Merchant raiders are armed commerce raiding ships that disguise themselves as non-combatant merchant vessels.
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 and privateers, 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 raiders to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany.
The East African campaign was fought in East Africa during the Second World War by Allies of World War II, mainly from the British Empire, against Italy and its colony of Italian East Africa, between June 1940 and November 1941. The British Middle East Command with troops from the United Kingdom, South Africa, British India, Uganda Protectorate, Kenya, Somaliland, West Africa, Northern and Southern Rhodesia, Sudan and Nyasaland participated in the campaign. These were joined by the Allied Force Publique of Belgian Congo, Imperial Ethiopian Arbegnoch and a small unit of Free French Forces.
The Regia Marina (RM) or Royal Italian Navy was the navy of the Kingdom of Italy from 1861 to 1946. In 1946, with the birth of the Italian Republic, the Regia Marina changed its name to Marina Militare.
The Sauro class were a group of four destroyers built for the Regia Marina in the late 1920s. They were based in the Red Sea Italian colony of Eritrea and all fought in World War II being sunk during the East African Campaign in 1941.
The Italian ship Ramb I was a pre-war "banana boat" converted to an auxiliary cruiser in World War II. Ramb I operated as an armed merchant in the Red Sea and was ordered to sail to Japan after the fall of Massawa to the Allies. She was sunk in the Indian Ocean before she could reach her intended destination.
Motoscafo armato silurante, alternatively Motoscafo antisommergibili and commonly abbreviated as MAS, was a class of fast torpedo-armed vessels used by the Regia Marina during World War I and World War II. Originally, "MAS" referred to motobarca armata SVAN, Società Veneziana Automobili Navali.
The Leone class were a group of destroyers built for the Italian Navy in the early 1920s. Five ships were planned and three completed. All three ships were based at Massawa, Eritrea, during World War II and were sunk during the East African Campaign.
The Red Sea Flotilla was part of the Regia Marina based at Massawa in the colony of Italian Eritrea, part of Italian East Africa. During the Second World War, the Red Sea Flotilla fought the East Indies Station of the Royal Navy from the Italian declaration of war on 10 June 1940 until the fall of Massawa on 8 April 1941.
The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb III was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938.
The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb II was a pre-war banana boat built at Monfalcone by the CRDA in 1937. She briefly served as an auxiliary cruiser with Regia Marina early in World War II before becoming an auxiliary transport with the Imperial Japanese Navy later in her career.
Eritrea was a colonial ship of the Italian Regia Marina constructed in the Castellammare Shipyards near Napoli. Construction started in 1935 and she was commissioned in 1937. She served mainly in the Indian and western Pacific Oceans.
The Action in the Strait of Otranto [also the Battle of the Strait of Otranto (1940)] was the destruction of an Italian convoy on 12 November 1940 during the Battle of the Mediterranean in the Second World War. It took place in the Strait of Otranto in the Adriatic Sea, between the Royal Navy and the Italian Royal Navy.
The Action of 27 February 1941 was a single ship action between the British cruiser HMS Leander and the Italian ship Ramb I, an auxiliary cruiser. It began when Leander ordered an un-flagged freighter to stop for an inspection. The freighter raised the Italian colours and engaged Leander which sank Ramb I shortly after. About 150 members of the crew were killed and 100 were rescued and taken to Addu Atoll, thence to Ceylon. Leander patrolled southwards to investigate more reports of commerce raiders.
Piemonte was a unique protected cruiser built for the Italian Regia Marina in the 1880s by the British shipyard Armstrong Whitworth. She was the first major warship armed entirely with quick-firing (QF) guns and she was also the fastest cruiser in the world upon her completion in 1889. Piemonte was frequently deployed overseas, including a lengthy tour in East Asian waters from 1901 to 1904. She saw significant action during the Italo-Turkish War in 1911–1912 in the Red Sea, where she frequently bombarded Ottoman ports. During the Battle of Kunfuda Bay in January 1912, she and two destroyers sank four Ottoman gunboats and forced ashore three more. Piemonte participated in World War I but she saw little action during the conflict. She remained in service until 1920, when she was scrapped.
Elba was a protected cruiser of the Italian Regia Marina. She was the fifth of six Regioni-class ships, all of which were named for regions of Italy, with the exception of Elba, which was named for the island. Elba was built by the Regio Cantieri di Castellammare di Stabia shipyard; her keel was laid in September 1890, she was launched in August 1893, and she was commissioned in February 1896. The ship was equipped with a main armament of four 15 cm (5.9 in) and six 12 cm (4.7 in) guns, and she could steam at a speed of nearly 18 knots.
Mario Bonetti was an Italian admiral during World War II.
Giovanni Acerbi was the second of four Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina during World War I. She played an active part in the later stages of that war's Adriatic campaign, including a significant role in that campaign's largest surface action, the Battle of the Strait of Otranto in 1917. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she was serving in the Red Sea Flotilla when Italy entered World War II in June 1940. She was disabled in September 1940, stripped of her armament, and either scuttled or sunk in 1941.
Vincenzo Giordano Orsini was the third of four Giuseppe Sirtori-class destroyers built for the Italian Regia Marina during World War I. Commissioned in 1917, she participated in the later stages of that war's Adriatic campaign. Reclassified as a torpedo boat in 1929, she was serving in the Red Sea Flotilla when Italy entered World War II in June 1940. She was scuttled in 1941 to prevent her capture by Allied forces during the East African campaign.
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