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An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after the fact. In the days of sail,
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
and
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s, many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively as
merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...
s to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany. While armed merchantmen are clearly inferior to purpose-built warships, sometimes they have scored successes in combat against them. Examples include
East Indiamen East Indiaman was a general name for any sailing ship operating under charter or licence to any of the East India trading companies of the major European trading powers of the 17th through the 19th centuries. The term is used to refer to vesse ...
mimicking ships of the line and chasing off regular French warships in the
Battle of Pulo Aura The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large convoy of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) East Indiamen, well-armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and chase ...
in 1804, and the sinking the Australian light cruiser in their battle in 1941, although ''Kormoran'' was also destroyed and had to be scuttled.


Pre-20th century

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 A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support and can help maintain cohesion within a unit. It may also be used ...
system would be used whereby the ships were escorted by a warship. However, many East Indiamen also travelled on their own, and therefore were heavily armed in order to defend themselves against pirates and
privateer A privateer is a private person or ship that engages in maritime warfare under a commission of war. Since robbery under arms was a common aspect of seaborne trade, until the early 19th century all merchant ships carried arms. A sovereign or deleg ...
s. They also defended themselves against warships, scoring signal victories at the
Battle of Pulo Aura The Battle of Pulo Aura was a minor naval engagement of the Napoleonic Wars, fought on 14 February 1804, in which a large convoy of Honourable East India Company (HEIC) East Indiamen, well-armed merchant ships, intimidated, drove off and chase ...
and the action of 4 August 1800. The British
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
purchased several that it converted to ships of the line.


Development of auxiliary cruisers

In 1856, privateering (or seizure of a belligerent country's merchant ships as a private enterprise) lost international sanction under the Declaration of Paris. From 1861 to 1865 European countries built high-speed ships to run the Union Blockade during the
American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...
. Some of these were armed and served as
Confederate States Navy The Confederate States Navy (CSN) was the Navy, naval branch of the Confederate States Armed Forces, established by an act of the Confederate States Congress on February 21, 1861. It was responsible for Confederate naval operations during the Amer ...
raiders.
Russia Russia (, , ), or the Russian Federation, is a transcontinental country spanning Eastern Europe and Northern Asia. It is the largest country in the world, with its internationally recognised territory covering , and encompassing one-eig ...
purchased three ships in 1878 of armed with guns for use as auxiliary cruisers for a Russian Volunteer Fleet.
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
responded to the precedent by asking their shipping companies to design fast steamers with provision for mounting guns in time of war. In 1890 German and British shipyards built new civilian ships designed for wartime conversion, and
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...
,
Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...
, Japan,
Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, often referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire,, the Dual Monarchy, or Austria, was a constitutional monarchy and great power in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. It was formed with the Austro-Hungarian Compromise of ...
, and the
United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...
made similar agreements with their shipyards. In 1892 Russia likewise built two more auxiliary cruisers. In 1895 the Imperial German Navy mobilized the provisional auxiliary cruiser ''Normannia'' for a 15-day trial armed with eight 6-inch guns, two guns, six guns, and two torpedo boats.


20th century

In both World Wars, both
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
and the
United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the European mainland, continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...
used auxiliary cruisers. While the British used armed passenger liners defensively for protecting their shipping, the German approach was to use them offensively to attack enemy shipping.


Armed merchant cruisers

The armed merchant cruisers (AMC) of the British
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the United Kingdom's naval warfare force. Although warships were used by English and Scottish kings from the early medieval period, the first major maritime engagements were fought in the Hundred Years' War against ...
were employed for convoy protection against enemy warships. They ultimately proved to have limited value and many, particularly ocean liners, were later converted into troopships, a role for which they were more suited. Documentary evidence quoted by the
BBC #REDIRECT BBC #REDIRECT BBC Here i going to introduce about the best teacher of my life b BALAJI sir. He is the precious gift that I got befor 2yrs . How has helped and thought all the concept and made my success in the 10th board exam. ...
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researched from the early stages of the First World War suggests that the express liners had greater speed than most warships (few warships of the period could exceed 21 knots), which made them suitable as AMCs. The downside proved to be their high fuel consumption; using them in a purely AMC role would have burned through the Admiralty reserve supplies of
steam coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...
in less than three months. The ships were vulnerable to enemy fire because they lacked warship armour, and they used local control of guns rather than director fire-control systems, which reduced their effective fire power. A famous AMC of World War I was the British which, after a battle that caused heavy damage on both sides, sank the German auxiliary cruiser near the Brazilian island of Trinidade in 1914. By coincidence, ''Cap Trafalgar'' was disguised as ''Carmania''. In World War II, , the sole escort for convoy HX 84 in November 1940, stood off the
pocket battleship The ''Deutschland'' class was a series of three ''Panzerschiffe'' (armored ships), a form of heavily armed cruiser, built by the ''Reichsmarine'' officially in accordance with restrictions imposed by the Treaty of Versailles. The ships of the cl ...
, when the German ship attacked the convoy. Though she and five vessels of the convoy were sunk, this enabled the rest of the convoy to escape. Her master, Acting Captain Edward Fegen was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions. Another famous action involving an armed merchant cruiser was the November 1939 battle between and the German battlecruisers and . Outgunned, the ''Rawalpindi'' was quickly sunk.


Auxiliary cruisers

The
Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...
and United States Navies used auxiliary cruisers during the
Spanish–American War , partof = the Philippine Revolution, the decolonization of the Americas, and the Cuban War of Independence , image = Collage infobox for Spanish-American War.jpg , image_size = 300px , caption = (cloc ...
of 1898. In
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, the United States, and the Ottoman Empire, with fightin ...
, too, 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 Commerce raiding (french: guerre de course, "war of the chase"; german: Handelskrieg, "trade war") is a form of naval warfare used to destroy or disrupt logistics of the enemy on the open sea by attacking its merchant shipping, rather than eng ...
. 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 scheme. 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 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. was a former passenger liner that sank two freighters in 1914 before being caught by . Her sister ship, , 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 Virginia, officially the Commonwealth of Virginia, is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States, between the Atlantic Coast and the Appalachian Mountains. The geography and climate of the Commonwealth ar ...
, where the Americans interned her and eventually converted her into the United States Navy troop transport USS ''Von Steuben''. The most famous German commerce raider of World War I probably was , a sailing ship under the command of the legendary Count Felix von Luckner. However, both and were each much more successful than ''Seeadler''. In World War II, Nazi Germany's '' Kriegsmarine'' operated ten very successful auxiliary cruisers, ranging in tonnage from 3,860 to 9,400; typically these vessels were equipped with: *
Observation seaplane Observation seaplanes are military aircraft with flotation devices allowing them to land on and take off from water. Their primary purpose was to observe and report enemy movements or to spot the fall of shot from naval artillery, but some were a ...
s * 15 cm (6 in) guns * Smaller armaments (typically hidden away behind specially designed and hinged bulwarks, or beneath fake deckhouses and/or skylights) *
Torpedo A modern torpedo is an underwater ranged weapon launched above or below the water surface, self-propelled towards a target, and with an explosive warhead designed to detonate either on contact with or in proximity to the target. Historically, s ...
es * Mines To preserve their cover, these ships flew the flags of neutral or occasionally Allied nations. They were refueled and provisioned from special supply ships, from Japanese island bases or from prizes they had taken. To counter the effectiveness of these disguises, the Allies introduced the
check-mate system The check-mate system was a system of ship identification used by the Allies of World War II. It was used by the Royal Navy when on patrol looking for German auxiliary cruisers and others ships that had been disguised by Axis forces. Under this sy ...
in 1942 to identify individual ships on a one-by-one basis with the Admiralty in London. In one incident, the German (ex-merchantman ''Steiermark'') managed to surprise and sink the Australian
light cruiser A light cruiser is a type of small or medium-sized warship. The term is a shortening of the phrase "light armored cruiser", describing a small ship that carried armor in the same way as an armored cruiser: a protective belt and deck. Prior to th ...
, which approached too close, though ''Kormoran'' 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. ''Kormoran''s attack upon ''Sydney'' was motivated by desperation. She was not the most successful German raider of World War II (both and scored higher kill tonnages). Another, , was also sunk in a mutually destructive engagement with the American
Liberty ship Liberty ships were a class of cargo ship built in the United States during World War II under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program. Though British in concept, the design was adopted by the United States for its simple, low-cost construction. Ma ...
. The only encounters between Allied and Axis auxiliary cruisers in World War II were all with the raider . This small vessel, which captured or sank 22 merchantmen, encountered three British AMCs in her career, defeating and and later sinking HMS ''Voltaire'' in the
Action of 4 April 1941 The action of 4 April 1941 was a naval engagement fought during the Battle of the Atlantic during the Second World War. A German commerce raider, , ( to the , Raider E to the British) encountered the British armed merchant cruiser and sank i ...
. During World War II, German auxiliary cruisers are believed to have either sunk or captured some of Allied shipping. Compare to the Q-ship, which was a disguised merchantman for anti-submarine operations.


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".


21st century

Despite a rise in modern piracy, it was up until the early 2010s 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 hose A fire hose (or firehose) is a high-pressure hose that carries water or other fire retardant (such as foam) to a fire to extinguish it. Outdoors, it attaches either to a fire engine, fire hydrant, or a portable fire pump. Indoors, it can perm ...
s to repel boarders. One notable exception to this were the ships of
Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited International Nuclear Services (INS) is a United Kingdom company involved in the management and transport of nuclear fuels. INS is based in Risley, near Warrington, and is operated by Nuclear Transport Solutions, a wholly owned subsidiary of the ...
, which are used to transport
spent nuclear fuel Spent nuclear fuel, occasionally called used nuclear fuel, is nuclear fuel that has been irradiated in a nuclear reactor (usually at a nuclear power plant). It is no longer useful in sustaining a nuclear reaction in an ordinary thermal reactor and ...
and
reprocessed uranium Reprocessed uranium (RepU) is the uranium recovered from nuclear reprocessing, as done commercially in France, the UK and Japan and by nuclear weapons states' military plutonium production programs. This uranium makes up the bulk of the material s ...
on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels Limited. Transporting enough
fissile In nuclear engineering, fissile material is material capable of sustaining a nuclear fission chain reaction. By definition, fissile material can sustain a chain reaction with neutrons of thermal energy. The predominant neutron energy may be t ...
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. Travelling together in convoy during these ships' intermittent voyages, they have an onboard escort of armed police from the UKAEAC and its successors and are equipped with two or three autocannons. Another exception were various ships of the Soviet Union's Merchant Marine (MORFLOT) during the Cold War (MORFLOT often operated as an adjunct to Soviet foreign and military policy, both overtly and otherwise). In 2007, facing a chronic shortage of naval vessels the Cuban Navy placed into service the ''Rio Damuji'' class of frigates, which are large fishing trawlers converted into warships. In April 2010, it was reported that a Russian company was offering a version of the 3M-54 Klub missile that could 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 was allegedly capable of disabling or even sinking an aircraft carrier, but "it's not known how many of them would have to hit a carrier to knock it out of action, much less sink it." During the 2011 Libyan civil war, forces loyal to Gaddafi armed several merchant vessels and attempted to use them to blockade the port of Misrata. In October 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British merchant shipping passing through areas known for
piracy Piracy is an act of robbery or criminal violence by ship or boat-borne attackers upon another ship or a coastal area, typically with the goal of stealing cargo and other valuable goods. Those who conduct acts of piracy are called pirates, v ...
were permitted to carry firearms.


Ship list

Since the late 19th century various navies have used armed merchant ships in the role of auxiliary cruisers, also called armed merchant cruisers. Significant use of this type of ship was made by Britain and Germany in both World Wars. Some of the ships used in this role include: * – Saint Paul SP-1643 – Spanish–American War (United States) * – Russo-Japanese War (Japan) * – Russo-Japanese War (Russia) * – World War I (Australia) * – World War I (Germany) * – World War I (Great Britain) * – Spanish Civil War (Nationalist Spain) * – World War II (Germany) * – World War II (Germany) * – World War II (Great Britain) * – World War II (Great Britain) * '' Ramb I'' – World War II (Italy) * – World War II (Japan) * – World War II (Canada)


See also

* Armed merchant ship *
Defensively equipped merchant ship Defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS) was an Admiralty Trade Division programme established in June 1939, to arm 5,500 British merchant ships with an adequate defence against enemy submarines and aircraft. The acronym DEMS was used to descri ...
* False flag * Hired armed vessels *
List of auxiliary and merchant cruisers The following is a list, by period and country, of Armed merchantman, armed merchant ships used since the late 19th century in the role of auxiliary cruisers, also called armed merchant cruisers. Ships by period Spanish–American War Amer ...
*
Merchant raider Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels. History Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I (1914–1918), and again early in World War II (1939–1945). The cap ...
* Q-ship


References


Citations


Sources

* Duffy, James P., ''Hitler's Secret Pirate Fleet'', 2001, Praeger, Westport (Connecticut) and London, * ''The Oxford Companion to World War II'' (2005). * Alfred von Niezychowski, ''The Cruise of the Kronprinz Wilhelm'', 1928, published by Doubleday.


External links


Hilfskreuzer page


* ttp://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/scotland/highlands_and_islands/6227214.stm Personal account of Lt. Surgeon J. Robart who served on the Armed Merchant Cruiser HMS ''Ranpura'' in World War II
Convoy escort movements for Royal Navy AMCs, World War 2
{{Warship types of the 19th & 20th centuries Ship types Auxiliary cruisers