Short answer: The German steamer Rhakotis was interned at Callao, Peru, in 1914; her German crew remained aboard or interned locally while the ship stayed under internment until later taken over or repurposed during and after the war.

Background and timeline

  • In late 1914 Rhakotis — a German merchant vessel active at the outbreak of World War I — put into Callao, Peru, and was interned by Peruvian authorities rather than being allowed to sail because of wartime restrictions.
  • Contemporary press reports noted the Rhakotis had on board survivors from other ships (for example, men rescued after sinkings at sea) and that her status in Callao drew attention from regional newspapers.

What happened to the crew

  • While the ship was interned in Peru, the German crew were effectively prevented from leaving to resume merchant sailings; many German merchant crews in South American ports at that time either stayed aboard the interned ships, were held under local restrictions, or were placed under supervision by the local authorities.
  • Press reporting from the period specifically mentions the vessel and its complement in port, implying the crew remained with the ship or under local internment rather than being repatriated immediately.

Later disposition of the ship (short summary)

  • Sources state Rhakotis briefly operated as a clandestine supply vessel for German naval forces early in the war, then was interned in Peru; later in the conflict she was taken into allied or local service (the ship’s later history includes name changes and use by other governments in the war/post-war years).

Illustrative example (how similar cases ran)

  • Other German merchant ships that were interned in South American ports in 1914–18 commonly stayed under local control for the war’s duration; crews were either kept on board, interned on land, or eventually repatriated after hostilities or by exchange agreements.

Sources

  • Summary accounts of Rhakotis’s wartime activity and internment appear in ship histories and encyclopedic entries.
  • Contemporary newspaper dispatches from late 1914 discuss Rhakotis in Callao and mention rescued seafarers and crew details.
  • Regional press lists and archival compilations record German steamers interned in Chilean and Peruvian ports in 1914.

Would you like a deeper timeline (dates of internment, later ownership/name changes, and primary-source newspaper excerpts) or a short table showing Rhakotis’s status and known crew outcomes during 1914–1918?