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Defensively equipped merchant ship (DEMS) was an
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
Trade Division programme established in June 1939, to arm 5,500 British
merchant ship A merchant ship, merchant vessel, trading vessel, or merchantman is a watercraft that transports cargo or carries passengers for hire. This is in contrast to pleasure craft, which are used for personal recreation, and naval ships, which are ...
s with an adequate defence against enemy submarines and aircraft. The
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
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.


Background

In the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, European countries such as
Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , ...
,
France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...
, the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
and
Britain Britain most often refers to: * The United Kingdom, a sovereign state in Europe comprising the island of Great Britain, the north-eastern part of the island of Ireland and many smaller islands * Great Britain, the largest island in the United King ...
armed their merchant ships to prevent capture by
pirates 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 ...
, enemy
commerce raider 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 enga ...
s 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 when they conducted overseas trade. The most heavily armed were ships carrying valuable cargo back from the
Far East The ''Far East'' was a European term to refer to the geographical regions that includes East and Southeast Asia as well as the Russian Far East to a lesser extent. South Asia is sometimes also included for economic and cultural reasons. The t ...
. Notably the
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 ...
class of ships were constructed from the keel up with defence in mind, with their heavy armament making some of the most powerful examples equivalent to naval
Fourth-rate In 1603 all English warships with a compliment of fewer than 160 men were known as 'small ships'. In 1625/26 to establish pay rates for officers a six tier naval ship rating system was introduced.Winfield 2009 These small ships were divided i ...
ships of the line A ship of the line was a type of naval warship constructed during the Age of Sail from the 17th century to the mid-19th century. The ship of the line was designed for the naval tactic known as the line of battle, which depended on the two colu ...
. After the end of the
Napoleonic Wars The Napoleonic Wars (1803–1815) were a series of major global conflicts pitting the French Empire and its allies, led by Napoleon I, against a fluctuating array of European states formed into various coalitions. It produced a period of Fre ...
in 1815, these were replaced for some of the balance of the 19th century with faster and lighter unarmed ships such as
clipper A clipper was a type of mid-19th-century merchant sailing vessel, designed for speed. Clippers were generally narrow for their length, small by later 19th century standards, could carry limited bulk freight, and had a large total sail area. "Cl ...
s that, in theory, could outrun any threat when blockade running or carrying smaller quantities of the most valuable cargoes long distance.


Anglo-German arms race

From the turn of the 20th century, growing tensions between Europe's
Great Powers A great power is a sovereign state that is recognized as having the ability and expertise to exert its influence on a global scale. Great powers characteristically possess military and economic strength, as well as diplomatic and soft power in ...
included an
Anglo-German naval arms race The arms race between Great Britain and Germany that occurred from the last decade of the nineteenth century until the advent of World War I in 1914 was one of the intertwined causes of that conflict. While based in a bilateral relationship t ...
that threatened the security of merchant shipping. In December 1911 a memo from
Winston Churchill Sir Winston Leonard Spencer Churchill (30 November 187424 January 1965) was a British statesman, soldier, and writer who served as Prime Minister of the United Kingdom twice, from 1940 to 1945 during the Second World War, and again from ...
, recently appointed as
First Lord of the Admiralty The First Lord of the Admiralty, or formally the Office of the First Lord of the Admiralty, was the political head of the English and later British Royal Navy. He was the government's senior adviser on all naval affairs, responsible for the di ...
, proposed that the utility or otherwise of arming British merchant ships "for their own defence" be ascertained. The
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong *Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Traf ...
created a Committee on the Arming of British Merchant Vessels under Captain Alexander Duff, that reported in May 1912. In October 1912 Admiral Sir Francis Bridgeman became Churchill's
First Sea Lord The First Sea Lord and Chief of the Naval Staff (1SL/CNS) is the military head of the Royal Navy and Naval Service of the United Kingdom. The First Sea Lord is usually the highest ranking and most senior admiral to serve in the British Armed Fo ...
, and that October Bridgeman warned the
Committee of Imperial Defence The Committee of Imperial Defence was an important ''ad hoc'' part of the Government of the United Kingdom and the British Empire from just after the Second Boer War until the start of the Second World War. It was responsible for research, and som ...
that "the Germans were arming their merchant ships, nominally for the protection of their own trade, but more probably in order to attack ours." The ships being armed by the ''
Kaiserliche Marine {{italic title The adjective ''kaiserlich'' means "imperial" and was used in the German-speaking countries to refer to those institutions and establishments over which the ''Kaiser'' ("emperor") had immediate personal power of control. The term wa ...
'' were passenger liners that were fast enough to serve as
auxiliary cruisers 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 lo ...
. The Admiralty chose to do likewise, starting with the
Royal Mail Steam Packet Company The Royal Mail Steam Packet Company was a British shipping company founded in London in 1839 by a Scot, James MacQueen. The line's motto was ''Per Mare Ubique'' (everywhere by sea). After a troubled start, it became the largest shipping group ...
passenger liner RMS ''Aragon''. She was due to carry naval guns from December 1912, but within the British Government and Admiralty there was uncertainty as to how foreign countries and ports would react. Many merchant ships had been armed in the 18th century and it had never been made illegal, but Britain feared that foreign authorities might refuse to let armed British merchant ships enter port. In January 1913 Rear Admiral Henry Campbell recommended that the Admiralty should send a merchant ship to sea with naval guns, but without ammunition, to test foreign governments' reaction. A meeting chaired by Sir Francis Hopwood, Civil Lord of the Admiralty agreed to put guns without ammunition on a number of merchant ships "and see what happens." Sir
Eyre Crowe Sir Eyre Alexander Barby Wichart Crowe (30 July 1864 – 28 April 1925) was a British diplomat, an expert on Germany in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. He is best known for his vehement warning, in 1907, that Germany's expansionism was mo ...
was at the meeting and recorded "If nothing happens, it may be possible and easy, after a time, to place ammunition on board." In March the policy was made public, and in April it was implemented. On 25 April 1913 ''Aragon'' left Southampton carrying two QF naval guns on her stern. The Admiralty planned to arm Houlder Brothers' similarly if the reaction were favourable. Governments, newspapers and the public in South American countries that ''Aragon'' visited took little notice and expressed no concern. There was more criticism in Britain, where Commander
Barry Domvile Admiral Sir Barry Edward Domvile, (5 September 1878 – 13 August 1971) was a high-ranking Royal Navy officer who was interned during the Second World War for being a Nazi sympathiser. Throughout the 1930s, he had expressed support for Germany' ...
, Secretary to the Committee of Imperial Defence, warned that the policy undermined Britain's objection to the arming of German merchant ships. Domvile predicted that arming merchant ships would be ineffective, and would lead only to a second maritime arms race alongside the naval one. Gerard Noel, a former Admiral of the Fleet, told Churchill that were a merchant ship ever to fire its guns it could be accused of piracy. Churchill replied by drawing a distinction between merchant ships armed as auxiliary cruisers and those armed only for self-defence. Privately Churchill was more concerned, and in June 1913 he directed Admiralty staff to "do everything in our power to reconcile this new departure with the principles of international law". However, the policy continued. ''Aragon''s sister ship RMS ''Amazon'' was made the next DAMS, and in the following months further RMSP "A-liners" were armed. They included the newly built , that in the First World War did indeed serve as an armed merchant cruiser.


World War I

During the
First World War World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
, the UK blockaded Germany and armed its merchant ships to help defend them against
U-boats U-boats were naval submarines operated by Germany, particularly in the First and Second World Wars. Although at times they were efficient fleet weapons against enemy naval warships, they were most effectively used in an economic warfare rol ...
. A single stern gun, equivalent to what a
submarine A submarine (or sub) is a watercraft capable of independent operation underwater. It differs from a submersible, which has more limited underwater capability. The term is also sometimes used historically or colloquially to refer to remotely op ...
might carry, was mounted; and civilian captains were encouraged to flee and shoot back from their more stable gun platform. 766 civilian ships had been armed by December 1915. Arming of merchant ships pushed Germany away from
prize rules In admiralty law prizes are equipment, vehicles, vessels, and cargo captured during armed conflict. The most common use of ''prize'' in this sense is the capture of an enemy ship and her cargo as a prize of war. In the past, the capturing force ...
towards
unrestricted submarine warfare Unrestricted submarine warfare is a type of naval warfare in which submarines sink merchant ships such as freighters and tankers without warning, as opposed to attacks per prize rules (also known as "cruiser rules") that call for warships to s ...
, an important factor in bringing the United States into the war against Germany. The first merchant ship lost to U-boats was an 866-ton British steamer outbound from
Grangemouth Grangemouth ( sco, Grangemooth; gd, Inbhir Ghrainnse, ) is a town in the Falkirk council area, Scotland. Historically part of the county of Stirlingshire, the town lies in the Forth Valley, on the banks of the Firth of Forth, east of Falkir ...
to
Stavanger Stavanger (, , American English, US usually , ) is a city and municipalities of Norway, municipality in Norway. It is the fourth largest city and third largest metropolitan area in Norway (through conurbation with neighboring Sandnes) and the a ...
with a cargo of coal, iron plate, and oil. was stopped by the German submarine ''U-17'' on 20 October 1914; and a
boarding party ''Boarding Party'' is a solitaire science fiction board game published by Task Force Games in 1982 that simulates a boarding party of humans trying to deactivate a killer spaceship. Description ''Boarding Party'' is a solitaire microgame in whic ...
gave ''Glitra''s crew time to disembark into lifeboats before sinking the ship by opening valves to flood holds with seawater. The procedure followed customs originated by surface ships. International maritime law required the naval vessel to make adequate provisions for the safety of the merchant crew and passengers before sinking their ship. The
German Empire The German Empire (),Herbert Tuttle wrote in September 1881 that the term "Reich" does not literally connote an empire as has been commonly assumed by English-speaking people. The term literally denotes an empire – particularly a hereditary ...
focused use of U-boats against merchant shipping in response to British blockade of German merchant shipping by declaring the entire
North Sea The North Sea lies between Great Britain, Norway, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands and Belgium. An epeiric sea on the European continental shelf, it connects to the Atlantic Ocean through the English Channel in the south and the Norwegian ...
a war zone on 2 November 1914. On 5 February 1915 Germany published notice declaring a war zone in all waters around the
United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland was a sovereign state in the British Isles that existed between 1801 and 1922, when it included all of Ireland. It was established by the Acts of Union 1800, which merged the Kingdom of Grea ...
. Within that zone, Germany conducted unrestricted submarine warfare against merchant ships from 18 February 1915 without warning and without regard to safety of their crew. U-boats still conformed to earlier conventions of stopping ships when possible, but the typical submarine mounted only a single gun. The two procedures for sinking merchant ships were compared in 1915. Merchant ships escaped 42% of
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, ...
attacks made without warning, in comparison to 54% escaping from conventional surface attempts to stop the ship. Guns aided escape and about one submarine per month was sunk (most by Q-ships) while attempting a surfaced stop. The number of civilian merchant ships armed with anti-submarine guns rose to 1,749 by September 1916 and 2,899 by February 1917. The United States responded to unrestricted submarine warfare by severing
diplomatic relations Diplomacy comprises spoken or written communication by representatives of states (such as leaders and diplomats) intended to influence events in the international system.Ronald Peter Barston, ''Modern diplomacy'', Pearson Education, 2006, p. 1 ...
with Germany on 3 February 1917. A
filibuster A filibuster is a political procedure in which one or more members of a legislative body prolong debate on proposed legislation so as to delay or entirely prevent decision. It is sometimes referred to as "talking a bill to death" or "talking out ...
in the
United States Senate The United States Senate is the upper chamber of the United States Congress, with the House of Representatives being the lower chamber. Together they compose the national bicameral legislature of the United States. The composition and po ...
temporarily delayed President
Woodrow Wilson Thomas Woodrow Wilson (December 28, 1856February 3, 1924) was an American politician and academic who served as the 28th president of the United States from 1913 to 1921. A member of the Democratic Party, Wilson served as the president of ...
's proposal on 26 February 1917 to arm United States merchant ships, but arming started in March under an
executive order In the United States, an executive order is a directive by the president of the United States that manages operations of the federal government. The legal or constitutional basis for executive orders has multiple sources. Article Two of t ...
.


World War II

Old naval guns had been stored since 1918 in ports for possible use. In the Second World War the objective was to equip each ship with a low-angle gun mounted aft as defence against surfaced submarines and a high-angle gun and rifle-calibre
machine gun A machine gun is a fully automatic, rifled autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as automatic shotguns and automatic rifles (including assault rifles and battle rifles ...
s for defence against air attack. 3,400 ships had been armed by the end of 1940; and all ships were armed by 1943. The low-angle guns were typically in the 3-inch to 6-inch range (75–150 mm) depending on the size of the ship.
Rifle A rifle is a long-barreled firearm designed for accurate shooting, with a barrel that has a helical pattern of grooves ( rifling) cut into the bore wall. In keeping with their focus on accuracy, rifles are typically designed to be held with ...
-calibre machine guns were augmented or replaced by
Oerlikon 20 mm cannon The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original German Becker Type M2 20 mm cannon design that appeared very early in World War I. It was widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others, with various models em ...
as they became available. The high-angle QF 12pdr Mk V mount was the most common anti-aircraft gun and later ships sometimes received
Bofors 40 mm gun Bofors 40 mm gun is a name or designation given to two models of 40 mm calibre anti-aircraft guns designed and developed by the Swedish company Bofors: *Bofors 40 mm L/60 gun - developed in the 1930s, widely used in World War II and into the 1990s ...
s. Untrained gunners posed significant risk to friendly aircraft in the absence of efficient communications. DEMS guns were manned by 24,000
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 Fr ...
personnel and 14,000 men of the
Royal Artillery The Royal Regiment of Artillery, commonly referred to as the Royal Artillery (RA) and colloquially known as "The Gunners", is one of two regiments that make up the artillery arm of the British Army. The Royal Regiment of Artillery comprises t ...
Maritime Regiment. 150,000 merchant sailors were trained to assist by passing
ammunition Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other we ...
, loading and replacing casualties. Initially, Royal Artillery personnel provided anti-aircraft protection by bringing their own
machine-gun A machine gun is a automatic firearm, fully automatic, rifling, rifled action (firearms)#Autoloading operation, autoloading firearm designed for sustained direct fire with rifle cartridges. Other automatic firearms such as Automatic shotgun, a ...
s aboard ships operating close to the
British Isles The British Isles are a group of islands in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-western coast of continental Europe, consisting of the islands of Great Britain, Ireland, the Isle of Man, the Inner and Outer Hebrides, the Northern Isl ...
. DEMS gunners were often retired military personnel and young Hostilities Only ratings, commanded by a
petty officer A petty officer (PO) is a non-commissioned officer in many navies and is given the NATO rank denotation OR-5 or OR-6. In many nations, they are typically equal to a sergeant in comparison to other military branches. Often they may be super ...
or
Royal Marine The Corps of Royal Marines (RM), also known as the Royal Marines Commandos, are the UK's special operations capable commando force, amphibious light infantry and also one of the five fighting arms of the Royal Navy. The Corps of Royal Marine ...
sergeant Sergeant ( abbreviated to Sgt. and capitalized when used as a named person's title) is a rank in many uniformed organizations, principally military and policing forces. The alternative spelling, ''serjeant'', is used in The Rifles and other ...
. Large ships sometimes embarked a junior naval officer to command the DEMS gunners.
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
placed guns on 713 ships, while the
Royal Australian Navy The Royal Australian Navy (RAN) is the principal naval force of the Australian Defence Force (ADF). The professional head of the RAN is Chief of Navy (CN) Vice Admiral Mark Hammond AM, RAN. CN is also jointly responsible to the Minister o ...
provided gun crews for 375 Australian and other Allied ships.


D-day landings and the Royal Observer Corps

In 1944, during preparations for the invasion of France called
Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Europe during World War II. The operation was launched on 6 June 1944 (D-Day) with the Norm ...
there was deep concern over the danger to Allied aircraft from the large number of DEMS involved in the landings. A request for volunteer aircraft recognition experts from the
Royal Observer Corps The Royal Observer Corps (ROC) was a civil defence organisation intended for the visual detection, identification, tracking and reporting of aircraft over Great Britain. It operated in the United Kingdom between 29 October 1925 and 31 Decembe ...
produced 1,094 highly qualified candidates, from which 796 were selected to perform valuable aircraft recognition duties as seaborne volunteers.ROC Seaborne Ops
/ref> These Seaborne Observers were organised by Group Commandant C. G. Cooke and trained at the Royal Bath Hotel
Bournemouth Bournemouth () is a coastal resort town in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole council area of Dorset, England. At the 2011 census, the town had a population of 183,491, making it the largest town in Dorset. It is situated on the English ...
before the volunteers temporarily joined the Royal Navy with the rank of petty officer (aircraft identifier). The volunteers continued to wear their ROC uniforms, but wore ''seaborne'' shoulder flashes and a Royal Navy brassard with the letters RN. During the D-day landings two ''seaborne'' observers were allocated to each of the defensively equipped British and American merchant vessels. The ROC volunteers were given direct control of each ship's anti-aircraft batteries, immediately reducing the previously high level of
friendly fire In military terminology, friendly fire or fratricide is an attack by belligerent or neutral forces on friendly troops while attempting to attack enemy/hostile targets. Examples include misidentifying the target as hostile, cross-fire while en ...
incidents. Their success is measured by a signal from Wing Commander P. B. Lucas, air staff officer who reported: Twenty two seaborne observers survived their ships being sunk, two lost their lives and several more were injured during the landings. The "seaborne" operation was an unqualified success and in recognition, His Majesty King George Vl approved the wearing of the "seaborne" flash as a permanent feature of the uniform. In addition, ten "seaborne" members were
mentioned in despatches To be mentioned in dispatches (or despatches, MiD) describes a member of the armed forces whose name appears in an official report written by a superior officer and sent to the high command, in which their gallant or meritorious action in the face ...
. After the invasion and just before his death Air Chief Marshal Trafford Leigh-Mallory wrote the following to be circulated to all ROC personnel: As of 2010 there is a Seaborne Observers’ Association for the dwindling number of survivors. Air Vice-Marshal George Black (Rtd.), a former Commandant ROC, is the honorary president.


Japan

The
Imperial Japanese Army The was the official ground-based armed force of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945. It was controlled by the Imperial Japanese Army General Staff Office and the Ministry of the Army, both of which were nominally subordinate to the Emper ...
established several shipping artillery units during World War II. These units provided detachments to protect Army-operated transports and chartered merchant ships from air or submarine attack. The
Imperial Japanese Navy The Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN; Kyūjitai: Shinjitai: ' 'Navy of the Greater Japanese Empire', or ''Nippon Kaigun'', 'Japanese Navy') was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1868 to 1945, when it was dissolved following Japan's surrender ...
also formed air defence squads from April 1944 that were deployed on board ships.


United States

The
Merchant Marine Act of 1936 The Merchant Marine Act of 1936 is a United States federal law. Its purpose is "to further the development and maintenance of an adequate and well-balanced American merchant marine, to promote the commerce of the United States, to aid in the nati ...
identified mariners aboard United States flagged merchant ships as military personnel in time of war. Neutrality Acts prevented arming of United States flagged merchant ships until 17 November 1941, although American-owned ships under
Panama Panama ( , ; es, link=no, Panamá ), officially the Republic of Panama ( es, República de Panamá), is a transcontinental country spanning the southern part of North America and the northern part of South America. It is bordered by Co ...
nian registry had been armed earlier. Guns were manned by United States Navy Armed Guard. The United States began equipping ships of other nations with guns and
United States Navy Armed Guard United States Navy Armed Guard units were established during World War II and headquartered in New Orleans.World War II U.S. Navy Armed Guard and World War II U.S. Merchant Marine, 2007-2014 Project Liberty Ship, Project Liberty Ship, P.O. Box 2 ...
on 24 January 1942; and approximately 145,000 USN armed guards ultimately sailed aboard 6,236 merchant ships. United States policy was stated by the Vice Chief of Naval Operations on 19 August 1942: "Ships sailing independently should be armed. Ships sailing in regularly made-up convoys, other than ships bound to North
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-ei ...
or tankers en route to 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 continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and ...
, may sail unarmed if the urgency of delivery of their cargo warrants it." The United States followed the British practice of a single large gun aft. Early United States installations included low-angle 4"/50 calibre guns (Mark 9) removed from old s and Clemson-class destroyers. The first installations of dual-purpose 5"/38 calibre guns began in September 1942, on new ships over 10,000 tons.
Victory ship The Victory ship was a class of cargo ship produced in large numbers by North American shipyards during World War II to replace losses caused by German submarines. They were a more modern design compared to the earlier Liberty ship, were sli ...
s carried a
3-inch gun A 3-inch gun is a gun with a 3-inch bore. Examples include: * 3-inch M1902 field gun also M1904, M1905 *3-inch gun M1903 - US coast defense gun, also M1898, M1902 seacoast gun *3"/50 caliber gun - US dual purpose naval gun *3"/23 caliber gun - US ...
on the bow, 20 mm machine gun tubs port and starboard between the first and second holds; a second pair of 20 mm guns on the bridge wings, a third pair on the after edge of the
superstructure A superstructure is an upward extension of an existing structure above a baseline. This term is applied to various kinds of physical structures such as buildings, bridges, or ships. Aboard ships and large boats On water craft, the superstruct ...
, and a fourth pair between the after (Number 5) hatch and the 5"/38 calibre gun on the
stern The stern is the back or aft-most part of a ship or boat, technically defined as the area built up over the sternpost, extending upwards from the counter rail to the taffrail. The stern lies opposite the bow, the foremost part of a ship. Or ...
.


See also

* Armed merchantmen *
Commerce raiding 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 en ...
*
East Indiaman 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 ...
*
Hired armed vessels During the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries the Royal Navy made use of a considerable number of hired armed vessels. These were generally smaller vessels, often cutters and luggers, that the Navy used for duties ranging from carrying and pa ...
* Merchant raider *
STUFT A STUFT (acronym for ship taken up from trade) is a UK civilian ship requisitioned for government use. The Falklands War of 1982 saw a diversity of ships taken up from trade, including tankers with potable water (see British logistics in the ...
- ships taken up from trade *
Q-ship 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 f ...


Footnotes


References

* * * * * * * * * *


Further reading

* * * * {{World War II Naval warfare Military strategy Ship types History of the Royal Navy British Merchant Navy