Action of 8 May 1941 The Action of 8 May 1941 was a single ship action fought during the Second World War in the course of which the British heavy cruiser sank the German auxiliary cruiser . The engagement took place off the Seychelles , an archipelago in the Indian Ocean , north of Madagascar . Background . " Cornwall " carried eight guns in four twin turrets , four anti - aircraft gun s in two twin turrets , two four - barrel 2 - pounder pom - pom guns , and two machine gun s . " Cornwall " also carried three aircraft with one catapult . The auxiliary cruiser " Pinguin " was originally the freighter " Kandelfels " , which had been launched in 1936 . As an auxiliary cruiser , she carried six guns , one gun , two anti - aircraft guns , four autocannon , and two torpedo tube s . She also carried one Arado Ar 196 A - 1 floatplane . Of the two ships , " Cornwall " s armament was the more powerful . In January 1941 , " Pinguin " was at the high point in her commerce raiding career while " Cornwall " was receiving rudder repairs in Selborne . By 15 January , " Pinguin " had captured 14 Norwegian merchant vessels . She took three factory ship s and 11 whalers , all belonging to the same whaling company . She sent the prizes to occupied France where one was renamed and was used as minelayer for the German raiders in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean . Months later , in May , " Cornwall " s mission was to find and destroy the German raider as it cruised off Africa . " Pinguin " s position and description was given away as it sunk an oil tanker whose crew managed to get the warning out . On 8 May , " Cornwall " found " Pinguin " . Battle . The battle began when " Cornwall " sighted a vessel off the Seychelles . She pursued and challenged what her captain thought was a merchant , unarmed , freighter but was actually the dangerous " Pinguin " . ( As was customary among German commerce raiders , it was disguised as a merchant ship and flew the flag of a neutral country ) . Catching the British off guard , Captain Ernst - Felix Krüder of " Pinguin " attacked " Cornwall " . At least one shell hit " Cornwall " , causing little damage , but enough to force her to seek repairs after the battle . The two vessels exchanged volleys , with the British having a clear advantage in main artillery : 8 guns of 8 inch - caliber to the Germans 6 guns of 6 inch - caliber . They also had superior range finders and general gunnery direction . Eventually , after receiving several heavy shell hits above , at and below the water line , " Pinguin " began to sink and her crew were ordered to abandon ship . Aftermath . Only one British sailor was killed in the engagement ; the sailor was somewhere near " Cornwall " s stern when killed by " Pinguin " s opening rounds . No Britons are known to have been wounded . Among the men on " Pinguin " were 222 prisoners , merchant sailors that the Germans had taken captive from over 30 different merchant vessels . About 200 of the prisoners went down with the ship ; only 22 survived . Around 332 Germans were killed ; 60 were rescued and taken captive . " Pinguin " sank and the victorious " Cornwall " returned to Durban for repairs to her light battle damage .