German auxiliary cruiser Atlantis

Atlantis
History
Germany
Name	Goldenfels
Owner	DDG Hansa
Operator	DDG Hansa
Port of registry	Bremen
Builder	Bremer Vulkan
Launched	16 December 1937
Identification	Code Letters DOTP
Fate	Requisitioned by Kriegsmarine, 1939
Nazi Germany
Operator	Kriegsmarine
Builder	DeSchiMAG
Yard number	2
Commissioned	19 December 1939
Renamed	Atlantis, 1939
Reclassified	Auxiliary cruiser, 1939
Nickname(s)	HSK-2 Schiff 16 Raider-C
Fate	Sunk by HMS Devonshire in the South Atlantic, 22 November 1941
General characteristics [1]
Type	Merchant raider
Tonnage	7,862 gross register tons (GRT) 4,845 NRT
Displacement	17,600 t (17,300 long tons)
Length	155 m (509 ft)
Beam	18.7 m (61 ft)
Draught	8.7 m (29 ft)
Installed power	7,600 hp (5,700 kW)
Propulsion	2 × 6-cylinder diesel engines 1 × shaft
Speed	17.5 knots (32.4 km/h; 20.1 mph)
Range	60,000 nmi (110,000 km; 69,000 mi) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph)
Endurance	250 days
Complement	349–351
Armament	6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 1 × 75 mm (3 in) gun 2 × twin 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 2 × twin 2 cm (0.79 in) C/30 cannons 4 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes 93× mines
Aircraft carried	2 × Heinkel He 114C

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 161,000 km (100,000 mi) in 602 days, and sank or captured 22 ships with a combined tonnage of 144,384. Atlantis was commanded by Kapitän zur See Bernhard Rogge, who received the Oak Leaves to the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross. She was sunk on 22 November 1941 by the British cruiser HMS Devonshire.

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 Pinguin in tonnage destroyed, and had the longest raiding career of any German commerce raider in either world war. She captured highly secret documents from Automedon. A version of the story of Atlantis is told in the film Under Ten Flags with Van Heflin appearing as Captain Rogge.