Q-ships, also known as Q-boats, decoy vessels, special service ships, or mystery ships, were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making surface attacks. This gave Q-ships the chance to open fire and sink them. The use of Q-ships contributed to the abandonment of cruiser rules restricting attacks on unarmed merchant ships and to the shift to unrestricted submarine warfare in the 20th century.
SM U-12 or U-XII was a U-5-class submarine or U-boat built for and operated by the Austro-Hungarian Navy before and during the First World War.
The United Africa Company (UAC) was a British company which principally traded in West Africa during the 20th century.
SS Vigrid was a Norwegian steam-powered cargo ship built in 1915. Sailing during the First World War, she was torpedoed and sunk without warning by a German U-boat on 31 December 1917.
Alverene was a gasoline launch built in 1912 which operated on northern Puget Sound and in the San Juan Islands.
SS Bulgaria was a passenger-cargo steamship built in 1898 for the Hamburg American Line ("Hapag"). During World War I, she operated as a United States Army animal and cargo ship under the names USAT Hercules and USAT Philippines, and after the war was converted into the troop transport USS Philippines (ID-1677).
William O'Brien was a steam cargo ship built in 1914–1915 by New York Shipbuilding Company of Camden for the Carpenter–O'Brien Lumber Company of Delaware. The vessel was extensively employed on East Coast to Europe routes during her career and foundered on one of her regular trips in April 1920.
SS Metagama was a transatlantic ocean liner That was launched in 1914 and scrapped in 1934. The Canadian Pacific Railway Co owned her and the Canadian Pacific Steamship Co operated her. She was a pioneering example of a "cabin class" passenger ship.
Otaki was a New Zealand Shipping Company refrigerated cargo steamship that was built in Scotland in 1908 and sunk by a German merchant raider in 1917.
HMS TB 4 was a Cricket-class coastal destroyer or torpedo-boat of the British Royal Navy. TB 4 was built by the shipbuilder J S White from 1905 to 1907. She served in the Dover Patrol in the First World War and survived the war. She ran aground on the way to be scrapped on 11 January 1921 and was broken up in situ.
SS Graciosa was a small freighter built during the First World War for James C. Gould and Co. under the name of Greltoria. Completed in 1917, she was sold while fitting out to the Bromport Steamship Co. and renamed Rabymere for use on their West African routes. The ship was sold to the Moss Steamship Co. in 1923 when the Lever Brothers closed down Bromport and sold off its ships. Moss renamed the ship as Edfou before selling it to Skibs A/S Fjeld in 1929 who renamed it Graciosa. During the Second World War, the ship was badly damaged during the Bombay Docks Explosion in early 1944 and was declared a constructive total loss and subsequently scrapped.
SS Delamere was a small freighter built during the First World War. Completed in 1915, she was intended for the West African trade. The ship was sunk by the German submarine SM U-70 in April 1917 with the loss of 10 crewmen.
SS Eskmere was a small freighter built during the First World War. Completed in 1916, she was intended for the West African trade. The ship was sunk by the German submarine SM UC-75 in October 1917 with the loss of 20 crewmen.
SS Redesmere was a small freighter built during the First World War. Completed in 1915, she was intended for the West African trade. The ship was sunk by the German submarine SM U-70 in October 1917.
The Bromport Steamship Company was a British shipping line in the early 20th century. It was established in 1916 by the Lever Brothers by purchasing the ships of the Watson Shipping Company to handle the company's shipping business with West Africa. It was wound up in 1923 at a loss as its ships were not competitive in the post-First World War market.
SS Thorpehall was a small freighter built before the First World War. Completed in 1910, she was intended for the West African trade. During the Spanish Civil War of 1936–1939, the ship was sunk by Nationalist bombers in May 1938.
SS Ellesmere was a small freighter built during the First World War. Completed in 1915, she was intended for the West African trade. The ship was sunk by the German submarine SM U-20 in July 1915.
SS Esemplare was a small freighter built during the first decade of the 20th century. Completed in 1902, she was intended for the West African trade. Sold to an Italian company shortly before the beginning of the First World War in 1914, the ship was captured and scuttled by the German submarine SM UC-27 in August 1917.
SS Saturn was a small freighter built before the First World War. Completed in 1906, she was intended for the West African trade. The ship was captured and scuttled by the German submarine SM U-57 in October 1916.
SS Gro was a small freighter built in Scotland during the 1890s. Completed in 1895, she was sold to A Swedish company in 1903 and then to a Norwegian company in 1916. During the First World War the ship was sunk by the German submarine SM UC-47 in August 1917.
Liverpool 
