History | |
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Germany | |
Name | Bielsko |
Operator | Gdynia-America-Line |
Builder | Danziger Werft, Danzig |
Launched | April 1939 |
Fate | Requisitioned by Kriegsmarine, 1939 |
Nazi Germany | |
Name | Michel |
Namesake | Deutscher Michel |
Operator | Kriegsmarine |
Commissioned | 7 September 1941 |
Renamed |
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Reclassified |
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Nickname(s) |
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Fate | Sunk on 17 October 1943 by U.S submarine USS Tarpon east of Yokohama |
General characteristics | |
Tonnage | 4,740 GRT |
Displacement | 10,900 tons |
Length | 132 m (433 ft) |
Beam | 16.8 m (55 ft) |
Draught | 7.4 m (24 ft) |
Propulsion | 2 MAN 8-cyl. Diesel, one shaft, 6,650 shp (4.889 MW) |
Speed | 16 knots (30 km/h; 18 mph) |
Range | 34,000 nautical miles (63,000 km) at 10 knots (19 km/h; 12 mph) |
Complement | 395 (incl. 18 officers), 5 prize-officers |
Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 2 Arado Ar 196 A-2 |
Michel (HSK-9) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine that operated as a merchant raider during World War II. Built by Danziger Werft in Danzig 1938/39 as the freighter Bielsko for the Polish Gdynia-America-Line (GAL), she was requisitioned by the Kriegsmarine at the outbreak of World War II and converted into the hospital ship Bonn. In the summer of 1941, she was converted into the auxiliary cruiser Michel, and was commissioned on 7 September 1941. Known as Schiff 28, her Royal Navy designation was Raider H. She was the last operative German raider of World War II.