Action of 4 April 1941

See also: German auxiliary cruiser Thor
Action of 4 April 1941
Part of The Battle of the Atlantic in the Second World War

Modern map of the Cape Verde islands
Date4 April 1941
Location
mid-Atlantic Ocean
14°30′N 40°30′W / 14.500°N 40.500°W / 14.500; -40.500
Result German victory
Belligerents
United Kingdom  Germany
Commanders and leaders
J. A. Blackburn Otto Kähler
Strength
Armed merchant cruiser HMS Voltaire Auxiliary cruiser Thor
Casualties and losses
  • 74 killed
  • ~100 wounded
  • 195 captured
  • Voltaire sunk
  • ~200 later killed
 Thor lightly damaged

The action of 4 April 1941 was a naval engagement fought during the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. A German commerce raider, Thor (Schiff 10 to the Kriegsmarine, Raider E to the British), encountered the British armed merchant cruiser HMS Voltaire and sank her after a short engagement. The German crew rescued the British survivors, some of whom were repatriated and gave an account to the Admiralty. It was accepted that German commerce raiders were too well armed for converted ocean liners equipped with obsolete guns but nothing else was available to the Royal Navy until later in the war.

This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 4.0 unless otherwise noted. Additional terms may apply for the media files.