
Leo Webster
Senior Specialist
Sold for £9,375 inc. premium
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Commissioned by James Knotts, of the The Prince Line Ltd., which had formed in the late 19th century, cargo ship S.S. Indian Prince, was first launched in 1910.
It was sadly captured however only four years later on 4th September 1914 by German auxiliary cruiser Kronprinz Wilhelm, 210 miles E by N of Pernambuco on voyage from Bahia to New York with a cargo of coffee.
The Kronprintz Wilhelm was successful in the capture of numerous ships throughout the duration of the First World War. In most cases simply ordering ships to stop, forcing them to surrender, when faced with a ship superior in size and speed or barely armed for combat, before sending a boarding party over to the captured ship.
As in the case of the S.S. Indian Prince, over the period of a few days, the cargo was looted and transferred to the German vessel, along with the crew. Bombs were then laid, sinking the Indian Prince by scuttling on the 9th September 2014.