German Auxiliary Cruiser Kormoran - Construction and Conversion

Construction and Conversion

The merchant vessel Steiermark was constructed by Friedrich Krupp Germaniawerft in Kiel for the Hamburg-Amerika Line. Launched in 1938, the ship was to operate on the East Asia run, but had only completed sea trials when war was declared.

Following World War I, German naval power had limits placed upon it by the Treaty of Versailles, which were later eased by the 1935 Anglo-German Naval Agreement. By the 1930s, the discrepancy between the conventional warship strength of the Kriegsmarine and that of other nations led the German military to recognise auxiliary cruisers engaged in commerce raiding would play a significant role in any future war, as they had during World War I. Merchant ships that could be converted into raiders were identified, and were to be taken up by the Kriegsmarine for conversion following a declaration of war.

Steiermark was one of these ships. Receiving the designation Schiff 41 (Ship 41) for administrative purposes, she was taken into dockyard hands following the outbreak of World War II. Conversion of the merchant ship commenced in early 1940, and was prioritised as second only to work on the U-boat fleet. The conversion work included installation of camouflaged weapons, fitting of bunks for the sailors, creation of internal passageways leading to their stations. Prisoner accommodation, consisting of an open area for hammocks and facilities to keep ship's masters and women separate from the general population, was constructed. The raider was also provided with equipment with which to modify her appearance and allow her to masquerade as other merchant vessels. While the ship was being refitted, her future crew underwent training aboard the blockade runner Monte Pascoal.

Korvettenkapitän (Commander) Theodor Detmers was selected to command Schiff 41 in July 1940; the 37-year-old was the youngest man to command a German merchant raider. Detmers named the ship Kormoran, inspired by SMS Cormoran (a Russian merchant ship captured by the Germans during World War I and operated as a raider) and the cormorant (with Detmers comparing the seabird's use in fishing to his ship's attempts in catching Allied vessels). After a successful trials cruise in September 1940, Kormoran was commissioned on 9 October.