The German Raider Atlantis

New York, N.Y. Ballantine Books, 1965. First Bal-Hi Printing [stated]. Mass market paperback. [6], 154 pages. Cover worn. A Note to teachers and Parents by Richard H. Tyre. Part One--The Atlantic, July 1939--May 1940; Part Two--The Indian Ocean, May--December 1940; Part Three--Round the World, January--November 1941; and Part Four--Homeward Bound, November 22nd, 1941--New Year's Day, 1942. Also contains Appendix: The Other Side of the Story. Captain Bernhard Rogge, the most successful German raider captain in World War II, tells his story in this first-person narrative. We are given the intimate, minute-by-miute details of how one goes about tricking or sinking 140,000 tons of Allied ships. For classroom use or serious reading, however, this book has additional interest. Any first-person account belongs to that form of biography told by the participant himself and, therefore, called autobiography. In this fascinating true account, Captain Bernhard Rogge, commander of the Atlantis, tells how he sank more than 140,000 tons of Allied shipping and made the Atlantis the most effective and feared German raider in World War II. Bernhard Rogge (4 November 1899 – 29 June 1982) was a German naval officer who, during World War II, commanded a merchant raider. Later, he became a Konteradmiral in West Germany's navy. Rogge became a Vizeadmiral (vice-admiral) by the end of World War II, and, when the West German navy was established after the war, returned to service as a Konteradmiral. He also was one of the few German officers of flag rank who was not arrested by the Allies after the war. This was due to the way he had exercised his command of 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, traveled more than 161,000 km 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. Condition: Fair.

Keywords: German Raider Atlantis, WWII, Kreigsmarine, Commerce Raider, Auxiliary Cruiser, Kilfskreuzer, Merchant Shipping, Allied Shipping, Naval Operations, Bal-Hi, Richard Tyre

[Book #82150]

Price: $25.00

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