Spanish–American War American auxiliary cruisers Russo-Japanese War Japanese merchant cruisers Russian merchant cruisers Note: This listing is incomplete.
World War I Allied merchant cruisers Royal Navy Royal Australian Navy French Navy German auxiliary cruisers Spanish Civil War The
Spanish Nationalists, whose navy was substantially outnumbered by the
Republicans, made an extensive use of auxiliary cruisers during the
Spanish Civil War, two of them on loan from
Italy:
World War II Allied merchant cruisers The Armed merchant cruisers were made by requisitioning large ships and providing them with guns and other equipment. They ranged from . The armament varied but six guns with guns as secondary was usual. From 1941, many served as troopships. =====
Royal Australian Navy===== • • =====
Royal New Zealand Navy===== • =====
Royal Canadian Navy===== • • • =====
Royal Navy===== =====
French Navy (
Marine Nationale)===== French auxiliary cruisers were armed with 138 mm, 152 mm or 150 mm guns, 75 mm and 37 mm AA guns and 13.2 mm or 8 mm AA HMG • (X01) • (X03) • (X03) • (X05) • (X06) • (X07) (lost on 6 May 1942) • (X10) • (X11) • (X13) • (X16) • (X17) • (X18) • (X19) • (X20) • (X21) • (X22) (hit a mine and sunk on 19 June 1940)
German auxiliary cruiser raiders At the outbreak of war, the
Kriegsmarine requisitioned a number of fast merchantmen and immediately sent them into naval shipyards to be converted into offensive auxiliary cruisers. These ships had at the time of building been fitted with extra strong decks specifically to facilitate the installation of military equipment when required, but this was the only difference between them and other merchantmen of the period. No precise plans had been drawn up for the conversion of these ships into warships, and consequently the conversion process was painfully long. Compared to the diversity of British auxiliary cruisers, the
Hilfskreuzer were standardized insofar as possible. The ships averaged . Armament usually consisted of six 6 in guns, two to six
torpedo tubes, and an assortment of , 37 mm, and automatic weapons. Most of these
merchant raiders carried an
Arado Ar 196 floatplane for reconnaissance. , , and were also equipped with small motor
torpedo boats. In addition to armament, increased fuel, water, and coal storage had to be provided for as well. The raiders could not abandon the crews of their captures, so space had to be provided for prisoners. The first
Hilfskreuzer got under way in March 1940, shortly before the
Norwegian campaign. • (HSK-1) • (HSK-2) • (HSK-3) • (HSK-4) • (HSK-5) • (HSK-6) • (HSK-7) • (HSK-8) • (HSK-9) •
Coronel (HSK-10) • (HSK-11)
Japanese armed merchant cruisers Japan converted fourteen merchant ships to "armed merchant cruisers" but, by the end of 1943, five had been sunk and seven had been converted back to merchant ships. • •
Akagi Maru •
Asaka Maru •
Awata Maru •
Bangkok Maru •
Gokoku Maru •
Hōkoku Maru •
Kinryu Maru •
Kiyozumi Maru • •
Noshiro Maru •
Saigon Maru •
Ukishima Maru Italian armed merchant cruisers Unlike the Germans and the Japanese, none of the armed merchant cruisers (or auxiliary cruisers) of the Italian Royal Navy (
Regia Marina) were deployed to destroy or capture Allied merchant ships and were mostly used as supply ships or escorts. All of them mounted two guns. • - Lost on 27 February 1941
in battle with cruiser in the
Indian Ocean while fleeing
Italian East Africa for
Japan as an armed transport. • - Disarmed after arriving in
Kobe and renamed
Calitea II. Italian proposal to use her as commerce raiding rejected by Japanese authorities in 1941 and, after being chartered by the Japanese as the
Ikutagawa Maru, lost on 12 January 1945. • - Converted into an escort vessel and never served as an armed merchant cruiser, she took part of the
battle of Otranto • - Converted into a
hospital ship and never served as an armed merchant cruiser
Romanian armed merchant cruisers The
Romanian Navy had one auxiliary cruiser,
Dacia. She was built in France in 1907 as a passenger ship. She was 109 meters long, her beam was 13 meters and her draught was 8 meters, and
displaced 4,105 tons. Her top speed was . Initially she was an auxiliary minelayer, armed only with two 20 mm anti-aircraft guns and able to carry up to 200 mines. In 1942 she was also armed with three
105 mm naval/AA guns and designated as auxiliary cruiser (
crucişător auxiliar). == References ==