Martin W Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) Well,i finally received a copy of this book on the Atlantis,"Die Kriegsfahrt Des Hilfskreuzers Atlantis".I have been after a copy for ages and i was pretty happy to get a first edition.The book was photoraphed and compiled by the ship's Adjutant,Dr Ulrich Mohr.It is a great photo essay of the cruise of the HSK Atlantis and the book covers the refitting,the voyage,the ships she sank,her own sinking and the return of the crew to Germany.This first edition is the most rare and i believe only 400 were printed in 1944.It has a white hardcover and was a limited run for crewmembers and family and has a complete crewlist in the back.There was another white hardcover edition printed in 1944,but the crewlist was ommited.Other editions were printed with a blue soft cover but again the crewlist was ommited.All of these books can be considered quite rare.I am posting some of the pages below ,hope you enjoy looking at this rare glimpse of life aboard a Hilfskreuzer.Regards,Martin. Edited April 6, 2008 by mwestley
TerryG Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 Very interesting book. Page 5 shows EK2 ribbons in bows. It seems an unusual way of pinning this to the uniform instead of being pushed through the usual button hole...??I know nothing about the story of this ship but I assume it was sunk and the crew was rescued by a U Boat? Where was this and did the sub return home on the suface?
Jan Arne S Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 (edited) Hi Martin !GREAT Book about one of the KM Raiders . No long ago I look at the BBC doc. DVD " The Cruise of the Secret Raiders " from the serie "Secrets of World War 2 " It`s about the German KM raiders " Atlantis" and "Penguin" . Play time about 45 min . Jan Arne Edited April 6, 2008 by Jan Arne S
Gordon Williamson Posted April 6, 2008 Posted April 6, 2008 Nice one Martin. Not an easy book to find. Congratulations !
Martin W Posted April 6, 2008 Author Posted April 6, 2008 Hi Terry,to breifly explain your question the Atlantis was sunk/scuttled on Nov 22 1941 after an engagement with HMS Devonshire in the Mid-Atlantic.She was refueling and resupplying the U-126 at the time.I beleive there were seven fatalaties on the Atlantis during the engagement with the Devonshire.The rest of the crew made it into the lifeboats where they were towed by the U-126 and eventually picked up by the supply ship "Python".On Nov 30 1941 the Python was supplying the U-68 and the U-A when she came under attack by HMS Dorsetshire,a sister-ship of the Devonshire.She was set ablaze and the crews of both the Atlantis and the Python,over 400 men made it to the lifeboats.About 100 men were crammed into the the two U-Boats,U-68 and U-A,and the rest were towed in about 10 lifeboats.On Dec 3 and Dec 5 the U-129 and the U-124 came to assist.Later four Italian sub's also came to the rescue.All eight rescue sub's made it back to Saint Nazaire,France between Dec 23 and 29 1941.Regards,Martin.
smiler Posted April 7, 2008 Posted April 7, 2008 Hi, Great find, an amazing srory and some really good pictures. Cheers stephen.
Martin W Posted April 8, 2008 Author Posted April 8, 2008 Just for interest here is a signed photo i have of the Atlantis Commander,Bernhard Rogge.Regards,Martin.
Erik Krogh Posted April 12, 2008 Posted April 12, 2008 Martin,Congrats on a great find! The photos are excellent.Here is a tradition badge attributed to Atlantis (the same badge depicted on page 11 of your book, post #12). Although the badge does not have any provenance, it was originally purchased from Steve Wolfe and certainly looks convincing to me. So - here it is for your perusal.Best,Erik
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