German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis The German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis ( HSK 2 ) , known to the " Kriegsmarine " as Schiff 16 and to the Royal Navy as Raider - C , was a converted German " Hilfskreuzer " ( auxiliary cruiser , or merchant or commerce raider ) of the " Kriegsmarine " , which , in World War II , travelled more than in 602 days , and sank or captured 22 ships totaling . " Atlantis " was sunk on 22 November 1941 by the British cruiser HMS Devonshire ( 39 ) . She was commanded by " Kapitän zur See " Bernhard Rogge , who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight ' s Cross of the Iron Cross . Commerce raiders do not seek to engage warships , but rather attack enemy merchant shipping ; the measures of success are tonnage destroyed ( or captured ) and time spent at large . " Atlantis " was second only to in tonnage destroyed , and had the longest raiding career of any German commerce raider in either world war . She had a significant effect on the war in the Far East due to her capture of highly significant secret documents from . A version of the story of the " Atlantis " is told in the film , " Under Ten Flags " with Van Heflin appearing as Captain Rogge . Early history . Built by Bremer Vulkan in 1937 , she began her career as the cargo ship " Goldenfels " , owned and operated by DDG Hansa , Bremen . " Goldenfels " was powered by two 12 - cylinder Single Cycle Double Action diesel engines , built by Bremer Vulkan . She was allocated the Code Letters DOTP . In late 1939 she was requisitioned by the " Kriegsmarine " and converted into a warship by DeSchiMAG , Bremen . In November 1939 , she was commissioned as the commerce raider " Atlantis " . Design . " Atlantis " was long and displaced . She had a single funnel amidships . She had a crew of 349 ( 21 officers and 328 enlisted sailors ) and a Scottish terrier , " Ferry " , as a mascot . The cruiser carried a dummy funnel , variable - height masts , and was well supplied with paint , canvas , and materials for further altering her appearance , including costumes for the crew and flags . " Atlantis " was capable of being modified to twenty - six different silhouettes . Weapons and aircraft . The ship was equipped with six guns , one gun on the bow , two twin - 37 mm anti - aircraft gun s and four 20 mm automatic cannon s ; all of these were hidden , mostly behind pivotable false deck or side structures . A phony crane and deckhouse on the aft section hid two of the guns ; the other four guns were concealed via flaps in the side that were lowered when action was imminent . " Atlantis " also had four waterline torpedo tube s , and a 92 - mine compartment . This gave her the fire power , and more importantly she possessed the fire control of a light cruiser . The ship also carried two Heinkel He - 114C seaplane s in one of its holds , one of these was fully assembled and the other one was packed away in crates . Engines . " Atlantis " had two 6 - cylinder diesel engines , which powered a single propeller . Top speed was and a range of at . Diesel engines allowed her to drift when convenient to conserve fuel , and unlike steam machinery , instantly restart her powerplant . Service history . Journey to the South Atlantic . In 1939 , she became the command of " Kapitän " Bernhard Rogge . Commissioned in mid - December , she was the first of nine or ten merchant ships armed by the Third Reich for the purposes of seeking out and engaging enemy cargo vessels . " Atlantis " was delayed by ice until 31 March 1940 , when the former battleship was sent to act as an icebreaker , clearing the way for " Atlantis " , " Orion " , and " Widder " . " Atlantis " headed past the North Sea minefields , between Norway and Britain , across the Arctic Circle , between Iceland and Greenland , and headed south . By this time , " Atlantis " was pretending to be a Soviet vessel named " Krim " by flying the Soviet naval ensign , displaying a hammer and sickle on the bridge , and having Russian and English warnings on the stern , " Keep clear of propellers " . The Soviet Union was neutral at the time . After crossing the equator , on 24 – 25 April , she " became " the Japan ese vessel " Kasii Maru " . The ship now displayed a large K upon a red - topped funnel , identification of the Kokusai Line . She also had rising sun symbols on the gun flaps and Japanese characters ( copied from a magazine ) on the aft hull . " City of Exeter " . On 2 May , she met the British passenger liner . Rogge , unwilling to cause non - combatant casualties , declined to attack . Once the ships had parted , " Exeter " s Master radioed his suspicions about the " Japanese " ship to the Royal Navy . " The Scientist " . On 3 May , " Atlantis " met a British cargo ship , " The Scientist " , which was carrying ore and jute . The Germans raised their battle ensign and displayed signal pennants stating , " Stop or I fire ! Don ' t use your radio ! " The gun fired a warning shot . The British immediately began transmitting their alarm signal , " QQQQ . . . QQQQ . . . Unidentified merchantman has ordered me to stop , " and the Germans began transmitting so as to jam the signals . " The Scientist " turned to flee , but on the second salvo from " Atlantis " flames exploded from the ship , followed by a cloud of dust and then white steam from the boilers . A British sailor was killed and the remaining 77 were taken as prisoners of war . After failing to sink the ship with demolition charges , " Atlantis " used guns and a torpedo to finish off " The Scientist " . Cape Agulhas . Continuing to sail south , " Atlantis " passed the Cape of Good Hope , reaching Cape Agulhas on 10 May . Here she set up a minefield with 92 horned contact naval mine s , in a way which suggested that a U - boat had laid them . The minefield was successful , but the deception was foiled and the ship ' s presence revealed by a German propaganda broadcast boasting that " a minefield , sown by a German raider " had sunk no fewer than eight merchant ships , three more were overdue , three minesweepers were involved , and the Royal Navy was not capable of finding " a solitary raider " operating in " its own back yard " . Furthermore a British signal was sent from Ceylon on 20 May and intercepted by Germany , based on the report from " City of Exeter " , warning shipping of a German raider disguised as a Japanese ship . " Atlantis " headed into the Indian Ocean disguised as the Dutch vessel MV " Abbekerk " . She received a broadcast — which happened to be incorrect — reporting that " Abbekerk " had been sunk , but retained that identity rather than repainting , as there were several similar Dutch vessels . " Tirranna " , " City of Baghdad " , and the " Kemmendine " . On 10 June 1940 , " Atlantis " stopped the Norwegian motor ship " Tirranna " with 30 salvos of fire after a three - hour chase . Five members of " Tirranna " ' s crew were killed and others wounded . Filled with supplies for Australian troops in the Middle East , " Tirranna " was captured and sent to France . On 11 July , the liner " City of Baghdad " was fired upon at a range of . A boarding party discovered a copy of " Broadcasting for Allied Merchant Ships " , which contained communications codes . " City of Baghdad " , like " Atlantis " , was a former DDG Hansa ship , having been captured by the British in World War I . A copy of the report sent by " City of Exeter " was found , describing " Atlantis " in minute detail and including a photograph of the similar " Freienfels " , confirming that the " Japanese " identity had not been believed . Rogge had his ship ’ s profile altered , adding two new masts . At 10 : 09 on 13 July , " Atlantis " encountered a passenger liner , " Kemmendine " , which was heading for Burma . The crew on the " Kemmendine " opened fire on " Atlantis " with a 3 - inch gun mounted on " Kemmendine " ' s stern . " Atlantis " returned fire , and " Kemmendine " was quickly ablaze . All the passengers and crew were taken off of " Kemmendine " , and " Kemmendine " was then sunk . " Talleyrand " and " King City " . In August , " Atlantis " sank " Talleyrand " , the sister ship of " Tirranna " . Then she encountered " King City " , carrying coal , which was mistaken for a British Q - Ship due to its erratic maneuvering caused by mechanical difficulties . Three shells from " Atlantis " destroyed " King City " ' s bridge , killing four merchant cadets and a cabin boy . Another wounded sailor later died on the operating table aboard " Atlantis " . " Athelking " , " Benarty " , " Commissaire Ramel " , " Durmitor " , " Teddy " , and " Ole Jacob " . In September , " Atlantis " sank " Athelking " , " Benarty " , and . All of these were sunk only after supplies , documents , and POWs were taken . In October , the Germans took the Yugoslavian steamboat " Durmitor " , loaded with a cargo of salt . Yugoslavia was neutral at the time , but Captain Rogge was desperate for an opportunity for " Atlantis " to get rid of the POWs that had accumulated on board , so the ship was captured because it had been carrying coal from Cardiff to Oran before its current voyage . Captured documents and 260 POWs were transferred to " Durmitor " , which , with a prize crew of 14 Germans commanded by Lt . Dehnel , was dispatched to Italian - controlled Mogadishu . Lacking sufficient fuel , the " Durmitor " resorted to sails and , after a " hellish " voyage , made landfall in Warsheikh , north of Mogadishu , on November 22 , five weeks after departure . In the second week of November , two Norwegian tankers : " Teddy " and " Ole Jacob " were seized by " Atlantis " . On both occasions , " Atlantis " presented itself as HMS " Antenor " . " Automedon " and her secret cargo . At about 07 : 00 on 11 November 1940 , " Atlantis " encountered the Blue Funnel Line cargo ship " Automedon " about northwest of Sumatra . At 08 : 20 , " Atlantis " fired a warning shot across " Automedon " ' s bow , and her radio operator at once began transmitting a distress call of " RRRR – Automedon – 0416N " ( " RRRR " meant " under attack by armed raider " ) . At a range of around , " Atlantis " shelled " Automedon " , ceasing fire after three minutes in which she had destroyed her bridge , accommodation , and lifeboats . Six crew members were killed and twelve injured . The Germans boarded the stricken ship and broke into the strong room , where they found fifteen bags of Top Secret mail for the British Far East Command , including a large quantity of decoding tables , fleet orders , gunnery instructions , and naval intelligence reports . After wasting an hour breaking open the ship ' s safe only to discover " a few shillings in cash " , a search of the " Automedon " ' s chart room found a small weighted green bag marked " Highly Confidential " containing the Chief of Staff ' s report to the Commander in Chief Far East , Robert Brooke Popham . The bag was supposed to be thrown overboard if there was risk of loss , but the personnel responsible for this had been killed or incapacitated . The report contained the latest assessment of the Japanese Empire ' s military strength in the Far East , along with details of Royal Air Force units , naval strength , and notes on Singapore ' s defences . It painted a gloomy picture of British land and naval capabilities in the Far East , and declared that Britain was too weak to risk war with Japan . " Automedon " was sunk at 15 : 07 . Rogge soon realised the importance of the intelligence material he had captured and quickly transferred the documents to the recently acquired prize vessel " Ole Jacob " , ordering Lieutenant Commander Paul Kamenz and six of his crew to take charge of the vessel . After an uneventful voyage they arrived in Kobe , Japan , on 4 December 1940 . The mail reached the German Embassy in Tokyo on 5 December . The German Naval attaché Paul Wenneker had the summary of the British plan wired to Berlin , while the original was hand - carried by Kamenz to Berlin via the Trans - Siberian railway . A copy was given to the Japanese , to whom it provided valuable intelligence prior to their commencing hostilities against the Western Powers . Rogge was rewarded for this with an ornate Samurai sword ; the only other Germans so honoured were Hermann Göring and Field Marshal Erwin Rommel . After reading the captured Chief of Staff report , on 7 January 1941 Japanese Admiral Yamamoto wrote to the Naval Minister asking whether , if Japan knocked out America , the remaining British and Dutch forces would be suitably weakened for the Japanese to deliver a death blow ; the " Automedon " intelligence on the weakness of the British Empire is thus credibly linked with the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor and the attack leading to the fall of Singapore . At Kerguelen and Africa . In the Christmas period " Atlantis " was at Kerguelen Island in the Indian Ocean . There the crewmen did maintenance and replenished their water supplies . They suffered its first fatality when a sailor fell while painting the funnel . He was buried in what is sometimes referred to as " the southernmost of all German war graves " . In late January 1941 , off the eastern coast of Africa , " Atlantis " sank the British ship " Mandasor " and captured " Speybank " . Then , on 2 February , the Norwegian tanker " Ketty Brøvig " was relieved of her fuel . The fuel was used not only for the German raider , but also to refuel the German battleship " Admiral Scheer " and , on 29 March the Italian submarine " Perla " . " Perla " was making its way from the port of Massawa in Italian East Africa , around the Cape of Good Hope , to Bordeaux in France . " Zamzam " . By April , " Atlantis " had returned to the Atlantic where , on April 17 , Rogge , mistaking the Egypt ian liner " Zamzam " for a British liner being used as a troop carrier or Q - ship — as she was in fact the former Bibby Line r " Leicestershire " — opened fire at a range of . The second salvo hit and the wireless room was destroyed . 202 people were captured , including missionaries , ambulance drivers , " Fortune " magazine editor Charles J . V . Murphy , and " Life " magazine photographer David E . Scherman . The Germans allowed Scherman to take photographs , and although his film was seized when the prisoners returned to Europe aboard a German blockade runner , he did manage to smuggle four rolls back to New York . The photos later helped the British identify and destroy " Atlantis " . Murphy ' s account of the incident and Scherman ' s photos appeared in the 23 June 1941 issue of " Life " . Post - " Bismarck " . After the was destroyed , the North Atlantic swarmed with British warships . As a result , Rogge decided to abandon the original plan to return to Germany and instead returned to the Pacific . " En route " , " Atlantis " encountered and sank the British ships " Rabaul " , " Trafalgar " , " Tottenham " , and " Balzac " . On 10 September 1941 , east of New Zealand , " Atlantis " captured the Norwegian motor vessel " Silvaplana " . " Atlantis " then patrolled the South Pacific , initially in French Polynesia between the Tubuai Islands and Tuamotu Archipelago . Without the knowledge of French authorities , the Germans landed on Vanavana Island and traded with the inhabitants . They then hunted Allied shipping in the area between Pitcairn and uninhabited Henderson islands , making a landing on Henderson Island . The seaplane from " Atlantis " made several fruitless reconnaissance flights . " Atlantis " headed back to the Atlantic on 19 October , and rounded Cape Horn ten days later . " U - 68 " , " U - 126 " , and HMS " Devonshire " . On October 18 , 1941 , Rogge was ordered to rendezvous with the submarine Sinking . Early on the morning of 22 November 1941 , " Atlantis " was intercepted by " Devonshire " . " U - 126 " dived , leaving her captain behind ( he had gone aboard the " Atlantis " ) . At 08 : 40 , " Atlantis " transmitted a raider report posing as the Dutch ship " Polyphemus " , but by 09 : 34 " Devonshire " had received confirmation that this was false . From away , outside the range of " Atlantis " s guns , " Devonshire " opened fire . After 20 – 30 seconds , salvos of 8 - in ( 203 mm ) shells began to reach " Atlantis " ; the second and third salvos hit the ship . Seven sailors were killed as the crew abandoned ship ; Rogge was the last off . Ammunition exploded , the bow rose into the air , and the ship sank . After " Devonshire " left the area , " U - 126 " resurfaced and picked up 300 Germans and a wounded American prisoner . U - 126 began carrying or towing in rafts towards the still - neutral Brazil ( west ) . Two days later the German refuelling ship " Python " arrived and took the survivors aboard . On 1 December , while " Python " was refuelling " U - 126 " and , another of the British cruisers seeking the raiders , , appeared . The U - boats dived immediately , and " Python " ' s crew scuttled the " Python " ; the " Dorsetshire " departed , leaving the U - boats to recover the survivors . Eventually various German and Italian submarines brought Rogge ' s crew back to St . Nazaire .