The following is a list, by period and country, of armed merchant ships used since the late 19th century in the role of auxiliary cruisers, also called armed merchant cruisers.
| Name | Comment |
|---|---|
| Badger | (ex-Yumuri) |
| Buffalo | (ex-El Cid) |
| Dixie | (ex-El Rio) |
| Panther | (ex-Austin) |
| Peoria | |
| Prairie | (ex-El Sol) |
| USS Resolute | (ex-Yorktown) |
| 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 | In service 23 Aug. 15-20 Dec 19. 1 of over 60 commissioned AMC's employed on patrol and later convoy protection, 33 served with 10th Cruiser Squadron on Northern Patrol. |
| 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. [1] |
| Andes | |
| Aquitania | |
| Arlanza | |
| Aramadale Castle | |
| 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. [2] |
| Calgarian | Lost on 1 March 1918. |
| Calyx | Ex-Calypso, lost 10 July 1916. [1] |
| Candidate | Torpedoed 6 May 1915, sunk by U-20 |
| Caribbean | Became accommodation ship July 1915, foundered 26 September 1915. [1] |
| Carmania | Victor of the Battle of Trindade, served at Gallipoli and thereafter as a troopship, returned to civilian service by 1919. |
| Caronia | |
| Cedric | |
| Celtic | |
| 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. [1] |
| 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 1917, 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. |
| Morea | |
| Motagua | |
| Naldera | |
| Narkunda | Was serving as an auxiliary transport during the Allied landings in French North Africa in November, 1942. She had disembarked her troops at Bougie and had turned about for home when, toward evening on the 14th, she was bombed and sunk some distance off Bougie. Thirty-one persons were killed. Capt. Parfitt was among the survivors. [3] |
| 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 | Rammed 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 | |
| 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 Kashmir on 6 October 1918. |
| Otway | Lost on 23 July 1917 torpedoed by German submarine UC 49. |
| Patia | Lost on 13 June 1918. |
| Patuca | |
| Princess | Ex-Kronprincess Cecilie; Acted as dummy battleship HMS Ajax. [4] |
| 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), RMS Viking (1912). 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 |
|---|---|
| Berlin | |
| Cap Trafalgar | Used the alias Carmania; Cap Trafalgar was sunk by RMS Carmania which used the alias Cap Trafalgar. |
| Cormoran | |
| Geier | |
| Greif | |
| Iltis | Formerly Turritella and Gutenfels |
| Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse | |
| Kronprinz Wilhelm | |
| Leopard | |
| Meteor | |
| Möwe | |
| Prinz Eitel Friedrich | |
| Seeadler | |
| Victoria Luise | Formerly Deutschland |
| Vineta | Formerly Cap Polonio |
| Wolf | Formerly Belgravia |
| Wolf | Formerly Wachtfels |
The Spanish Nationalists, 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 a merchant ship 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. [5] |
| Mar Negro | A freighter under Republican flag at the beginning of the war, her captain and crew changed loyalties off Bone in September 1937, while returning to Barcelona from the Soviet Union. [5] She seized the last foreign cargo ship captured during the civil war, the British Stangate off Valencia on 16 March 1939, despite the opposition of HMS Sussex. [6] [7] |
| Ciudad de Valencia | She used the alias Nadir for operations in the North Sea. She sank the Republican merchantman Cantabria off Cromer, Norfolk, on 2 November 1938. [8] 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. [9] [10] |
| 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. [9] Both Ciudad de Alicante and Ciudad de Valencia used the German port of Emdem as a resupply base. [11] |
| Ciudad de Palma | Converted to a warship in Italy in 1936. She assisted the minelayer Júpiter in the capture of the British cargo ship Candlestone Castle in the Bay of Biscay on 17 July 1937. |
| Ciudad de Mahón | Captured by the rebels at Palma, she was armed and dispatched to Spanish Guinea, still under Republican control, on 14 October 1936. Once there, waving the Portuguese flag, Ciudad de Mahón entered the ports of Santa Isabel and Bata, where she sank the Republican freighter Fernando Poo. [12] |
| Vicente Puchol | After an initial deployment as an improvised minelayer, she was later converted to an auxiliary cruiser. She seized the 1,743-ton steamer Pomaron on 21 February 1938. The ship was the property of Strubin & Co. of London, and was sailing under Estonian flag. The freighter 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 allied moor pilgrims to Mecca in January 1937, she was later deployed in the Mediterranean as supply ship. [15] |
| Mallorca | Used primarily as a military transport, she captured a number of merchants in the Strait of Gibraltar in 1937. [12] |
| Italian Barletta | Renamed Rio during operations in the Spanish Civil War. She captured the Greek tanker Burlington (under UK flag) in the central Mediterranean in 1937. Attacked at 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 Civil 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 World War II 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 (6,100–22,400 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, sunk by UA. |
| Antenor | |
| Antonia | |
| Arawa | Decommissioned 25 July 1941, converted to troopship, survived the War. |
| Ascania | |
| Asturias | |
| HMS Aurania | |
| Ausonia | |
| Bulolo | |
| California | |
| Canton | Equipped with a Vought Kingfisher seaplane and a centerline twin 6-inch gun turret on the bow, converted to a troopship 1944 and survived the War |
| Carinthia | Lost 6 June 1940, sunk by U-46 west of Ireland. |
| Carnarvon Castle | |
| Carthage | |
| Cathay | |
| Cheshire | |
| Chitral | |
| Cilicia | |
| Circassia | |
| Comorin | Lost on 6 April 1941. Her burnt out wreck was sunk by HMS Broke. |
| Corfu | |
| Derbyshire | |
| Dunnottar Castle | |
| Dunvegan Castle | Lost on 27 August 1940, sunk by U-46 west of Ireland. |
| Esperance Bay | |
| Forfar | sunk by U-99 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 the German cruiser Admiral Scheer. Her commander, Captain Fegen, was awarded a posthumous Victoria Cross. |
| Kanimbla | Transferred to the Royal Australian Navy as a Landing Ship Infantry in 1943 |
| 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 | Launched in 1924, commissioned as AMC in December 1939 |
| 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. |
| HMS Scotstoun | Lost on 13 June 1940, sunk by U-25 northwest 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 auxiliary cruiser Thor. |
| Wolfe | |
| Worcestershire | Damaged by U-74 on 3 April 1941 |
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 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.
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 and were mostly used as supply ships or escorts. All of them mounted two 4.7 in (120 mm) guns.
The Romanian Navy had one auxiliary cruiser, Dacia. She was built in France in 1907 as a passenger ship. She was 109 meters long, her beam was 13 meters and her draught was 8 meters, and displaced 4,105 tons. Her top speed was 18 knots (33 km/h). Initially she was an auxiliary minelayer, armed only with two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and able to carry up to 200 mines. In 1942 she was also armed with three 105 mm naval/AA guns and designated as auxiliary cruiser (crucişător auxiliar). [16]
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 German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8) was a Kriegsmarine merchant raider of World War II. Originally the merchant vessel Steiermark, the ship was acquired by the navy following the outbreak of war for conversion into a raider. Administered under the designation Schiff 41, to the Allied navies she was known as Raider G. The largest merchant raider operated by Germany during World War II, Kormoran was responsible for the destruction of 10 merchant vessels and the capture of an 11th during her year-long career in the Atlantic and Indian oceans.
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.
Komet (HSK-7) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine in the Second World War, intended for service as a commerce raider. Known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 45, to the Royal Navy she was named Raider B.
Orion (HSK-1) was an auxiliary cruiser of Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine which operated as a merchant raider in World War II. Blohm & Voss built her in Hamburg in 1930–31 as the cargo ship Kurmark. The navy requisitioned her at the start of World War II, had her converted into the auxiliary cruiser Orion, and commissioned her on 9 December 1939. Known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 36, her Royal Navy designation was Raider A. She was named after the constellation Orion.
The Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) which served as a commerce raider in World War II. The Pinguin was known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British Royal Navy as Raider F. The name Pinguin means penguin in German.
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.
The Italian auxiliary cruiser Ramb III was built at Genoa by Ansaldo in 1938.
Ramb IV was an Italian hospital ship, built at Monfalcone by the United Yards of the Adriatic 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.
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 describe the ships carrying the guns, the guns aboard the ships, the military personnel manning the guns, and the shore establishment supporting the system. This followed a similar World War I program of defensively armed merchant ships (DAMS).
Theodor Detmers was a German naval officer and captain of the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran during World War II. He was a recipient of the Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross of Nazi Germany. Detmers commanded the commerce raider Kormoran when it sunk the Australian light cruiser HMAS Sydney in a mutually destructive battle.
The Vifor class was a group of four destroyers ordered by Romania in 1913 and built in Italy during the First World War. The four ships were however requisitioned by Italy in 1915 and rearmed as scout cruisers (esploratori), subsequently seeing service in World War I. Two were re-purchased by Romania in 1920 and saw service in World War II. The other two were eventually transferred by Italy to the Spanish Nationalists and saw service during the Spanish Civil War.
The German attacks on Nauru were conducted in December 1940 on the island of Nauru, an Australian-administered League of Nations mandate in the Central Pacific. Nauru was of considerable strategic importance for its phosphate resources. The attacks were conducted by auxiliary cruisers between 6 and 8 December and on 27 December. The raiders sank five Allied merchant ships and inflicted serious damage on Nauru's economically important phosphate-loading facilities. Under the terms of the League of Nations mandate, the island had no fortifications or military facilities and was consequently undefended, with the German forces unimpeded in their operations.
The Archimede class were a group of four submarines built for the Regia Marina in the early 1930s. The boats fought in the Spanish Civil War and in World War II. In Spanish service, two boats were known as the General Mola class; these were taken out of service in 1959.
Almirante Cervera was a light cruiser and lead ship of the Almirante Cervera class of the Spanish Navy. She was named after the Spanish admiral Pascual Cervera y Topete, commander of the Spanish naval forces in Cuba during the Spanish–American War. She was part of the Spanish Republican Navy between 1931 and 1936, year in which she became a key player of the Nationalist Fleet in the Spanish Civil War.
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.
Mar Negro was an armed merchantman of the Nationalist Spanish Navy during the Spanish Civil War. The cargo ship was launched in 1930 along with her sister ship MV Mar Cantábrico, and after five years with the Compañía Marítima Del Nervión company, she was requisitioned by the Spanish Republican Navy in 1936. Captured by a group of Nationalist sympathizers from her crew off Algeria in 1937, she entered in service in 1938 after being converted to an auxiliary cruiser.
The Type 41 3-inch (76 mm) naval gun otherwise known as the 8 cm/40 3rd Year Type naval gun was a Japanese dual-purpose gun introduced before World War I. Although designated as 8 cm (3.15 in), its shells were 76.2 mm (3 in) in diameter.