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November 22nd, 1941
UNITED KINGDOM:
ASW trawler HMS St Apollo sunk in collision with destroyer HMS Sardonyx off the Hebrides.
Corvette HMS Borage launched.
Destroyer HMS Catterick launched.
Minesweeping trawler HMS Jura launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
FRANCE: Paris: A hand grenade is thrown into a Wehrmacht canteen.
GERMANY: Breslau: The Luftwaffe air ace Werner Molders, flying to Udet’s funeral, dies when his plane hits a factory chimney.
U-215, U-438 commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
FINLAND: Third evacuation of Soviet troops from Hanko. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.S.R.: The first column of trucks started on the ice of Lake Ladoga to get flour for the inhabitants of besieged Leningrad. The road across the lake was called “The Road of Life”. It was the main artery connecting the encircled city with Big Land. (Dave Shirlaw)
Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin presents a plan to the British to pull Finland out of the war. The British give Finland two weeks time to cease their offensive operations or it will declare war on Finland. (Jack McKillop)
MEDITERRANEAN SEA: During the night, British torpedo planes attack a German supply convoy bringing supplies to Africa sinking one of the escorting cruisers.
A British submarine sinks another cruiser. British naval forces from Malta sortie, but are unable to make contact.
NORTH AFRICA: Operation Crusader, a bold new assault on Rommel, is now in its fifth day with the heaviest fighting in the Desert War so far at Sidi Rezegh.
Extensively re-equipped and re-inforced for the new campaign, the Allied forces now have more than 700 tanks against Rommel’s 320 and nearly 700 aircraft against 320 Axis planes. To Churchill’s annoyance the new Commander-in-Chief, General Claude Auchinleck, refused to begin the offensive until all the new supplies had arrived.
The aim of Crusader is to pin down Axis troops on the frontier, outflank them in the desert, and smash through Rommel’s forces to link up with the Tobruk garrison 70 miles north of the frontier.
At the start of the campaign the Allies had surprise on their side, and caught Rommel unawares planning his own attack on Tobruk. But yesterday British and South African forces setting out from Sidi Rezegh for Tobruk were savagely hit from the south and east by two panzer divisions. At midday today the 21st Panzer Division struck at the western flank of the British position, over-running the airfield and leaving devastation and confusion by nightfall.
At the end of this battle, British units withdraw away from Tobruk.
Separately the British 4th Armoured Brigade is mauled by the German 15th Panzer Division. The initiative passes to the Germans.
JAPAN: The Foreign Ministry sends a message to Ambassadors NOMURA Kichisaburo and special envoy KURUSU Saburo in Washington, D.C.; the message contains the following statement: “There are reasons beyond your ability to guess why we wanted to settle Japanese-American relations by the 25th, but if within the next three or four days you can finish your conversations with the Americans.”
The Japanese First Air Fleet arrives in Hitokappu Bay, Etorofu Island, Kurile Islands. This fleet consists of six aircraft carriers (HIJMS Akagi, Hiryu, Kaga, Shokaku, Soryu and Zuikaku), two battleships (HIJMS Hiei and Kirishima), two heavy cruisers (HIJMS Chikuma and Tone), a light cruiser (HIJMS Abukuma) and ten destroyers. This is the force that will attack Pearl Harbor, Territory of Hawaii. (Jack McKillop)
AUSTRALIA: Minesweeper HMAS Deloraine commissioned. (Dave Shirlaw)
U.S.A.: Washington: The secretary of state, Cordell Hull, says that all differences with Japan could be resolved if he could be convinced that their intentions were peaceful. Hull tells Japanese representatives Ambassadors NOMURA Kichisaburo and special envoy KURUSU Saburo that there might be a relaxation of economic pressures. Secretary of State Hall “said that he had called in the representatives of certain other governments concerned in the Pacific area and that there had been a discussion of the question of whether things (meaning Japanese peaceful pledges, et cetera) could be developed in such a way . . . these representatives were interested in the suggestion and there was a general feeling that the matter could all be settled if the Japanese could give us some satisfactory evidences that their intentions were peaceful.” (Jack McKillop)
Destroyers USS Aaron Ward and Buchanan launched. (Dave Shirlaw)
ATLANTIC OCEAN: On the way home after 622 days of patrol, the German raider HK Atlantis, ship 16 known to the British as Raider C, meets the German submarine U-126 to refuel her north of Ascension Island. During that operation, a lookout reports a warship that turns out to be the British heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire (39) that arrives due to an intelligence report on the rendezvous. Devonshire fires from 17,000 yards (8.4 nautical miles or 16 kilometers), out of range of German guns. The second and third salvoes hit the German raider, her magazine explodes and Atlantis sinks quickly about 328 nautical miles (607 kilometers) northwest of Ascension Island in position 04.20N, 18.29W. As U-126 submerges, Dorsetshire makes off at high speed, leaving it to the German submarine to pick up the survivors; only eight crewmen of the raider are lost.. The raider’s operations in the Atlantic and Indian Oceans have cost the Allies 22 merchantmen of 145.968 tons.
Heavy cruiser HMS Devonshire sinks the German raider Atlantis (Ship 16) off the West Coast of Africa, near Ascension Island. She was caught replenishing U-126 which escapes.
The “Atlantis” survivors take to their lifeboats which are then towed behind U-126. Only 7 of the “Atlantis” crew of 360 are lost in this action. (Alex Gordon)
Two weeks before Pearl Harbor attack. Japenese fleet is on course for Hawaii.
Enemy Warship in Sight!
The rendezvous-position with U 126, known as Lily 10, lay three hundred and fifty miles north-west of Ascension Island. And there, in the early morning of 22nd November, 1941, the U-boat came in sight as scheduled.
In a very short time we were within hailing distance of the U-boat. It was one of those clear, fresh mornings such as we had so often encountered. Atlantis stopped and we launched our motor boat, which chugged over to where the long grey U-boat lay, her low conning-tower crowded with bearded young men who waved across to us.
My chief engineer came to report a defect in our port engine. 'Better to repair it straight away, sir,' he said. 'I shall have to change a piston in one of the cylinders.'
'Very well, Kielhorn,' I answered, 'so be it, if it is necessary. The sooner you're ready, the better. I don't like lying semi-disabled at a meeting-point; compared with the Indian Ocean and the Pacific, the Atlantic is much too narrow and populous for my liking.'
We paid out the hose-pipe over the stern to the U-boat and began to pump oil into her.
Her commanding officer came on board with some of his men and I took him off to have some breakfast while they went to supervise the transfer of their own particular supplies. Lieutenant Bauer had sailed from France only a few weeks earlier and he answered my eager questions as well as he could. Doctors Reil and Sprung also came into the ward room and conversation became general. Mohr, my adjutant, was still asleep in his bunk; he told me afterwards how he was being troubled by a dream—the same one that he had had regularly for the past six months. In this dream he saw an enemy cruiser bearing 20 degrees to port; and he knew that this spelt the end of the raider—loss, injury, perhaps death, for an auxiliary cruiser is not an armoured ship and a real warship is much faster and more powerful.
At sixteen minutes past eight there came a yell from one of the lookouts: Three-funnelled ship bearing red two-oh!'
The alarm bells went off almost at the same moment and within seconds we cast off lines over the stern and the hosepipe connecting us with the U-boat had been capped. I ordered full speed ahead and called down the voice-pipe to the chief engineer to tell him to get the port engine running as quickly as he could. We turned hard a-port to show our stern to the enemy and also to hide the U-boat. It was a cruiser that was chasing us and I had quickly recognized her class for I had been First Lieutenant of the cruiser Karlsruhe in 1936 when she had been berthed alongside the three-funnelled HMS Dorsetshire in Hong Kong.
This cruiser was identical to her and she was close enough now for us to see her launch her aircraft by catapult. The only boat we had in the water was lying alongside U 126 so there was no time for Bauer and his men to get back on board their U-boat. His First Lieutenant took over command and dived as soon as the lines were clear, leaving Bauer cursing his luck on the deck of Atlantis.
We watched the aircraft anxiously as it flew in a wide circle round us. Even if the pilot had not sighted the U-boat he must have seen the tell-tale hose-pipe, lying in a pool of oil between us. Sure enough one of my lookouts reported as calmly as he could, 'Aircraft is signalling SSS'. We all knew what those letters stood for—Submarine.
The enemy cruiser kept carefully outside the range of our guns, steaming back and forth along the horizon. Then came a flash and a salvo of warning shots howled over our heads. 'Eight inch guns!' said someone near me. Another man muttered, 'Yes, it's better to give than to receive . . .'
We turned south-south-west, followed by the motor boat; the hose-pipe already lay some distance astern. As the aircraft continued to circle us some of my crew waved to it in a pretence of friendliness for I was still intent on gaining time and keeping up the disguise. There was no hope of fighting back; our only chance lay in luring the enemy across the U-boat's torpedo-tubes.
For a moment I wondered whether it was pure chance that had brought the cruiser down upon us at such an inopportune moment; or had we been betrayed in some way? But there was no time for reflection. The cruiser's guns flashed twice and two lofty columns of water towered out of the sea astern of us.'Stop engines,' I ordered.
'Hard a-port. Let him see that we are hove-to.'
There was no point in trying to escape; the best we could do on one engine was ten knots, while the cruiser could shell us to pieces without ever coming within range of our guns. I ordered the 'Am stopped' signal to be hoisted and at the same time the W/T office began to transmit a per-arranged signal, 'RRR Polyphemus . . .' followed by our position. I was still trying to bring the cruiser within range of U 126's torpedoes.
First the plane and then the cruiser began to signal by light 'N—N—I' followed by What ship?'
'What shall I reply, sir?' asked the signalman on the bridge.
'Acknowledge slowly and ask him to repeat,' I said.
The signalman grasped my meaning and for nearly an hour he continued to exchange signals with the cruiser, repeating the name Polyphemus and asking 'What do you want now?'
Every moment that we could gain in this way might bring us nearer to salvation through the U-boat's torpedoes.
I did not know at the time that after diving, U 126 had remained close to us on the assumption that the cruiser would come in close to engage us and thus give him a chance to attack. I was equally unaware that Bauer's First Lieutenant had mistaken the enemy's first salvo for aircraft bombs aimed at him and had accordingly taken the boat down to three hundred feet; he had thus been unable to use his periscope to get a clear picture of the situation.
After steaming up and down for some time, the cruiser opened fire on us from nearly ten miles away.
The first salvo was short, but the second straddled us and a splinter struck the foredeck. I turned hard astarboard and made smoke but before the ship could answer her helm a third salvo hit us.
One shell exploded in the aircraft hangar, knocked out part of our electricity supply and set fire to the seaplane.
Then things began to happen quickly.
All the internal telephones failed and it became difficult to pass orders. Even when we had switched over to the auxiliary supply, the current came through so irregularly that we could not send the pre-arranged signal to the Naval Staff. The boats had to be lowered from the davits by hand and our attempts to extinguish the fire in the hangar were of no avail. Soon we had to abandon the fore bridge. Then the wheel and the engine-room telegraphs went dead and messages for helm and engines had to be passed by a chain of men.
A respite came when our smoke began to take effect. It upset the enemy's shooting and thereafter we sustained comparatively few hits. We stopped immediately behind the smoke-screen, and the enemy's shells fell well beyond us.
Nevertheless there was no hope of escape: my one concern was to save the lives of as many of the crew as possible and to get all the boats launched before scuttling the ship.
Some of the boats had already been damaged by splinters and there was no time to lose. The cruiser had by now manoeuvred clear of the smoke and was firing repeatedly at ten miles range. But we had time to get all the boats and rafts into the water and we even hoisted out two cutters that were not slung from davits. Atlantis had sustained eight direct hits, but our casualties were remarkably few. When nearly all the crew had gone over the side, I ordered Lieutenant Fehler to scuttle her.
Alas! just before we abandoned ship, two men were killed and the First Lieutenant was wounded; shells were bursting inboard and hurling splinters through the ship's side.
At last, all the boats were away; the scuttling-charges went off in the engine-room; Atlantis listed to port and began to sink stern first. Apart from myself, the only men left on board were Mohr, the chief coxswain and a group of men acting under Fehler's orders.
Thoughts raced through my head like a film that has been speeded up. Had I done all that I could? Was there no alternative? How could I save as many men as possible and what damage could I inflict on the enemy?
Could I—would I—return home without my ship? Would I not rather do the other thing ... ? And again I found myself hoping that the Uboat would still be able to bring off an attack. But time was running out: fresh decisions had to be made every second. Just as the last scuttling-charge went off, the ready-use ammunition forward got a direct hit and blew up. I was alone on the bridge as Mohr was destroying the secret papers.
Chief Coxswain Pigors came up saying, 'It's time to leave, sir.' I shook my head silently.
'At least let us keep on the side away from the filing,' he insisted.
We went to the other side of the W/T office. It was difficult to hear each other above the crackling of the flames and the explosion of the shells. I still could not make up my mind to leave the ship, but Pigors was insistent.
"There's no sense in staying here, sir," he yelled in my ear.
"There's nothing more you can do, but the men out there need you!'
I shook my head again. 'Please leave me, Pigors . . .'
'No!' he bawled again, 'this is our last chance and if you don't come with me, sir, I'll stay here too.'
That settled it. We left the bridge.
Mohr, Fehler and his men were already swarming down the falls or jumping overboard. Pigors and I were the last to jump and we had to swim hard to get clear of the sinking ship. The enemy was still pouring shells into her and two men were killed as they swam—if the enemy had been using nose-fuses instead of base-fuses our casualties would have been still heavier, as there were more than one hundred men in the water. Five or six more salvoes came over and then the secondary magazine went up in a sheet of flame. The boat deck was already touching the water. Suddenly a man appeared on the forecastle. He had received no answer over the telephone and had remained at his post between decks.
He had only come on deck because the ship seemed to be behaving so oddly. When he saw what was happening he hesitated no longer and jumped for his life. Atlantis sank by the stern at about 10 a.m. in position 4°20'S, 18°35'W. She flew no flag, for I had kept up the disguise until the last; I did not want the enemy to know which ship they had sunk so that they would continue to search for us. The men in the water gave three cheers for their ship. The enemy plane flew over us again, but the cruiser had already disappeared, having presumably steamed off as soon as Atlantis went down.
The German Raider Atlantis by Wolfgang Frank & Capt. Bernhard Rogge