HMS Rawalpindi
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| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Launched: | 22 August 1925 at Harland and Wolff Greenock, Yard No 661 at the River Clyde, Scotland |
| Requisitioned: | 24 August 1939 |
| Commissioned: | 1 October 1939 |
| Fate: | Sunk 23 November 1939, Iceland Gap |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 16,697 tons |
| Length: | (167 m) |
| Beam: | (21 m) |
| Draught: | (9 m) |
| Speed: | 15 knots (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 276 |
| Armament: | 8 × 6 in 2 × 3 in (Anti-Aircraft) |
HMS Rawalpindi was a British Armed Merchant Cruiser (a converted passenger ship) that was sunk during the Second World War.
She started life as the 16,697 registered tons P. & O. Steam Navigation Co Ltd ocean liner SS Rawalpindi out of London. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty on 26 August 1939 and converted to an armed merchant cruiser by the addition of eight six-inch (152 mm) guns and two 3-inch (76 mm) guns and set to work from October in the Northern Patrol covering the area around Iceland.
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[edit] Sinking
While patrolling north of the Faroe Islands on November 23, 1939, she investigated a possible enemy sighting, only to find that she had encountered two of the most powerful German warships, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau trying to break out through the GIUK gap into the Atlantic. The Rawalpindi was able to signal the German ships' location back to base. Despite being hopelessly outgunned, Captain EC Kennedy of the Rawalpindi decided to fight, rather than surrender as demanded by the Germans. The German warships returned fire and sank Rawalpindi within forty minutes.
Two hundred and thirty eight men died, including Captain Kennedy. Thirty seven men were rescued by the German ships and a further 11 were picked up by HMS Chitral (another converted passenger ship). Captain Kennedy, the father of broadcaster and author Ludovic Kennedy, was posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches.
Thanks to the actions of the Rawalpindi the German attempt to break out into the Atlantic was foiled. The Scharnhorst and Gneisenau were forced to return to base in order to avoid interception by the British Home Fleet.
[edit] Sister ships
Rawalpindi was one of the P&O 'R' class liners from 1925 that had the much of their interiors designed by Lord Inchcape's daughter Elsie Mackay[1]. Her sister ships SS Ranchi, SS Ranpura and SS Rajputana were also converted to an armed merchant cruisers. HMS Rajputana was torpedoed by U-108 in the Denmark Strait and sunk on 13 April 1941.
