1940, Monday 11 November;
Captain Bernhard Rogge of Atlantis, stood on the bridge and watched the merchantman settle down in the water after the scuttling charges blew. The superstructure of the ship displayed the effects of the close-range shelling, the bridge was a mess, indeed the whole ship had been well worked over above the waterline, but the hull had remained reasonably seaworthy. As she began to sink, so the stern rose slightly, clearly showing her name Automedon.
Automedon had left Liverpool on the 25th September 1940, in convoy SL 42, 25 merchant ships and 5 escorts, and was bound for Penang, Singapore, Hong Kong and Shanghai. After 4 days, close to the edge of the Western Approaches, the escorts departed, the Royal Navy so short of escorts, and a day later, just over 1,000 miles west of Liverpool, the convoy dispersed, in part because the U-boat threat wasn’t as great this far out, in part because most of the ships would reach their destinations quicker, not having to sail at the speed of the slowest, in part that the receiving ports weren’t suddenly swamped with ships to unload, making them more efficient as well, and lastly, with everything else borne in mind, each individual ship wasn’t of particularly high value, and could be risked, compared to a troop ship which was always escorted.
She was midway between Ceylon and the Nicobar Islands, heading for the Malacca Straits and Penang, making a steady 14 knots, 79 days at sea. Captain W B Ewan was at peace with the world, that was until he was called to the bridge, merchant ship in sight. It wasn’t unusual to see another ship out here, but being on a similar course left him feeling uneasy.
For Rogge, catching Automedon had been a classic interception, he had closed on the merchantman with a converging course placing himself ahead, then slowing, allowing Automedon to close, until with less than 5000 yards between them he had the ensign run up, and a warning shot fired across the bows. Almost immediately the British wireless began calling out the distress call (RRR – Automedon – 0416N) before he ordered the salvos that took away the radio mast and left the message incomplete, while killing all the officers on the bridge, including Ewan.
The boarding party had found a ship crammed with crated aircraft, motor vehicles and machinery, of value to the allied cause, but of little use for Rogge. They had taken the frozen meat, tinned food, and some cases of scotch, which the crew would appreciate. But what really please Rogge was the 15 bags of top-secret mail for Singapore and a small green bag marked "Highly Confidential" and equipped with holes to allow it to sink if it had to be thrown overboard. He would take some time perusing through that.
With his 13th victim sunk, it was time to set a westerly course back into the Indian Ocean, away from the shipping lane they were in and make the rendezvous with his recently acquired prize vessel Ole Jacob.