A surprise attack, a ship sunk, a crew captured - a veteran of the British Merchant Navy remembers his encounter with a German commerce raider in the South Atlantic in May 1940. At the time, Captain Graeme Cubbin was just a 16-year-old cadet on the British merchant ship, SS Scientist when it became the first victim of the German commerce raider, the Atlantis. The crew of the Scientist spent nine months as prisoners on the German raider, as it wreaked havoc on Allied shipping in the South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean. Capt. Cubbin spoke to Alex Last about his memories of the attack and the sacrifices made by the Merchant Navy in World War Two.

Photo: The Atlantis, a German commerce raider, which operated in the South Atlantic and Indian Ocean for almost two years. (UK Govt)