SMS Gneisenau (1879)
The crew attempted to drop the starboard anchor, but it did not catch in the stony ground. "Gneisenau" was driven into the mole repeatedly, striking it with her stern twice before being turned and pushed bow-first on the starboard side, forcing her aground. A merchant ship attempted to come to the crew's aid, but they were unable to connect a line between the two ships before "Gneisenau" began to list 35 degrees. A boat from shore also attempted to rescue the crew, but it too was forced ashore in the heavy seas. Wave action quickly smashed "Gneisenau"s hull against the mole, and part of her crew attempted to find safety by climbing the rigging. The ship rolled over onto her side, and the surviving crewmen reached shore with a line. Forty-one men were killed in the accident, including Kretschmann and the ship's first officer. "Charlotte" and the British ironclad were sent to aid the wounded. Those killed in the sinking were buried in Málaga's cemetery, and the survivors returned to Germany aboard the HAPAG steamship on 2 January 1901.
German cruiser Admiral Hipper
Ten minutes later, "Berwick" reappeared off "Admiral Hipper"s port bow; the German cruiser fired several salvos from her forward turrets and scored hits on the British cruiser's rear turrets, waterline, and forward superstructure. "Admiral Hipper" then disengaged, to prevent the British destroyers from closing to launch a torpedo attack. By now, the ship was running low on fuel, and so she put into Brest in occupied France on 27 December. While en route, "Admiral Hipper" encountered and sank the isolated cargo ship "Jumna". Another round of routine maintenance work was effected while the ship was in Brest, readying her for another sortie into the Atlantic shipping lanes.
On 1 February 1941, "Admiral Hipper" embarked on her second Atlantic sortie. The "Kriegsmarine" had initially sought to send the battleships "Scharnhorst" and "Gneisenau" to operate in concert with "Admiral Hipper", but "Gneisenau" suffered storm damage in December that prevented the participation of the two ships. Repairs were effected quickly, however, and the two battleships broke out into the Atlantic in early February. "Admiral Hipper" rendezvoused with a tanker off the Azores to top up her fuel tanks. On 11 February, the ship encountered and sank an isolated transport from convoy HG 53, which had been dispersed by U-boat and Luftwaffe attacks. That evening, she picked up the unescorted convoy SLS 64, which contained nineteen merchant ships. The following morning, "Admiral Hipper" closed in and sank several of the ships. The British reported only seven ships were lost, totaling , along with damage to two more. The Germans claimed "Admiral Hipper" had sunk thirteen of the nineteen freighters, while some survivors reported fourteen ships of the convoy were sunk.