Automedon:

[Administrator]

Passenger cargo ship Automedon, 7,528grt, (A. Holt & Co.) loaded with a general cargo including vehicles, aircraft, machinery and medicines for the Far East had sailed independently from Durban on the 29th October 1940. On the 11th November off Sumatra an unidentified ship was sighted ahead of the Automedon heading towards them. Believing the ship to be of Dutch origin the two ships continued on course, but when the two ships were less than 5000 yards apart, the unknown ship suddenly dropped her disguise to reveal her true identity, as that of the German commerce raider Atlantis and fired a devastating salvo at the Automedon destroying the bridge and midsection killing six of her crewmembers including the Master. The remaining crewmembers were taken onboard as prisoners and later transferred to the Norwegian tanker Storstad, which had earlier been captured and taken as a war prize and landed in occupied France. A number of captured Merchant Seamen including one member of the Automedon’s crew managed to escape from a train while being transported to Germany and made it to neutral Spain. The remainder of her crew were eventually interned Milag Nord for the duration of the war. Share

The last known survivor of the sinking of the Automedon Alex Parsons passed away on Monday 26th of August 2013 at the age of 91.

The ship that doomed a colony:

LINK

Featured thanks to Billy McGee.