Merchant raider - Definition and Overview

Merchant raiders are ships which disguise themselves as noncombatant merchant vessels, whilst actually being armed and intending to atttack enemy vessels. Germany used several merchant raiders early in World War I, and again early in World War II.

Germany sent out two waves, of six surface raiders each. Many of these vessels had originally been refrigerator ships, used to transport fresh food from the tropics. These vessels were faster than regular merchant vessels -- important for a warship. They were armed with 6 x 15 cm cannons, some smaller calibre guns, and torpedoes. Some of them were fitted for minelaying. Some of the captains were very creative about disguising their vessels to masquerade as allied or neutral merchants.

Most of these vessels were in the 8-10,000 ton range. British Armed Merchant Cruisers were generally adapted from passenger liners, and were larger than the German vessels.

Eventually most were sunk or transferred to other duties. Italy used four "Ramb" class ships as raiders in World War II.

See also

• Hilfskreuzer Atlantis
• Hilfskreuzer Kormoran
• commerce raider
• Q-ship

External links

• Marauders of the Sea, German Armed Merchant Raiders During World War 2 (http://members.tripod.com/mackenziegregory/log/macslog/MaraudersoftheSea2GermanA.html)
• Hilfskreuzer (http://www.scharnhorst-class.dk/hilfskreuzer/hilfskreuzer_menu.html)