The raider KMS <>Michel, also known as Schiff (Ship) 28, was the eighth to leave Germany. Michel was originally the Polish freighter Bielsko, built in 1939 by Danziger Werft and seized in Danzig. Captain Hellmuth von Ruckteschell, bent on striving to sink 200,000 tons of shipping, took Michel out of Kiel on 9 March 1942 for the 358-day long first cruise.
Michel, named after the protector of the Jewish nation, fought her way through the English Channel. On 19 April, Michel sank her first ship; four days later her second. On May Day, Ruckteschell gave chase to and fired on SS Menelaus, which somehow evaded the Germans, thus becoming the only ship to escape from a German raider's attack. Ruckteschell was embarrassed; Menelaus reported the raider as Italian since it blundered so badly. He revised his tactics and attacked at night, using his motor launch Esau (also named by Ruckteschell) to torpedo the victim sometimes. The tactics paid off and Michel wrecked havoc of Allied shipping, sinking 11 ships in five months in the South Atlantic.
Afterwards Michel moved to the Indian Ocean, leaving the South Atlantic to a planned and very successful U-boat operation. Michel sank two ships there, then returned to the Atlantic to get ready for home, meanwhile the crew celebrated Christmas and the addition of the oak leaves to Ruckteschell's Knight's Cross. The prospect of reaching France, however, was becoming very slim, and Michel was ordered to Japan, to the disappointment of the crew and prisoners. Michel docked outside Tandjoengpriok in Malaysia, where the Japanese welcomed the Germans with movies and a tour. The prisoners were turned over to the Japanese in Singapore. On 2 March 1943, Michel arrived at Kobe, ending her first cruise.
Michel's second cruise started on 1 May with the late KMS Thor's captain Günther Gumprich. Ruckteschell had relinquished command; the enormous strain of his two cruises had taken their toll. Michel left Yokohoma and steamed southward into the Indian Ocean west of Australia, where two ships were sunk in three days. Then Gumprich plunged into the Pacific for three months of inactivity. The new captain was better liked by the crew than Ruckteschell, but the latter's dour character made Gumprich look less efficient.
On Sunday 29 August, Michel crossed the Date Line, important because that made two Sundays in a row. The dull cruise was only broken by a suspected sighting of a cruiser and a time when Michel ran right into a convoy at night. Gumprich sank his last victim on 11 September near Easter Island before heading back toward Japan' there were no blockade runners to resupply the raider. On the morning of 17 October, Michel was torpedoed at least three times by the submarine USS Tarpon within 100 miles of Honshu. Gumprich and many crewmen went down with the ship. Japanese authority, despite pleas from Berlin, was either unwilling or unable to search vigorously for survivors. About 110 men made it to land, but another 100 or so stranded men perished when the Japanese failed to locate them.

Click on one of the thumbnails below to view the full picture.
	Technical data and/or diagram of KMS Michel.
	An overview of the tactics used by the raiders that led to their enormous success.
	A map showing Michel's first journey.
	A map showing Michel's second journey.
	Hellmuth von Ruckteschell (right), captain of Widder and Michel, with his navigator, Ludwig Rödel.
	In this photograph the auxiliary cruiser Michel presents, so to speak, her "visiting card", a phrase originating in her commander's log. She does not appear in any way unusual, hundreds of auxiliary vessels carrying light anti-aircraft armament and extra deckhouses to accommodate their gun-crews.
	Michel's lookouts on main mast.
	Another view of Michel.
	Michel's motor launch Esau being lowered.
	USS Tarpon.

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