[ Page 46 ] "Ole Wegger" was 12,201 tons-on board, 5,500 tons of fliel, 7,000 tons of whale oil, her crew of 190 had stores to last another 10 weeks, "Solglint," almost the same size, still carried 4,000 tons of tuel, 4,000 tons of whale oil, a crew of 60, and accommodation for a further 300. Four whale catchers, each 300 tons, were captured close by- a quite magnificent haul.
Unfortunately, 3 catchers escaped, and Kruder hoped they could not alert "Thorshammer,"- he sent off a signal to them, to continue their whaling efforts, and said : - "The German Reich will pay for all your whales." But, then, Who would believe him?
"Pelagos" had still to be caught, meantime, she could still be heard, in vain, trying to reach "Solglint" and "Ole Wegger' by radio. By dusk at 2209 ( 10.29PM) lights were sighted- an ice field was in the path of "Pinguin" and her prey. All remained quiet, white light illuminating a busy scene of a factory ship attending to the bounty from 5 catchers alongside her.
Right on midnight, "Pinguin" arrived, prize crews in boats were lowered, within minutes, all ships were under German control, this new capture, also a 12,000 ton vessel, 800 tons of luel still left, and her whaling oil tanks crammed full - 9,500 tons, a crew of 2lO, again, with sufficient provisions for 10 more weeks. In all, 7 catchers, each 250/300 tons had been acquired. Kruder thought what valuable Anti-Submarine craft they would make, if only they could be sailed back to Europe.
In 2 days, "Pinguin" her Captain, her crew, had performed miracles, the most successful operation by any German Raider, throughout the war.
36,000 tons of ships, 20,000 tons of catchers, made up by 11 of them, 20,000 tons of whale oil, and 10,000 tons of fuel oil. Still not satisfied, Kruder still wanted "Thorshammer," but she never arrived, no doubt told to keep clear by the escaped catchers.
Now, the Captain of "Pinguin" was faced with the decision:- "What to do with all these prizes?" "Ole Wegger" was very obviously a factory ship, and would have little chance of running the blockade to reach a French held port. Her oil was transferred to "Solglint"- so that she might shepherd the catchers back home. The two larger ships had enough oil to take them from Antarctic waters to their Northern counterpart, and thence on to Europe.
SKL told Kruder to escort "Ole Wegger" and her catchers to meet "Nordmark," in the Andalusia area, this was West of the Cape in the South Atlantic, and then to return to the Indian Ocean, it was a long journey, but then, most of a Raider's life was spent covering long distances around the world's oceans "Nordmark," was met, still towing "Duquesa" who was consuming her own booms, and wooden decks in the furnace, to maintain the refrigeration plant in operation.
The prizes were all sent home, but one catcher, Poll X, was renamed "Adjutant," ( we have seen her in operation earlier.) was converted into an Auxiliary Minelayer, and retained. "Pinguin," took on stores from "Duquesa," eggs, cows, 410 sheep, oxtails,( an unlikely item, one would think for a Raider, perhaps Knider was partial to Ox tail soup.) They met "Alstertor,"on the 18th. of February, took on another aircraft, and sailed to Kerguelen Island, staying from the 12th. to the 25th. of March.
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