The City of London was a small cargo steamer of 351 tons built in England in 1891. After several owners, and surviving the Great War she, by 1940, was owned by a German firm and had been renamed Axel. On January 10, 1940 the small steamer was in Kiel Bay when she was in collision with another ship, Axel was so badly damaged she sank. The other ship, the Führer's yacht Grille, remained afloat and was taken to drydock and repaired. Hitler was not on board at the time of the collision and to the best of my knowledge he never returned to the ship after the launch of Prinz Eugen in Aug. of 1938. She was used as a minelayer and headquarters ship for the remainder of the war.