False Flags

False Flags tells the epicuntold story of German raider voyages to the South Seas during the early yearsof World War II. In 1940 the raiders Orion, Komet, Pinguinand Kormoran left Germany and waged a ‘pirate war’ in the South Seas — partof Germany’s strategy to attack the British Empire’s maritime trade on a globalscale. Their extraordinary voyages spanned the globe and are maritime sagas inthe finest tradition of seafaring. The four raiders voyaged across theAtlantic, Pacific and Indian oceans as well as the Arctic and Antarctic. Theysank or captured 62 ships in a forgotten naval war that is now being told inits entirety for the first time. The Orion and Komet terrorisedthe South Pacific and New Zealand waters before Pearl Harbor when the war wassupposed to be far away. The Pinguin sank numerous Allied merchant shipsin the Indian Ocean before mining the approaches to Australian ports andcapturing the Norwegian whaling fleet in Antarctica. The Kormoran raidedthe Atlantic but will always be remembered for sinking the Australian cruiser Sydneyoff Western Australia, killing all 645 sailors on board in tragiccircumstances. False Flags is alsothe story of the Allied sailors who encountered these raiders and foughtsuicidal battles against a superior foe as well as the men, women and childrenwho endured captivity on board the raiders as prisoners of the Third Reich.