The following is from The German Raider Atlantis by Wolfgang Frank & Captain Bernhard Rogge:
On 17th May we were standing along the innermost of the courses which, according to a captured English chart, were available to ships on passage between Capetown and Freetown.
Following a habit we had acquired in the Indian Ocean, we had stopped engines and were drifting to save fuel. After the evening sing-song and the last rounds, a deep peace settled over the ship. The moon was very bright and visibility good. If anything turns up, I thought, we'll see it soon enough.
And shortly after midnight we did!
The coxswain and a signalman reported it almost simultaneously.
First one, then two humps appeared on the horizon, which grew into two large, blacked-out ships steaming in line ahead. I had been half asleep on the bridge-deck and as soon as the message reached me, I sounded the alarm.
The ships were heading straight towards us.
Any illusion that we had two big merchant ships in front of us quickly vanished. We were soon able to pick out the triangular silhouettes of warships, steaming in close order in line ahead at fourteen knots, between us and the moon.
Fortunately the moon was shining right on us, making us more difficult to see; it is when the moon is behind you that it becomes dangerous. As we moved slowly ahead on the engines, being careful not to show any sparks, and gradually steered to starboard of the enemy, the silhouettes stood out even more clearly. One of them looked like an unusually powerful ship, the other loomed up as a giant rectangle—an aircraft-carrier!
'That's no cruiser,' I cried, 'that's a Nelson class battleship!'
I could clearly see the characteristic bows with the triple turrets. At that moment Commander Lorenzen arrived, rather out of breath, on the bridge. It was his job to make accurate notes of every order given in an action, for inclusion in the subsequent report. He had to wait a few seconds before his eyes grew accustomed to the dark, but as soon as he saw what was in front of us he realized what it signified.
'There are two of them, sir,' he gasped in a horrified voice, 'and isn't one of them a carrier?'
Despite the gravity of the situation, I could hardly keep from laughing and said, 'Really, Lorenzen, you don't miss a thing, do you?'
Just then the voice-pipe from the engine-room croaked, What's happening up on the bridge? There seem to be two ships out there.
Aren't you going to attack them?'
'The two ships,' said the officer of the watch, 'are a battleship and a carrier.' The questioner was left speechless.
The enemy came up so quickly that they must have seen us; if we had remained stopped they would have rammed us. But they altered course and passed astern of us; no one dared breathe during those seemingly endless minutes while we expected at every instant that they would alter course again and turn their searchlights on us—after which the end would come quickly. But nothing happened. The range was scarcely 7,000 yards and through our glasses we could see the battleship's bow-wave. A single shell from her sixteen inch guns would have blown us to atoms. We still did not dare to steam at full speed for fear of betraying our position by sparks; but very gradually we increased speed and turned slightly away, and at last the two ships disappeared over the horizon. I leaned over and spoke into the internal relay system.
'Attention all hands! Both enemy capital ships are now barely visible even through the best nightglasses.'
From somewhere in the darkness came the voice of the ship's wit, Then they ought to use day-glasses on the bridge so that they can see even less!' Our pent-up emotions found relief in a gale of laughter that swept through the ship.
We were still getting our breath back when a spout of flame suddenly shot up from the funnel. Some rust had got loose and caught fire, showering the whole ship with a rain of sparks. There was a yell of 'Stop both engines!' but even so the sparks did not go out at once and, holding our breath once again, we looked alternately up at them and in the direction of the enemy. All was well.
Next morning-—Sunday—the horizon was clear. I ordered 'make and mend clothes' and held Divine Service, in which I offered up a special prayer of thanksgiving for our deliverance. We learned later that the Nelson and Eagle were on their way from Walvis Bay to St. Helena. As a matter of fact, I had already been alerted by a secret service report, which had hinted that these two ships might be near Capetown.
Fascinating story!
http://www.naval-history.net/xGM-Chrono-01BB-Nelson.htm
SERVICE HISTORIES of ROYAL NAVY WARSHIPS in WORLD WAR 2
by Lt Cdr Geoffrey B Mason RN (Rtd) (c) 2003
HMS NELSON - Nelson-class 16in gun Battleship
May 18, 1941 At 0015 hours in 9.07S,04.42W,approximately 226 miles south of St Helena the raider ATLANTIS, which at the time was stationary, sighted two darkened vessels approaching at speed.
ATLANTIS identified them as warships and moved slowly out of their path. The vessels she sighted were NELSON and EAGLE, and they passed within 7000 metres of her without either vessel sighting ATLANTIS.
At 1100 hours arrived at St Helena to refuel. At 2345 hours following refuelling departed St Helena to proceed to Freetown in company with EAGLE.