In December 1940 some 500 captured allied seamen, including the author, were transferred from a German commerce raider to an ex-Norwegian tanker under the command of a German prize crew, with the original crew still aboard. The ship was in the Southern Indian Ocean—in about S. 32°, E. 70°—just cruising about aimlessly; apparently awaiting orders to proceed. The captured Chinese and Indian ratings were accommodated aft somewhere, the shipmasters and passengers were housed amidships; and the rest were forward.

This vessel was very effective for the purpose to which it was being put as it was easy to position machine guns to cover all ways of approaching the midship house; in particular the fore part of the bridge was a solid wall right up from the foredeck to the high dodgers. Nothing could be seen of those on watch and no bells were struck, so that the officer prisoners were denied the sight of anything which might help them to guess what was happening, and any sound to give them an idea of the passage of ship's time.