Renown and Force K hunt German commerce traffic

Force K combined Renown, Ark Royal, Neptune, and destroyer escorts in the hunt for German raiders and blockade runners. The destroyers had to detach for shorter patrols because their endurance limited their ability to accompany the larger ships. The force reached Madagascar after Admiral Graf Spee had already returned to the South Atlantic. Merchant reporting nevertheless helped Neptune intercept Adolf Woermann, whose crew scuttled her before capture. Sussex recovered survivors from Watussi, and Renown finished sinking the burning ship. Bad visibility and heavy seas also prevented Ark Royal from flying aircraft during part of the patrol. Peter C. Smith's history of Renown supplies the account, although its limited coverage of the 1920s and 1930s leaves the battlecruiser's peacetime work less fully explored.