Beware Raiders

Beware Raiders! is the story of two very different German surface raiders and the havoc they caused amongst Allied shipping in the Second World War. One was the 8-inch gun cruiser Admiral Hipper, fast, powerful and Navy-manned; the other a converted merchantman, Hansa Line's Kandelfels armed with a few 5.9s, crewed largely by reservists, and sailing under the nom de guerre of Pinguin. Contrary to all expectations, the amateur man-of-war reaped a rich harvest and went out in a blaze of glory. Her purpose-built sister, on the other hand, was hard-pressed to make her mark on the war and ended her days in ignominy.