Nov. 30, 1940 the refrigerated cargo ship Port Wellington was captured by the German raider Pinguin in the
southern Indian Ocean. Port Wellington was sighted by the Storstadt, a captured tanker escorting Pinguin and carrying several hundred prisoners from ships captured earlier. The two ships parted company as the captain of Pinguin could not positively identify the ship on the horizon. Nine days before he had captured and sunk the Port Brisbane, a sister to Port Wellington, but the capture did not go smoothly for the raider.

After trailing the Port Brisbane for some time Pinguin came out of the dark and aimed her powerful searchlights at the ship. While they were not aware that they were being followed, they knew the possibility existed. The day before they had been on high alert after hearing a distress call from the SS Maimoa who was under attack by the Pinguin. After doubling the watch and changing course the day went by and no ships were seen. Around 21:00 the extra men on watch were removed and the captain retired for the night.

A little after 22:00 Pinguin arrived, while startled, the crew nevertheless was prepared to fight. Pinguin signaled to stop not to send a distress call, however that was just what the captain ordered. The signal was repeated by another nearby ship to the surprise of the captain of the Pinguin. The distress signals from the Port Brisbane stopped after a few well placed shells wrecked the radio room. It was clear to all they were no match for the raider and the captain threw his papers overboard and prepared to abandon his ship.

Pinguin picked up two of the lifeboats, but the third managed to escape into the darkness, they were picked up the next day by HMAS Canberra. The tons of food in the holds of Port Brisbane was lost to Pinguin because the captain was not sure of the identity of the second ship and he was sure the signal was picked up by others. They scuttled the Port Brisbane and left the area.

When the Port Wellington was sighted the captain of the Pinguin kept his distance until a positive identification could be made, he had no idea if the ship was of a neutral nation. When darkness fell and the ship's lights were not turned on, he knew he had a target. He would not allow the ship to send a distress signal like the Port Brisbane, so when he approached he opened fire without warning, the shells killed the radio officer and wounded the captain, sadly he died a few days later of his injuries.

All eighty-eight survivors, including the captain and seven female passengers, took to the lifeboats and were picked up by Pinguin. Once again there was not enough time to remove the cargo of frozen meat and cheese before the ship was scuttled. Within a few days the Storstadt rendezvoused with Pinguin and removed the prisoners, then made her way to France arriving on Feb. 4.

Pinguin was sunk on May 8, 1941 by the cruiser HMS Cornwall, tragically over 200 prisoners were killed when Pinguin's mines exploded.