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The Kreigsmarine as they had done in World War I deployed merchant raiders disguised as non-combatant merchant vessels. Improved communications and reconisance capabilities mean that they were not as effective as inbWirld war I. They were of some importnce at the beginning of the War before the British had perfected their operations protecting commerce and D�nitz had only a small U-boat fleet. After 1940-41 they became a mere footnote. These were not purpose-built ships, but rather converted merchant ships. They were, heavily armed. The most famous was Atlantis which sank 22 Allied merchantmen. [Mohr and Sellwood] While not armored and capable of engaging combat ships, the Kormoran sank the Australian cruiser Sydney. They were easily capable of overtaking and sinking merchant shipping. Germany deployed several merchant raiders early in World War II. The Germans sent out two waves of six surface raiders each during the War. They chose refrigerator ships to convert for commerce riding. They were deigned to transport fresh food from the tropics. They were mostly in the 8-10,000 ton range. As they were designed to transport perishable food, they tended to be faster than standard merchant vessels. Speed was of course vital for merchant raiding. They were armed with six 15 cm (5.9 inch) guns and a variety of smaller calibre guns. They also carried mines to lay in the sea lanes as well as torpedoes. The raiders mostly went after single vesseks, not convoys. The German captains did their best to disguise their ships to make them look like Allied or neutral shipping. Italy deployed four "Ramb" class ships as auxiliary cruisers in World War II. The British Royal Navy began the War woefully short of escort vessels to protect convoys. One effort to engage the German raiders and U-boats was Q-ships. The Royal Navy Q-ships were warships desguised as merchant ships, the opposite of a merchant raider. British Armed Merchant Cruisers were converted passenger liners and thus were fast ships. The Royal Navy found nd unk the raider in 1940 and 41. By the middle of 1941, all the raiders had returned to their home ports except Kormoran, Pinguin and Atlantis, which had been caught and sunk by Allied cruisers. The second wave of commerce raiding was the Thor which departed Bordeaux (January 14, 1942) and Michel which left Kiel (March 9). Stier departed Royan (May 20) after losing some of her escorts. She would be sunk by an armed American Liberty ship. Thor and Michael were sunk in the Pacific (1943). The Germans tried to send two more raider out, Komet (October 14, 1942) and Togo (February 10, 1943). Both were sunk by the Allies trying to break out. The Germans ended the effort after Togo. By this time of the War, the Germans had begun losing U-bots in large numbers. The chance of a surface raider breaking out and then surviving were minimal.
The Kreigsmarine as they had done in World War I deployed merchant raiders disguised as non-combatant merchant vessels. Improved communications and reconisance capabilities meant that there were more options than in World war I. They were of some importnce at the beginning of the War before the British had perfected their operations protecting merchant shipping and D�nitz had only a small U-boat fleet. After 1940-41, the Grman raiders became a mere footnote. These were not purpose-built ships, but rather converted merchant ships. They were, heavily armed. The most famous was Atlantis which sank 22 Allied merchantmen. [Mohr and Sellwood] While not armored and capable of engaging combat ships, the Kormoran sank the Australian cruiser Sydney. They were easily capable of overtaking and sinking merchant shipping. Germany deployed several merchant raiders early in World War II. The Germans sent out two waves of six surface raiders each during the War. They chose refrigerator ships to convert for commerce riding. They were deigned to transport fresh food from the tropics. They were mostly in the 8-10,000 ton range. As they were designed to transport perishable food, they tended to be faster than standard merchant vessels. Speed was of course vital for merchant raiding. They were armed with six 15 cm (5.9 inch) guns and a variety of smaller calibre guns. They also carried mines to lay in the sea lanes as well as torpedoes. The raiders mostly went after single vesseks, not convoys. The German captains did their best to disguise their ships to make them look like Allied or neutral shipping. Italy deployed four "Ramb" class ships as auxiliary cruisers in World War II. The Royal Navy found and sunk the raider in 1940 and 41. By the middle of 1941, all the raiders had returned to their home ports except Kormoran, Pinguin and Atlantis, which had been caught and sunk by Allied cruisers. The second wave of commerce raiding was the Thor which departed Bordeaux (January 14, 1942) and Michel which left Kiel (March 9). Stier departed Royan (May 20) after losing some of her escorts. She would be sunk by an armed American Liberty ship. Thor and Michael were sunk in the Pacific (1943). The Germans tried to send two more raider out, Komet (October 14, 1942) and Togo (February 10, 1943). Both were sunk by the Allies trying to break out. The Germans ended the effort after Togo. By this time of the War, the Germans had begun losing U-bots in large numbers. The chance of a sueface raider breaking out and then surviving were minimal.
Mohr, Ulrich and Arthur Sellwood. Ship 16: The Story of a German Surface Raider (Amberley Publishing Limited: 2012), 264 p.
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