The story
German armed merchant cruisers Orion and Komet stopped the 16,712-ton passenger ship Rangitane 400 miles east of New Zealand at 0300 hours. Of the 201 crew and 111 passengers, 16 were killed during the attack and the remainder were captured. Due to the distress signal sent out by Rangitane's crew, the Germans only had time to transfer the captives aboard but not the 14,000 tons of food and 45 bars of silver before Komet sank Rangitane with a torpedo. Rangitane was the largest passenger ship to be sunk by German merchant raiders during WW2.
There's more to discover
You have arrived at just one small part of Back to Normandy — a personal project dedicated to preserving stories, images, music and memories of the Second World War.
Every record is a doorway to a larger story. Explore Back to Normandy to discover more, or visit Fred Vogels' personal website to learn about the person and the projects behind it.