German auxiliary cruiser Orion

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History
Germany
Name	Kurmark
Namesake	Kurmark
Owner	HAPAG
Operator	HAPAG
Laid down	1930 by Blohm & Voss, Hamburg
Launched	1930
Commissioned	1930
Fate	Requisitioned by Kriegsmarine, 1939
Nazi Germany
Name	Orion
Namesake	Orion
Operator	Kriegsmarine
Yard number	1
Acquired	Requisitioned 1939
Commissioned	9 December 1939
Renamed	Orion (1939) Hektor (1944) Orion (1945)
Reclassified	Auxiliary cruiser Orion, 9 December 1939
Nickname(s)	HSK-1 Schiff-36 Raider A
Fate	Sunk by air raid, 4 May 1945
General characteristics
Tonnage	7,021 GRT, 3,540 NRT
Displacement	15,700 tons
Length	148 m (486 ft)
Beam	18.6 m (61 ft)
Draught	8.2 m (27 ft)
Propulsion	4 × steam turbines, 1 × shaft, 4 × boilers, 6,200 shp (4.6 MW)
Speed	14.8 knots (27.4 km/h)
Range	18,000 nautical miles (33,000 km)
Complement	356 (varying)
Armament	6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 (taken from battleship Schleswig-Holstein 1 × 7.5 cm (3.0 in) gun 2 × 3.7 cm (1.5 in) SK C/30 4 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 6 × 53.3 cm torpedo tubes 228 x EMC mines
Aircraft carried	1 x Arado Ar 196 A-1 1 x Nakajima E8N

Orion (HSK-1) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine which operated as a merchant raider in World War II.^[1] Blohm & Voss built her in Hamburg in 1930–31 as the cargo ship Kurmark. The navy requisitioned her at the start of World War II, had her converted into the auxiliary cruiser Orion, and commissioned her on 9 December 1939. Known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 36, her Royal Navy designation was Raider A. She was named after the constellation Orion.