NAVAL STAFF HISTORY SECOND WORLD WAR BATTLE SUMMARIES No. 13 Actions with Enemy Disguised Raiders 1940-1941 [British Navy]

During the Second World War, the German Kriegsmarine turned to auxiliary cruisers-merchantmen hastily transformed into commerce raiders-to wage a shadow war against Allied shipping. These vessels relied less on firepower than on deception. Disguised with false masts, altered funnels, and ever-changing paint schemes, they masqueraded as neutral or Allied traders, maintaining strict radio silence and operating far from established sea lanes to prolong their anonymity.This Battle Summary covers eight engagements with enemy merchant ship raiders up to the end of 1941. Over this 28-month period, Axis merchant raiders sank one British cruiser, one armed merchant cruiser, and a total of 618,108 tons of merchant shipping. Axis losses during the same period included three of the seven identified raiders, as well as two additional ships that were likely supply vessels.The British armed merchant cruisers and cruisers involved included: Alcantara (armed merchant cruiser), Carnarvon Castle (armed merchant cruiser), Leander (cruiser), Voltaire (armed merchant cruiser), Cornwall (cruiser), Sydney (cruiser), Devonshire (cruiser), and Dorsetshire (cruiser).

Pagina's: 60, Paperback, Naval & Military Press Ltd