MS Rangitane was a passenger liner owned by the New Zealand Shipping Company. She was one of three sister ships (the other sisters were and ) delivered to the company in 1929 for the All-Red Route between Britain and New Zealand. Rangitane was built by John Brown & Company and launched on 27 May 1929. The three ships each measured about 16,700 gross register tons, registered length and beam. They could carry nearly 600 passengers in 1st, 2nd and 3rd classes, 200 crew members, and substantial cargo. They had Brown-Sulzer diesel engines with a total output of , turning twin propellers. In wartime, they carried only defensive armament. On her final voyage Rangitane was armed with a 4.7-inch gun and 40 rounds of ammunition. Sinking On her final voyage, which had been delayed by labour disputes, she carried 14,000 tons of cargo, including foodstuffs and silver bullion, valued at over £2 million at 1940 prices. She carried 111 passengers, including CORB nurses, Polish sailors, servicemen and Radar technicians. The captain was Lionel Upton, a naval reservist who had been awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his "services in action with enemy submarines" in his command of auxiliary boats based at Scapa Flow in World War I. Rangitane left Auckland harbour in the early afternoon of Sunday 24 November 1940, en route to Britain via the Panama Canal. She was intercepted early on the morning of 27 November 300 miles east of New Zealand by the German surface raiders and and their support ship . Another ship, SS Holmwood, had been stopped and sunk by the German raiders on 24 November, but warning of the danger had not been passed on to Rangitane. This was later held to have been a factor in her sinking. The Germans signalled Rangitane to stop and not to transmit anything. Following standard Admiralty instructions, however, Captain Upton ordered "QQQ" ('suspicious vessel') to be broadcast, which prompted signals jamming and shelling by the Germans. The main transmitter was quickly disabled and the emergency set was used to send "RRR" ('raider attack'), which was received and relayed. There followed a brief period of confusion. One German raider, suffering steering problems, sailed directly at Rangitane, which in turn, with steering damaged by the shelling, also steered directly at a German ship before circling. The helmsman reported loss of steering. The interception had been made in the dark and