Action between Thor and Carnarvon Castle

5 December 1940, South Atlantic, off southern Brazil

German success; Carnarvon Castle damaged and driven off

On 5 December 1940 the armed merchant cruiser Carnarvon Castle met the raider Thor off Brazil. They fought a running gun duel for about an hour at seven to eight thousand yards, both firing torpedoes that missed. Thor's guns hit the liner eight times, killing six men and wounding 32, and some of her own guns jammed from overheating, but she was not hit. Carnarvon Castle broke off and went into Montevideo for repairs, where, it was said, steel from the wreck of Graf Spee was used to patch her.