Thomas McKenzie Angus

On 4 April 1941 HMS Voltaire British auxiliary cruiser (A/Capt. James Alexander Pollard Blackburn, DSC, (retired), RN) was on isolated patrol in the central Atlantic, about 900 nautical miles west of the Cape Verde Islands: at 0615 hrs she was spotted by the lookouts of the German raider Thor and the ships headed for each other.

At 0645 hrs the opponents opened fire and by 0649 hrs Voltaire was ablaze, by 0715 hrs only 2 guns remained in action and by 0800 hrs she hoisted a white flag, sinking shortly afterwards by the stern with a heavy port list in position 14º30'N, 40º30'W. 75 dead and 197 survivors rescued by the Germans. In the action, Thor expended 724 rounds of 15cm.

Discrepancy in the date of the action and of death may indicate Thomas died of injuries on Thor and was buried at sea.

Thor began its first combat cruise on 6 June 1940, under the command of Captain Otto Kähler. Thor spent 329 days at sea, and sank or captured 12 ships with a combined tonnage of 96,547 gross register tons (GRT).

Thor set out on her second cruise on 30 November 1941 under the command of Captain Günther Gumprich. Thor sank or captured 10 ships, a total of 58,644 tons, during 328 days of operation.

Thor reached Yokohama on 9 October 1942 where she began refitting for a third voyage. However, on 30 November a series of explosions on the supply ship Uckermark destroyed her superstructure, sending a large amount of burning debris onto Thor, which was moored alongside. Both ships were rapidly set ablaze, along with Nankin/Leuthen and the Japanese freighter Unkai Maru. All four ships were destroyed in the fire, and 12 of Thor's crew were killed.