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The action of 8 May 1941 was a single ship action fought during the Second World War in the course of which the British heavy cruiser sank the German auxiliary cruiser . The engagement took place in the Indian Ocean off the Seychelles archipelago, north of Madagascar. ==Background== ''Cornwall'' carried eight guns in four twin turrets, four anti-aircraft guns in two twin turrets, two four-barrel 2-pounder pom-pom guns, and two machine guns. ''Cornwall'' also carried three aircraft with one catapult. The auxiliary cruiser ''Pinguin'' was originally the freighter ''Kandelfels'', which had been launched in 1936. As an auxiliary cruiser, she carried six guns, one gun, two anti-aircraft guns, four autocannon, and two torpedo tubes. She also carried one Arado Ar 196A-1 floatplane. Of the two ships, ''Cornwall''s armament was the more powerful. In January 1941, ''Pinguin'' was at the high point in her commerce raiding career while ''Cornwall'' was receiving rudder repairs in Selborne. By 15 January, ''Pinguin'' had captured 14 Norwegian merchant vessels. She took three factory ships and 11 whalers, all belonging to the same whaling company. She sent the prizes to occupied France where one was renamed and was used as minelayer for the German raiders in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Months later, in May, ''Cornwall''s mission was to find and destroy the German raider as it cruised off Africa. ''Pinguin''s position and description was given away as it sunk an oil tanker whose crew managed to get the warning out . On 8 May, ''Cornwall'' found ''Pinguin''. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア(Wikipedia)』 ■ウィキペディアで「Action of 8 May 1941」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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