Armed merchantmen

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Armed Merchantmen were merchant ships taken over by their nation's navies, equipped with guns, and then used for military purposes.

These were used in both World Wars by both Germany and the United Kingdom. Whilst the British used armed passenger liners for protecting their shipping, the German approach was to use them to attack enemy shipping.

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[edit] Armed merchant cruisers

The Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC) of the British Navy were employed for convoy protection against enemy warships. They were found to be of limited usefulness because they lacked the armour and ranging systems of a warship, and many were converted into troopships.

One famous AMC of World War I was the British RMS Carmania which, after a heated battle which caused heavy damage on both sides, succeeding in sinking the German auxiliary cruiser Cap Trafalgar near the Brazilian island of Trinidade in 1914.[1]

[edit] Auxiliary cruiser

The German practice was to arm merchantmen with hidden weapons and use them as commerce raiders. An auxiliary cruiser - Hilfskreuzer or Handels-Stör-Kreuzer (HSK) - usually approached her target under a false flag with guns concealed, and sometimes with her appearance altered with fake funnels and masts and often a fake paint job. The victim was thus engaged at point-blank range and had no chance to escape. In the First World War, the Imperial German Navy initially used fast passenger ships (such as past holders of the Blue Riband for fastest North Atlantic crossings), but they made obvious and easy targets because of their very familiar silhouettes. The Germans therefore soon moved on to using captured and refitted Allied vessels, but principally only modified transport ships. These were slower but less recognizable. In both world wars, these ships were found to be vulnerable to attack, and were withdrawn before the war ended. Many were sunk after being caught by regular warships - an unequal battle since auxiliary cruisers had poor fire control and no armor. There were, however, a few success stories. The Kaiser Wilhelm der Große was a former passenger liner that sank two freighters in 1914 before being caught by HMS Highflyer. Her sister ship, the Kronprinz Wilhelm, had a legendary journey, sinking or capturing a total of 15 ships in 1914 and 1915, before finally running out of supplies and having to put into port in Virginia, where she was interned by the Americans and eventually converted into a US Navy troop transport (as the renamed USS Von Steuben). The most famous German commerce raider of WWI probably was SMS Seeadler, a sailing ship commanded by the legendary Count Luckner.

The concept was revived in the Second World War. In one incident, the German Kormoran (ex-merchantman Steiermark) managed to surprise and sink the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney, which approached too close, though the Kormoran herself was also sunk in the engagement. In most cases auxiliary cruiser raiders tried to avoid detection.

In World War II, the German Navy operated ten very successful auxiliary cruisers which ranged in tonnage from 3,860 - 9,400; typically these vessels were equipped with:

  • Floatplanes
  • 15 cm guns
  • Smaller armaments (typically hidden away behind especially designed and hinged bulwarks, or beneath fake deckhouses and/or skylights)
  • Torpedoes
  • Mines

To preserve their cover, these ships flew the flags of neutral nations or occasionally Allied nations' flags. They were re-fuelled and provisioned by special supply ships and from Japanese island bases, or they simply reprovisioned themselves from prizes they had taken.

To counter the effectiveness of these disguises the Allies introduced the check-mate system in 1942 to identify individual ships on a one-by-one basis with the Admiralty in London.

During World War II German auxiliary cruisers are believed to have either sunk or captured some 800,000 tons of Allied shipping.

Compare to the Q-ship, which was a disguised merchantman for anti-submarine operations.

[edit] Others

The CAM Ship (from catapult armed merchantman) was a British merchantman fitted with a catapult that could launch, but not recover, a single fighter aircraft.

The Merchant aircraft carrier or MAC was a British or Dutch cargo ship with a flight deck that could carry a small number of aircraft.

CAM and MAC ships remained as civilian ships operated by civilian crews, with Fleet Air Arm or Royal Netherlands Navy "air parties".

[edit] Ship lists

[edit] American auxiliary cruisers of the Spanish-American War

[edit] Japanese merchant cruisers of the Russo-Japanese War

  • America Maru
  • Bingo Maru
  • Hong Kong Maru
  • Kasuga Maru
  • Kumano Maru
  • Nikkō Maru
  • Nippon Maru
  • Saikyo Maru
  • Shinano Maru
  • Taichu Maru
  • Tainan Maru
  • Yobo (ex-Yobo Maru)

[edit] Russian merchant cruisers of the Russo-Japanese War (incomplete)

  • Zabiaka
  • Lena
  • Ural

[edit] Allied merchant cruisers of World War I (incomplete)

Royal Navy

French Navy

  • Artois (ex-Royal Navy Digby)
  • Champagne (ex-Royal Navy Oropesa, lost on 9 October 1917)

[edit] German auxiliary cruisers of World War I

[edit] Allied merchant cruisers of World War II

The Armed merchant cruisers were made by requisitioning whatever ships seemed useful and then providing them with guns and other equipment. They ranged from 6,000 tons to 22,000 tons. The armament varied but six 6-inch guns with 3-inch guns as secondary was usual. From 1941 many served as troopships.

Royal Australian Navy

  • Manoora
  • Westralia

Royal New Zealand Navy

  • Monowai

Royal Canadian Navy

Royal Navy

[edit] German auxiliary cruiser raiders of World War II

At the outbreak of war, the German Admiralty requisitioned a number of fast merchantmen and immediately sent them into naval shipyards. These ships had been built with extra strong decks to facilitate the installation of military equipment, but this was the only difference between them and other merchantmen of the period. Indeed, no precise plans had been drawn up for the conversion of these ships into warships, and consequently the conversion process was painfully long. Compared to the diversity of British auxiliary cruisers, the Hilfskreuzer were standardized in so far as possible. The ships themselves averaged approximately 7,000 tons. Armament usually consisted of six 15cm (5.9") guns, between two and six torpedo tubes, and an assortment of 40mm, 37mm, and 20 mm automatic weapons. Most raiders carried an Arado Ar-196 seaplane for reconnaissance. Kormoran, Komet, and Michel were also equipped with small motor torpedo boats. In addition to armament, increased fuel, water, and coal storage had to be provided for as well. Furthermore, the raiders could not abandon the crews of their captures, so space had to be provided for prisoners. The first Hilfskreuzer got under way in March 1940, shortly before the Norwegian campaign.

[edit] Japanese armed merchant cruisers of World War II

  • Aikoku Maru
  • Akagi Maru
  • Asaka Maru
  • Awata Maru
  • Bangkok Maru
  • Gokoku Maru
  • Hokoku Maru
  • Kinryu Maru
  • Kiyozumi Maru
  • Kongo Maru
  • Noshiro Maru
  • Saigon Maru
  • Ukishima Maru

[edit] See also

[edit] References

[edit] External links

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