Armed merchantman' is a term that has come to mean a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. The most famous of this type were the East Indiamen able to defeat regular warships in battle (see Battle of Pulo Aura). In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany.
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East Indiamen of various European countries were heavily armed for their long journeys to the Far East. In particularly dangerous times, such as when the home countries were at war, a convoy system would be used whereby the ships were escorted by a warship. However, many East Indiamen also travelled on their own, and therefore were armed to the same standard as a ship of the line in order to defend themselves against pirates and privateers.
These were used in both World Wars by both Germany and the United Kingdom. Whilst the British used armed passenger liners defensively for protecting their shipping, the German approach was to use them offensively to attack enemy shipping.
The Armed Merchant Cruisers (AMC) of the British Royal Navy were employed for convoy protection against enemy warships. They had limited value because they lacked warship armour and used local control of guns rather than director fire-control systems. Many were later converted into troopships.
One famous AMC of World War I was the British RMS Carmania which, after a heated battle that caused heavy damage on both sides, succeeded in sinking the German auxiliary cruiser SMS Cap Trafalgar near the Brazilian island of Trinidade in 1914.[2] By coincidence, HMS Carmania was disguised as SMS Cap Trafalgar while Cap Trafalgar was disguised as Carmania.
In World War II, HMS Jervis Bay—the sole escort for convoy HX 84—stood off the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer, when the German ship attacked the convoy. Though she was sunk, this enabled the convoy to escape. Her master, Acting Captain Edward Fegen was awarded the Victoria Cross (posthumous) for his actions. Another famous action involving an armed merchant cruiser was the battle between HMS Rawalpindi and the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Fighting against hopeless odds, the Rawalpindi was quickly sunk.
Several auxiliary cruisers were used by both the Spanish and United States Navy during the Spanish-American War of 1898. Again during World War I, American auxiliary cruisers fought several engagements with German U-boats.
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 World War I, 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 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. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a former passenger liner that sank two freighters in 1914 before being caught by HMS Highflyer. Her sister ship, 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 United States Navy troop transport (as the renamed USS Von Steuben). The most famous German commerce raider of World War I probably was Seeadler, a sailing ship commanded by the legendary Count Felix von Luckner. However, both Wolf and Möwe were each much more successful than Seeadler.
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:
To preserve their cover, these ships flew the flags of neutral or occasionally Allied nations. They were re-fuelled and provisioned by special supply ships and from Japanese island bases, or they simply re-provisioned 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.
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 Kormoran herself was also sunk in the engagement. This was the only occasion in history when an armed merchantman managed to sink a modern warship; in most cases, auxiliary cruiser raiders tried to avoid confrontation with warships. It should be noted that Kormoran's attack upon Sydney was motivated by desperation. However, she was not the most successful German raider of World War II (both Atlantis and Pinguin scored higher kill tonnages). Another, Stier, was also sunk in a mutually destructive engagement with the American Liberty Ship SS Stephen Hopkins.
The only encounters between Allied and Axis auxiliary cruisers in World War II were all with the raider Thor. This small vessel, which captured or sank 22 merchantmen, encountered three British AMCs in her career, defeating HMS Alcantara and HMS Carnarvon Castle and later sinking HMS Voltaire.
During World War II, German auxiliary cruisers are believed to have either sunk or captured some 800,000 long tons (810,000 t) of Allied shipping.
Compare to the Q-ship, which was a disguised merchantman for anti-submarine operations.
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".
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Badger | (ex-Yumuri) |
| Buffalo | (ex-El Cid) |
| Dixie | (ex-El Rio) |
| Harvard | (ex-New York, ex-City of New York) |
| Panther | (ex-Austin) |
| Peoria | |
| Prairie | (ex-El Sol) |
| Resolute | (ex-Yorktown) |
| St. Louis | |
| Saint Paul | |
| Yale | (ex-Paris) |
| Yankee | (ex-El Norte) |
| Yosemite | (ex-El Sud) |
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| America Maru | |
| Bingo Maru | |
| Hong Kong Maru | |
| Kasuga Maru | |
| Kumano Maru | |
| Nikko Maru | |
| Nippon Maru | |
| Saikyo Maru | |
| Shinano Maru | |
| Taichu Maru | |
| Tainan Maru | |
| Yobo | (ex-Yobo Maru) |
Note: This listing is incomplete.
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Zabiaka | |
| Lena | |
| Ural |
| Name | Notes |
|---|---|
| Alcantara | Lost on 29 February 1916. |
| Almanzora | |
| Alsatian | Post war, Allan line was taken over by CP and SS Alsatian was named RMS Empress of France 4 April 1919. |
| Ambrose | Became depot ship October 1915.[3] |
| Andes | |
| Aquitania | |
| Arlanza | |
| Aramadale | |
| Avenger | Ex-Aotearoa, torpedoed and lost on 14 June 1917. |
| Avoca | |
| Bayano | Lost on 11 March 1915 off Carswell Point, Stranraer - sunk by U-27.[4] |
| Berrida | |
| Calgarian | Lost on 1 March 1918. |
| Calyx | Ex-Calypso, lost 10 July 1916.[3] |
| Candidate | Torpedoed 6 May 1915, sunk by U-20 |
| Caribbean | Became accommodation ship July 1915, foundered 26 September 1915.[3] |
| Carmania | |
| Caronia | |
| Cedric | |
| Celtic | |
| Centurion | Torpedoed 6 May 1915, sunk by U-20 |
| Changuinola | |
| City of London | |
| Clan MacNaughton | Lost on 3 February 1915. |
| Columbella | Ex-Columbia, Anchor Line. |
| Digby | Transferred to French Navy as Artois on 24 November 1915, renamed Digby July 1917. |
| Ebro | |
| Edinburgh Castle | |
| Empress of Asia | |
| Empress of Britain | |
| Empress of Japan | |
| Empress of Russia | Requisitioned 1914, released to civilian service October 1915, re-requisitioned 1918 until 1919. |
| Eskimo | Returned from Navy July 1915, Captured 26 July 1916.[3] |
| Gloucestershire | |
| Hilary | Lost on 25 May 1917, sunk by U-88. |
| Hildebrand | |
| Himalaya | |
| India | Lost on 8 August 1915. |
| Kildonan Castle | |
| Kinfauns Castle | |
| Laconia | Lost on 25 February 1817, sunk by U-50. |
| Laurentic | Lost on 23 January 1917. |
| Lusitania | Although on the list of the British Admiralty's AMCs, it never performed in this role, and remained in civilian use. Lost 7 May 1915, sunk by U-20. Sister ship of RMS Mauretania, also on this list. |
| Macedonia | |
| Mantua | |
| Marmora | Lost on 23 July 1918. |
| Mauretania | Sister ship of RMS Lusitania, also on this list. |
| Moldavia | Lost on 23 May 1918. |
| Montezuma | Lost on 25 July 1917, sunk by UC-41.[5] |
| Morea | |
| Motagua | |
| Mount Temple | Lost on 6 December 1916, sunk by Möwe. |
| Naldera | |
| Narkunda | |
| Oceanic | Lost on 8 September 1914, ran aground. RMS Oceanic was one of the rescue vessels that retrieved bodies from the sinking of the RMS Titanic in 1912. |
| Olympic | Sunk U-103 on 12 May 1918, the only known incident in World War I in which a merchant vessel sank an enemy warship. |
| Ophir | Converted to Hospital Ship in 1918. Returned to the owners in 1919 but never refitted, being broken up in 1922. |
| Orama | Lost on 19 October 1917. |
| Orbita | Also served in the Second World War as a troop carrier from 1941 to 1946. |
| Orcoma | |
| Orduna | |
| Oropesa | Transferred to France as Champagne on 2 December 1915. Renamed as Oropesa in July 1917. |
| Orotava | |
| Orvieto | |
| Osiris | |
| Otranto | Survived the Battle of Coronel, stranded on Islay after a collision with the steamship SS Kashmir on 6 October 1918. |
| Otway | Lost on 23 July 1917 torpedoed by German submarine UC 49. |
| Patia | Lost on 13 June 1918. |
| Patnea | |
| Patuca | |
| Princess | Ex-Kronprincess Cecilie; Acted as dummy battleship HMS Ajax.[6] |
| Scotia | |
| Teutonic | Commissioned into the 10th Cruiser Squadron. In 1916, she was refitted with 6-inch guns, and served as a convoy escort ship as well as being used for troop transport. |
| Victorian | |
| Viknor | Ex-RMS Atrato (1888–1912), RMS Viking (1912–1914). Lost on 13 January 1915 off Tory Island. |
| Virginian |
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Berrima | Became Troop Carrier, October 1914. |
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Artois | Ex-Royal Navy Digby. |
| Champagne | Ex-Royal Navy Oropesa, lost on 9 October 1917. |
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Ayesha | |
| Berlin | |
| Cap Trafalgar | Used the alias Carmania; Cap Trafalgar was sunk by RMS Carmania which used the alias Cap Trafalgar. |
| Geier | |
| Greif | |
| Iltis | |
| Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | |
| Königin Luise | |
| Kronprinz Wilhelm | |
| Leopard | |
| Meteor | |
| Möwe | |
| Prinz Eitel Friedrich | |
| Seeadler | |
| Seelöwe | |
| Vineta | |
| Wolf |
The Spanish Nationalist, whose navy was substantially outnumbered by the Republicans, made an extensive use of auxiliary cruisers during the Spanish civil war, two of them on loan from Italy:
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Mar Cantábrico | Formerly under Republican control, she was captured by the Nationalist cruiser Canarias on 8 March 1937 off Santander. Assisted by the minelayer Vulcano, she took the largest foreign prize of the war with the capture of the Greek steamer Victoria, of 6,600 long tons (6,700 t), on 16 May 1938.[7] |
| Mar Negro | Under Republican flag at the beginning of the war, her captain and crew changed loyalties off Bone, Algeria, while returning to Barcelona from the Soviet Union.[7] She seized the last cargo ship captured during the civil war, the British Stangate off Valencia on 16 March 1939, despite the opposition of HMS Sussex.[8][9] |
| Ciudad de Valencia | She used the alias Nadir for operations in the North Sea. She sank the Republican merchantman SS Cantabria off Cromer, Norfolk, on 2 November 1938.[10] The Republican steamers Josiña and Guernica were forced to seek shelter in Norwegian and Swedish waters, where the latter ran aground on 19 November at the island of Nidingen, in the Kattegat. Josiña reached Kristiansand, and she remained interned there until 1939.[11][12] |
| Ciudad de Alicante | She supported the Ciudad de Valencia in the North Sea, where she played a secondary role in the capture of the Republican steamers Sil and Río Miera. Ciudad de Alicante and Ciudad de Valencia used the German port of Linden as a resupply base.[11] |
| Ciudad de Palma | Converted to a warship in Italy in 1936. She assisted the minelayer Jupiter in the capture of the British cargo ship Candlestone Castle in Biscay on 17 July 1937. |
| Ciudad de Mahón | |
| Vicente Puchol | After an initial deployment as an improvised minelayer, she was later converted to an auxiliary cruiser. She seized the 1,743 ton freighter Pomaron on 21 February 1938. The ship was the property of Strubin & Co. of London, and was sailing under Estonian flag. She was confiscated and placed under Spanish flag as Castillo Butrón.[13] |
| Antonio Lázaro | After an initial deployment as an improvised minelayer, she was later converted to an auxiliary cruiser. The British liner Llandovery Castle was badly damaged when she struck a mine laid by Lázaro off Cap de Creus on 25 February 1937.[14] |
| Domine | Active as auxiliary cruiser in the bay of Biscay from September to December 1936. Converted into a fast transport to carry moor pilgrims to Mecca in January 1937, she was later deployed in the Mediterranean as supply ship.[15] |
| Mallorca | |
| Italian Barletta | Renamed Rio during operations in the Spanish war. She captured the Greek tanker Burlington (under British flag) in the central Mediterranean in 1937. Attacked in Palma de Mallorca by Republican bombers on 26 May 1937. After carrying out four missions, she was disarmed and used as supply ship by Nationalist forces before being returned to Italy. She saw service also during WWII under Italian flag. |
| Italian Adriatico | Renamed Lago during operations in the Spanish war. After three unsuccessful missions, she was disarmed and used as supply ship by Nationalist forces before being returned to Italy. She saw service also during WWII under Italian flag. Sunk by light cruiser HMS Aurora off Cape Bon on 1 December 1941. |
The Armed merchant cruisers were made by requisitioning large ships and providing them with guns and other equipment. They ranged from 6,000–22,000 long tons (6,100–22,000 t). The armament varied but six 6 in (150 mm) guns with 3 in (76 mm) guns as secondary was usual. From 1941, many served as troopships.
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Alaunia | |
| Alcantara | |
| Andania | Lost, 16 June 1940. |
| Antenor | |
| Antonia | |
| Arawa | |
| Ascania | |
| Asturias | |
| Aurania | |
| Ausonia | |
| Bulolo | |
| California | |
| Canton | |
| Carinthia | Lost, 6 June 1940, sunk by U-46 west of Ireland. |
| Carnarvon Castle | |
| Casanare | Sunk 3 November 1940 along with HMS Patroclus and HMS Laurentic, by U-99 |
| Carthage | |
| Cathay | |
| Cheshire | |
| Chitral | |
| Cilicia | |
| Circassia | |
| Comorin | Lost on 6 April 1941. Her burnt out wreck was sunk by Broke. |
| Corfu | |
| Derbyshire | |
| Duchess of Richmond | |
| Duchess of York | |
| Dunnottar Castle | |
| Dunvegan Castle | Lost on 27 August 1940, sunk by U-46 west of Ireland. |
| Empress of Asia | Lost on 5 February 1942. |
| Empress of Australia | |
| Empress of Britain | Lost on 28 October 1940. |
| Empress of Canada | |
| Empress of Japan | |
| Empress of Russia | |
| Empress of Scotland | |
| Esperance Bay | |
| Forfar | Lost on 2 December 1940. |
| Hector | Was decommissioned when lost on 5 April 1942 during the Japanese Indian Ocean raid. |
| Jervis Bay | Lost on 5 November 1940 in an engagement against German heavy cruiser Admiral Scheer. Her commander, Captain Fegen, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. |
| Kanimbla | |
| Laconia | |
| Laurentic | Lost on 3 November 1940, sunk by U-99 west of Ireland. |
| Letitia | |
| Maloja | |
| Montclare | |
| Mooltan | |
| Moreton Bay | |
| Patroclus | Lost on 4 November 1940, sunk by U-99 west of Ireland. |
| Pretoria Castle | Converted into an escort carrier as HMS Pretoria Castle. |
| Queen of Bermuda | |
| Rajputana | Lost on 13 April 1941, sunk by U-108 west of Ireland. |
| Ranchi | |
| Ranpura | |
| Rawalpindi | Lost on 23 November 1939, sunk by Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. Her commander, Captain Edward Coverley Kennedy, was posthumously Mentioned in Dispatches. |
| Salopian | Lost on 13 May 1941, sunk by U-98, North Atlantic. |
| Scotstoun | Lost on 13 June 1940, sunk by U-25 north-west of Ireland. |
| Transylvania | Lost on 10 August 1940, sunk by U-56 north-west of Malin Head. |
| Voltaire | Lost on 4 April 1941, sunk by German raider Thor. |
| Wolfe | |
| Worcestershire |
French auxiliary cruisers were armed with 138 mm, 152 mm or 150 mm guns, 75 mm and 37 mm AA guns and 13.2 mm or 8 mm AA HMG
At the outbreak of war, the German Navy (Kriegsmarine) requisitioned a number of fast merchantmen and immediately sent them into naval shipyards to be converted into offensive auxiliary cruisers. These ships had at the time of building been fitted with extra strong decks specifically to facilitate the installation of military equipment when required, but this was the only difference between them and other merchantmen of the period. 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 insofar as possible. The ships themselves averaged approximately 7,000 long tons (7,100 t). Armament usually consisted of six 6 in guns, two to six torpedo tubes, and an assortment of 40 mm (1.57 in), 37 mm, and 20 mm (0.79 in) automatic weapons. Most of these merchant raiders carried an Arado Ar 196 floatplane 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.
See also Japanese raiders in Indian Ocean Campaign and List of Japanese Auxiliary Cruiser Commerce Raiders.
Japan converted fourteen merchant ships to "armed merchant cruisers". But by the end of 1943, five had been sunk and seven had been converted back to merchant ships.
Unlike the Germans and the Japanese, none of the armed merchant cruisers (or auxiliary cruisers) of the Italian Royal Navy (Regia Marina) were deployed to destroy or capture Allied merchant ships. All of them mounted two 4.7 in (120 mm) guns.
Despite a rise in modern piracy, it is very unusual for modern merchant ships to be armed, save for maybe a number of small arms and the use of the ship's fire hoses to repel boarders. One exception to this are the ships of Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited,[16] which are used to transport spent nuclear fuel and reprocessed uranium on behalf of BNFL. Transporting enough fissile material between them to produce 50-60 nuclear weapons, these ships—beginning with the Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal—became armed in 1999 to avoid the cost of a Royal Navy escort.[17] Travelling together in convoy during these ships intermittent voyages, they have an onboard escort of armed police from the UKAEAC and its successors [18] and are equipped with two or three 30 mm (1.18 in) autocannons.[19]
In April 2010, it was reported that a Russian company is offering a version of the 3M-54 Klub missile that can be disguised and launched from a shipping container, in theory enabling any cargo ship to be armed with an anti-ship missile. This type of missile is allegedly capable of disabling or even sinking an aircraft carrier.[20]
During the Libyan Civil War, forces loyal to Qaddafi armed several merchant vessels and attempted to use them to blockade the port of Misirata.
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