 "Rangitane" left Auckland harbour in the early afternoon of Sunday 24 November 1940, en route to Britain via the Panama Canal.She was intercepted early on the morning of 27 November 300 miles east of New Zealand by the German surface raiders and and their support ship .Another ship, SS "Holmwood", had been stopped and sunk by the German raiders on 24 November, but warning of the danger had not been passed on to "Rangitane".