Merchant vessels armed

Q ships were heavily armed merchant vessels that were to trap enemy submarines. Today, the use of Q ships would be considered unlawful. See San Remo Manual, Explanations 1995, para 111.2. "Oppenheim 1952, p. 467 Colombos 1967, p. 521 et seq. 

In the case of Admiral Donitz, the International Military Tribunal held that British merchant vessels that had been armed or integrated into the war effort had lost their protection. See also San Remo Manual 1995, para 60. 

Today, the law is clear. Merchant vessels, whether nentral or enany, are liable to attack, if, by use or purpose, they make an effective contribntion to the enemy s military action, and if their destruction offers a definite military advantage. However, a more cautious approach is taken with regard to armed merchant vessels. According to the San Remo Manual, they qualify as lawful military objectives only, if they are armed to an extent that they could inflict damage to a warship . ... 

Cruisers were required to impose the blockade of Germany, although much of the work of boarding and checking merchant ships in northern waters was done by auxiliary armed boarding vessels. Indeed, the Tenth Cruiser Squadron patrolling the waters between Scotland and Norway... 

FROM VIRTUALLY the bei inning of the age of steam at sea, merchant passenger vessels have been a )propriatecl during times of war to perform auxiliary duties in support of armed forces. In tliis work they have served their countries needs throughout these periods of adversity as dutifully and successfully as they served those of international trade and travel in more halcyon times. 

The first mercantile auxiliary aircraft carriers were the CAM-ships (Catapult Armed Merchant ships), forerunners to the later MAC-ships (Merchant Aircraft Carriers), on which full, permanent flight decks were erected over the cargo holds. This allowed the ships to serve, simultaneously, as cargo carriers and convoy air patrol bases. A total of nineteen of these vessels were completed and they in turn were followed by the true mercantile escort carriers of which over a hundred were built. 

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