German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin
Date Name Displacement Fate Type Nationality Notes
31 July 1940 Domingo de Larrinaga 5,358 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Sunk by torpedo
27 August 1940 Filefjell 6,901 GRT Sunk Tanker Norway Sunk by explosive charges
27 August 1940 British Commander 5,008 GRT Sunk Tanker UK Sunk by torpedo
27 August 1940 Morviken 7,616 GRT Sunk Freighter Norway Sunk by explosive charges
12 September 1940 Benavon 5,872 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Sunk by gunfire , 21 dead
16 September 1940 Nordvard 4,111 GRT Captured Freighter Norway Valuable cargo of wheat , dispatched to Bordeaux with 200 prisoners , safely arrived , later used as a blockade runner
7 October 1940 Storstad 8,998 GRT Captured Tanker Norway Converted to minelayer , renamed Passat , sent with 100 mines to Bass Strait then dispatched to Bordeaux
19 November 1940 Nowshera 7,920 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Sunk by explosive charges , 113 prisoners
20 November 1940 Maimoa 10,123 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Hundreds of tons of frozen meat , butter and eggs transferred to Pinguin , sunk by explosive charges
21 November 1940 Port Brisbane 8,739 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Sunk by torpedo
30 November 1940 Port Wellington 8,303 GRT Sunk Freighter UK Sunk by gunfire , 82 prisoners including 7 women
14 January 1941 Ole Wegger 12,201 GRT Captured Whaling Factory Ship Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Solglimt 12,246 GRT Captured Whaling Supply-ship Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Torlyn 247 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Pol VIII 293 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Pol IX 354 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Converted into auxiliary , renamed Adjutant
14 January 1941 Pol X 354 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Pelagos 12,083 GRT Captured Whaling Factory Ship Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Star XIV 247 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Dispatched to Bordeaux
14 January 1941 Star XIX 249 GRT Captured Whaler Norway Sunk by HMS Scarborough
Raiding career
Schiff 33 , the Pinguin had sailed over 59,000 miles ( more than twice the circumference of the Earth ) in 357 days at sea . She sank or captured 28 ships , a total of 136,642 gross register tons . 52,000 tons was sent back to Germany under prize crews . A further four ships were sunk by mines , a total of 18,068 tons . Pinguin 's grand total amounts to 154,710 gross register tons . Pinguin was the first of the Kriegsmarine 's Auxiliary Cruisers to be sunk .
Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) which served as a commerce raider in World War II. Pinguin was known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British Royal Navy as Raider F.