German commerce raiders in World War I The German commerce raiders of World War I were those surface vessels used by the Imperial German Navy to pursue its war on Allied commerce , ( the " Handelskreig " ) . These comprised regular warships , principally cruisers , stationed in Germany ’ s colonial empire , express liners commissioned as auxiliary cruisers and , later , freighters outfitted as merchant raiders . These vessels had a number of successes , and a significant impact on Allied naval strategy , particularly in the early months of the war . The cruisers . At the outbreak of World War I Germany had six light and two heavy cruisers , and four gunboats , stationed overseas . These ships were stationed at various ports in Germany ' s colonial empire , or at neutral ports protecting German interests . In the west , she had " Karlsruhe " in the Caribbean and " Dresden " on the east coast of Mexico . In West Africa she had the gunboat " Eber " ; in East Africa the cruiser " Konigsberg " and the gunboat " Geier " . The largest force was in the Pacific , with the Far East Squadron under V Adm . Graf von Spee ; two heavy cruisers , one light cruiser , and two gunboats , all at Tsingtau , and cruisers " Leipzig " and " Nurnberg " deployed at sea . With the commencement of hostilities these ships were ordered to attack Allied trade wherever they found it . At the outbreak of war , v Spee was at sea and set out across the Pacific to harass and disrupt British and Allied shipping . He had with him " Scharnhorst " , " Gneisenau " and " Emden " and was quickly joined by " Nurnberg " and two auxiliary cruisers . " Emden " was dispatched on a solo raiding voyage in the Indian Ocean , which was highly successful , while von Spee headed for Chile to secure supplies of coal . At Easter Island in October he was joined by " Leipzig " and " Dresden " , and at Coronel in November he defeated a British squadron which was searching for him . In December however he was surprised in the act of attacking Port Stanley in the Falkland Islands , and his entire force , save one , was destroyed . Despite v Spee ’ s skill and courage , his mission , to destroy Allied commerce where he found it , was a failure . Two British warships were sunk , and one sailing ship , by his squadron in the five months he remained at large , while his light cruisers on detachment , with one exception , also achieved little . " Nurnberg " which had been on detached service , sent to relieve " Leipzig " had rejoined v Spee on the outbreak of war . She had encountered no Allied shipping and made no captures . After that her fate was linked with v Spee ' s and she was sunk at the Falklands . " Leipzig " had been at Acapulco in Mexico . She originally headed north along the US coast , causing British commerce to come to a standstill . She was able to coal at San Francisco before heading south - west to join v Spee . In this time she took two ships , and in the South Pacific two more . Thereafter " Leipzig ' s " fate was also joined with v Spee ’ s and she also was sunk at Falklands . Another cruiser , " Dresden " , also achieved little . On the east coast of Mexico at the outbreak of war , she moved down the coast of South America , looking for Allied shipping , but made just 2 captures before receiving orders to enter the Pacific and join v Spee ’ s squadron . She did this in October 1914 , making rendezvous at Easter island . In the Pacific " Dresden " took two more ships before v Spee ’ s squadron was destroyed at the Battle of the Falkland Islands in December 1914 . " Dresden " escaped , but was run to ground in March 1915 at Mas a Tierra island . The exception was " Emden " , which made one of the most successful raiding cruises of any German warship . After leaving v Spee at Pagan in August , " Emden " , under FK Karl von Mueller , captured and disposed of sixteen Allied ships and two warships in a four - month career that ranged over the eastern Indian Ocean . " Emden " was finally brought to battle and destroyed on 9 November at Keeling Island by the Australia cruiser " Sydney " . On the other side of the Indian Ocean , in German East Africa , the IGN had the cruiser " Konigsberg " and the gunboat " Geier " . " Konigsberg " set out one raiding voyage , to the Gulf of Aden , and sank one ship . In September she surprised the British cruiser " Pegasus " in Zanzibar harbour and sank her . But lack of coal limited her operations and fear of being herself caught in harbour made her captain opt for taking refuge in the river delta of the Rufiji . This hiding place was discovered in October and the channel successfully blocked in November . Thereafter , although " Konigsberg " remained a potential threat , and although the RN took another six months before she could be destroyed , from this point her raiding career was over . " Geier " set out from East Africa in August , and crossed both the Indian and the Pacific oceans in search of Allied ships , but in three months was unsuccessful , capturing just one ship before interning herself at Honolulu . In the west the most successful cruiser was " Karlsruhe " , under FK Erich Kohler . After meeting and equipping the liner " Kronprinz Wilhelm " , " Karlsruhe " set out on a raiding voyage along the South American trade routes . Using her attendant supply ships , and later , prizes , to scout for her , " Karlsruhe " moved through the ocean , her net cast wide , able to steam quickly to any target or to evade conflict . After two months she had captured and disposed of 16 ships , including one neutral Dutch freighter , and taken 500 prisoners . At the end of October these were dispatched to neutral Tenerife in one of the prizes , and " Karlsruhe " steamed north to open a new hunting ground in the Caribbean . However on 4 November 1914 , 300 miles east of Barbados , " Karlsruhe " suffered a calamitous internal explosion , sinking her and killing her captain and 260 crew . The survivors were rescued by the supply ship " Rio Negro " , which had been in attendance , and returned to Germany . The Germans were able to keep the secret of her loss until March 1915 ; until that time " Karlsruhe " exerted an influence as a ghost ship on British naval strategy , forcing the Allies to guard against possible attacks . The liners . At the outbreak of war the Imperial German Navy had listed thirteen fast passenger liners for conversion into auxiliary cruisers , and another seven ships , express mail steamers , to serve as supply vessels . However the immediate imposition by the Royal Navy of a blockade of German ports caught the IGN on the hop ; the ships in home ports were trapped there , while those ships which were at sea or in neutral ports , away from their outfits of stored armaments with neutral nations wary of allowing such conversion to take place in their facilities . Of the six ships which were in home ports , three were converted , though two ( " Cap Polonio " , as " Vineta " , and " Victoria Louise " ) were deemed unsuitable and returned to the owners . Only one , " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " , carried out a raiding voyage . Three others ( " Cap Finisterre " , " Prinz Ludwig " and " Kaiserin August Victoria " ) were not taken up for conversion and remained in civilian hands . Of the seven at sea , three were able to avoid British patrols and take up armaments from German warships . " Kronprinz Wilhelm " met " Karlsruhe " in the Atlantic , " Cap Trafalgar " met " Eber " from German West Africa off Brazil , and " Prinz Eitel Friedrich " sailed to Tsingtau where she was armed from " Luchs " and " Tiger " . Four others , ( " Kronprinzessin Cecilie " , " Kaiser Wilhelm II " , " George Washington " and " Prinz Friedrich Wilhelm " ) were unable to return to Germany or meet any German warship and were interned in neutral ports . Two other ships , not originally foreseen but becoming available , were also converted to be auxiliaries . The liner " Berlin " , which was at Bremerhaven undergoing repairs , was taken up as a minelayer and raider . The Russian liner " Ryazan " , earmarked by the Imperial Russian navy as an auxilairy , was captured in August by " Emden " and sent to Tsingtau for conversion . She served under the name " Cormoran " . These vesels too had mixed success . " Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse " broke through the blockade to raid down the West African coast . After sinking three ships she was caught and sunk by the British cruiser " Highflyer " . " Cap Trafalgar " was similarly caught and sunk by the AMC " Carmania " , before making any captures . " Berlin " made one voyage , laying mines off Ireland which sank the British dreadnought " Audacious " , before herself being interned in Norway . " Cormoran " was able to operate for three months in the Pacific and around the coast of Australia , but without a single success , until forced into internment in Guam . More successful was " Prinz Eitel Friedrich " , which operated with " Cormoran " and v Spee ' s squadron before being detached after Coronel in November 1914 . She then made a three - month voyage into the Atlantic , making eleven captures before being interned in March 1915 at Newport News in the United States . The most successful of these auxiliaries was " Kronprinz Wilhelm " , remaining at large for eight months and taking thirteen prizes before she too was interned in April 1915 at Newport News . The freighters . Following the collapse of the first phases of Germany ’ s commerce war , the Imperial German Navy turned to the U - boat Arm as an alternative . Despite some successes , the inadequacies of the U - boat as a commerce raider quickly became apparent . Lacking the cruiser ’ s speed and gun armament to overawe its victims , the U - boats were increasingly faced with ships that would resist capture by running , or , as more and more became defensively armed , by shooting back . Rather than accept defeat however , in February 1915 the IGN opted for a policy of unrestricted submarine warfare , a policy which inevitably led to deaths and destruction of civilians , neutrals and other non - combatants and created considerable political difficulties . Another approach proposed was the outfitting of ordinary freighters as commerce raiders and , initially , minelayers . In contrast to the first auxiliaries these ships would be chosen for their endurance and range , relying on disguise rather than speed to escape destruction . The first assay into this approach was " Meteor " , which laid mines and attacked shipping in the White Sea during May and June 1915 . A second voyage in August saw her involved in a gun - battle with a blockade ship , and she was later scuttled to avoid capture . In November 1915 the most successful of these raiders , the " Moewe " , set out on her first voyage . In four months she accounted for 15 ships , totalling 50 , 000 GRT , and successfully returned to Germany unscathed . Two other attempts to emulate this failed however ; In February 1916 " Wolf " was wrecked while setting out from Kiel , and the same month " Grief " was sunk when she was intercepted by the RN blockade . In August 1916 " Moewe " was out again , this time masquerading as " Vineta " in an attempt to confuse Allied intelligence , and taking a prize off Norway : In November she made a longer voyage to the South Atlantic which captured 25 ships . " Moewe " was able to extend her range by taking fuel and supplies from her prizes ; she also outfitted one of them ( commissioned as " Geier " ) to act as an auxiliary herself , and sent another back to Germany for conversion into a raider . Also in November 1916 another raider , also called " Wolf " , started a voyage of 15 months , to South Africa , the Indian Ocean and Australia , sinking 14 ships and laying mines that destroyed 15 more . " Wolf " was also able to extend her range with goods from her prizes , prolonging her voyage to a record - breaking 15 months . She too outfitted a prize ( commissioned as " Iltis " ) to assist as an auxiliary minelayer . In December 1916 the most unusual raider , " Seeadler " , set out ; a fully rigged sailing ship ( though equipped with auxiliary motors ) " Seeadler " sailed all the way to the South Pacific and sank 13 ships before being wrecked on a reef after eight months of operations The last raider , " Leopard " , ( the prize sent in by " Moewe " ) set out in March 1917 , but she too was intercepted by the RN blockade and in a fierce gun - battle was sunk with all hands . With the return of " Moewe " that month , Germany ’ s experiment with surface raiders was virtually ended , though " Wolf " remained at large for another year . In Feb 1917 Germany started another campaign of unrestricted submarine warfare , which , despite huge damage to Allied shipping , failed to defeat the Allies , but led to angry neutrals ( most prominently the USA ) joining the war against her .