: 0275966852, 9780275966850
• Length: 222 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / World War II