German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran

Auxiliary cruiser Kormoran meets a German U-boat at sea
History
Germany
Name	Steiermark
Namesake	Styria
Operator	Hamburg America Line
Route	East Asia (intended)
Builder	Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft, Kiel, Germany
Launched	15 September 1938
Fate	Requisitioned by Kriegsmarine
History
Nazi Germany
Name	Kormoran
Namesake	SMS Cormoran and the Cormorant
Commissioned	9 October 1940
Reclassified	Merchant raider (1940-41)
Identification	HSK-8[a] Schiff 41 (German administrative designation) Raider G (British designation for tracking)
Fate	Scuttled following battle, 19 November 1941
General characteristics as Kormoran
Type	Handelsstörkreuzer (commerce raider)
Tonnage	8,736 GRT
Displacement	19,900 t (19,600 long tons)
Length	164 m (538 ft 1 in)
Beam	20.20 m (66 ft 3 in)
Draught	8.50 m (27 ft 11 in)
Propulsion	4 × 9-cylinder diesel motors
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Boats & landing craft carried	1 × LS-3 minelaying boat
Complement	25 officers, 375 enlisted
Armament	6 × 15 cm (5.9 in) SK L/45 C guns 2 × 3.7 cm (1.46 in) PaK 36 anti-tank guns 5 × 2 cm (0.79 in) FlaK 30 anti-aircraft guns 6 × torpedo tubes (2 twin deck mounts; 2 single, aft-angled submerged tubes) 24 × 53.3 cm (21.0 in) torpedoes 360 EMC + 30 TMB naval mines
Aircraft carried	2 × Arado 196 seaplanes

The German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8)^[a] was a Kriegsmarine (German navy) merchant raider of World War II. Originally the merchant vessel Steiermark ("Styria"), the ship was acquired by the navy following the outbreak of war for conversion into a raider. Administered under the designation Schiff 41, 'Ship 41', to the Allied navies she was known as "Raider G". The largest merchant raider operated by Germany during World War II, Kormoran ("cormorant") was responsible for the destruction of 10 merchant vessels and the capture of an 11th during her year-long career in the Atlantic and Indian oceans.

She is also known for sinking the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney during a mutually destructive battle off Western Australia on 19 November 1941. Damage sustained during the battle prompted the scuttling of Kormoran. While 318 of the 399 aboard the German ship were rescued and placed in prisoner of war camps for the remainder of World War II, there were no survivors from the 645 aboard the Australian cruiser. The wreck of Kormoran was rediscovered on 12 March 2008, four days before that of her adversary.

Kormoran's success against HMAS Sydney is commonly attributed to the proximity of the two ships during the engagement, and the raider's advantages of surprise and rapid, accurate fire. Prior to the discovery of the wrecks in 2008, the cruiser's loss with all hands compared to the survival of most of the German crew created controversy and spawned numerous conspiracy theories; some alleged that the German commander, Theodor Detmers, used illegal ruses to lure Sydney into range, others that a Japanese submarine was involved, or that details of the battle were concealed through a wide-ranging coverup. None of these claims were substantiated by any evidence.
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