HMS RAWALPINDI

HMS Rawalpindi: The Heroic Armed Merchant Cruiser

HMS Rawalpindi, a Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser - the epitome of the bravery and sacrifice of the early World War Two navy campaign. MTB-2 was a Royal Navy Motor Torpedo Boat during the Second World War, as well as the former passenger ship SS/RMS Rawalpindi.II of the British India Steam Navigation Company, built in 19258 for P&O's intermediate Bombay and Persian Gulf routes from Britain. Its short wartime career culminated in a heroic, but doomed, action against the German battleships Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 23 November 1939, making it one of the earliest important surface actions of the Second World War. Rawalpindi’s brave stand had under Captain Edward Coverley Kennedy symbolized naval valor. This article discusses its design, special features and decisive World War II roles, in particular its patrolling and final fight, relying on historical reports to emphasize its importance.

Design of HMS Rawalpindi

Origins and Conversion

HMS Rawalpindi was originally built as the SS Rawalpindi, a 16,697 gross register ton (GRT) passenger ship for the P&O steamship company by Harland & Wolff of Belfast, launched on 26 March 1925. Named for the British garrison town in what is now Pakistan, she was designed for P&O’s London to Bombay route and could carry 307 first class and 288 second class passengers. At 548 feet long, 71 feet wide, and with a draught of 26 feet, she was propelled by twin quadruple-expansion steam engines that could make a top speed of 17 knots; fine for commercial service but slow for naval combat. It had the opulent interiors of a civilian and some of the design was by Elsie Mackay (daughter of Lord Inchcape).

On 26 August 1939, the Admiralty requisitioned Rawalpindi at Tilbury and she was converted as an armed merchant cruiser in just 19 days at R&H Green and Silley Weir, Royal Albert Dock, London. The conversion was made by removing the vestigial aft funnel and equipping the ship with eight 6-inch (150mm) guns salvaged from First World War–vintage warships as well as two 3-inch (76mm) anti-aircraft guns. Close-in defense was augmented by three Vickers machine guns, similarly obsolete. The vessel was rather quickly converted, with the original merchant ship hull remaining, to which no armour and virtually no watertight bulkheads were added. As a basic air warning set a Type 286 radar, emitting a power of 10 kW and a maximum range of 25-40 miles was installed, that was unsatisfactory to detect surface targets. The crew, of approximately 276, staggered Royal Naval and Royal Naval Reserve (RNR) men and ex-merchant mariners, including 60-year-old captain Kennedy, a Great War veteran called out of retirement to command Cardigan Bay.

Technical Specifications

Rawalpindi’s World War design emphasized firepower at the expense of protection. The eight single-mounted 6-in guns were designed to counter enemy merchant raiders or surfaced U-boats, though their age and absence of modern fire-control meant they were not particularly effective. The 3-inch anti-aircraft guns provided little defence against aircraft such as the Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor and the Vickers machine guns were obsolescent even in 1939. The ship was capable of 17 knots thanks to the steam engines, fast enough to serve as a convoy escort, though obviously not quick enough to outrun Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, German warships that could reach 31 knots. The crew worked under confined conditions and passenger spaces were used to carry ammunition and conduct naval operations without the design being intended for offensive operation or concealment of their weaponry.

Design Limitations

Rawalpindi was a halfway design out of necessity. Later its merchant hull was unarmored, being exposed to heavy-gun and torpedo. The obsolete 6-inch guns, which fired accurately to a maximum of about 14,000 yards, were no match for the 11-inch (280mm) guns of German battleships, which could fire accurately at ranges in excess of 20,000 yards. The ship had no radar or fire-control equipment, which made it difficult to engage targets, while its top speed kept it from running away from enemies or closing with them. Suffering from all of these weaknesses, Rawalpindi was used as an expedient, filled in as-and-when by the Royal Navy until stronger ships could be made available.

What Made HMS Rawalpindi Special

As an armed merchant cruiser Rawalpindi was one of 56 armed cruisers (AMCs) used by the Royal Navy to defend merchant shipping from enemy surface raiders. Those converted liners were essential in 1939, when there were hardly any destroyers and cruisers. Rawalpindi’s task on the Northern Patrol, which blocked the gap between Iceland and the Faroes, was to stop German merchant ships and raiders from reaching the Atlantic. Its 6-inch guns and size made it an evidently daunting sight, capable of intimidating smaller ships, but it was no match for a modern warship. The ship’s transformation from a pleasure liner to a warship was typical of the Navy’s resourcefulness, with the merchant mariners and reservists who manned it stepping up for hairy jobs.

Leadership of Captain Kennedy

A 60-year-old veteran of the battlecruiser HMS New Zealand in World War I, Captain Edward Kennedy, steered Rawalpindi with determination. He had been retired since 1921 but volunteered for active duty as a symbol of the “never surrender” sentiment. He would fight both Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, no matter the odds, remarking, “We’ll fight them both, they’ll sink us, and that will be all.” Good-bye,” became a legend, planting the seed of naval tradition and even winning the praises of Winston Churchill in Parliament. Under Kennedy’s leadership, Rawalpindi became a symbol of resistance.

Psychological and Propaganda Value

The gallant stance of Rawalpindi had a deep psychological effect. For the Allies, its loss emphasized the courage of AMC crews and was a morale booster. Churchill lauded in Parliament Rawalpindi’s “glorious fight against overwhelming odds” on Dec. 6, 1939, and juxtaposed its heroism with the scuttling of Admiral Graf Spee in a broadcast on Dec. 18. Sinking that AMC was a morale booster for Germany, but the Kriegsmarine withdrew after the battle, which left the Admiralty puzzled and aware that the Germans had a cautious naval strategy. Rawalpindi’s signals remained in effect throughout the battle and prompted the Royal Navy, which in turn affected follow-up operations.

Key Roles in Battles

The Battle of the Atlantic

Rawalpindi’s main role was in the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle to keep open the sea lanes for the Allied merchant ships in the face of German U-boats and raiders. From October 1939 it was assigned to the Northern Patrol, a line of AMCs and cruisers from Scapa Flow to Iceland to trap German ships. Deployed to the southeast of Iceland, Rawalpindi was on the Denmark Strait and Iceland-Faroe gap patrol"“two vital choke points for blockade runners. It succeeded in dissuading passage by smaller ships, and both took part in the capture or sinking of German merchant ships, but its short career would be completed with a single, celebrated action.

Interception of Gonzenheim

October 19, 1939 saw Rawalpindi and the German tanker Gonzenheim (4,574 GRT) intercepted in the Denmark Strait at 63°25'N, 12°00'W, scuttled by the crew on trying to run the British blockade out of Buenos Aires, before Rawalpindi's boarding party boarded the vessel. This showed Rawalpindi’s success in shutting down the blockade, for the Northern Patrol was stopping eight to ten German ships a week at this time. The interception frustrated German efforts to supply the ship, but was a small victory compared to what was in store for the vessel.

Action of November 23, 1939

Rawalpindi’s hour of glory was on November 23, 1939, while on patrol to the north of the Faroe Islands, roughly a hundred miles to the east of Iceland. At 15:31, the lookouts sighted snow being blotted out by smoke, indicating the German battleship Scharnhorst with her sister ship Gneisenau, on their first offensive operation to sweep the Northern Patrol. Mistaking Scharnhorst for the pocket battleship Deutschland, Rawalpindi reported sighting a battlecruiser at 63°40'N, 12°31'W to the Admiralty. At 16:07, Scharnhorst signaled “Stop! What ship?” F-A-M took evasive action, returning fire and laying a smoke screen in attempt to flee to fog cover.

Captain Kennedy, realizing his almost hopeless condition, concluded to fight. At 16:30, Scharnhorst engaged with her 11-inch guns, and soon battered Rawalpindi into a burning wreck. Rawalpindi’s 6 in guns scored one hit on the Scharnhorst’s after deck, with only a little splinter damage. At 17:11 Gneisenau began laying down a barrage, and within forty minutes Rawalpindi was destroyed. It sent the message “Please send boats” at 17:16 as the ship was being consumed by fires. It went down about 20:00, along with 238 members of its 276 crew, including Kennedy. Thirty-seven of the survivors were picked up by the German ships, with a further eleven rescued by HMS Chitral, a second AMC.

These signals from Rawalpindi alerted the Admiralty, which received signals from the Home Fleet including battleships HMS Nelson and Rodney and cruiser HMS Devonshire. The light cruiser HMS Newcastle of the Northern Patrol spotted Gneisenau but lost touch in fog, narrowly escaping the same fate. The German battleships, commanded by Admiral Wilhelm Marschall, returned to port at Wilhelmshaven by 27 November without further incident. The cautious withdrawal astonished the Admiralty, and showed that the Germans were unwilling to risk capital ships.

Contribution to Naval Strategy

Rawalpindi’s short engagement, however, was of strategic value. Its signals made it possible for the Royal Navy to send ships to interfere with the German operation. The engagement, the first major surface action of the war since 1919, served to highlight the AMCs' vulnerability to contemporary warships, leading the Admiralty to curtail their employment on high exposure patrols. Rawalpindi’s sacrifice stalled German attempts to strike at Atlantic trade routes, providing the Allies with time to develop countermeasures.

Challenges and Limitations

Rawalpindi’s commercial design was its fatal flaw. There was no armor, but there were also no watertight compartments to protect the ship from Scharnhorst’s and Gneisenau’s heavy guns. One fleet of 6-inch guns (a holdover from that relic of World War I) was outranged and did not possess modern fire-control systems, making it no match for an enemy in a set-piece battle. The ship’s speed of 17 knots didn’t allow for escape from faster pursuers, and the rudimentary radar caused warning to come at the very last. Aboard the rickety plane, a mix of reservists and civilians were working under brutal conditions on a cargo flight with passenger areas not designed for combat. The loss, sinking so quickly, proved the danger of using former liners in actions against battleships, and determined the nature of subsequent escort task group evolutions.

Legacy and Impact

The loss of HMS Rawalpindi had been the turning point in the Battle of the Atlantic. Its gallant engagement, lauded by Churchill, became a Royal Navy legend and inspired the crews of other ships under similar circumstances. The action revealed the deficiencies of AMCs and they were gradually replaced in this role by destroyers and escort carriers such as HMS Audacity. Testimonies from the survivors, including ones brought back to Germany aboard a German raider, helped to reveal German raider methods to the Allies. The loss led to increased escort allocations for convoys and accelerated developments in anti-submarine and anti-raider technologies, thereby helping keep the Allied supply lines intact. The legacy of Rawalpindi is in its defiance, the sacrifice of her crew and what its part played in crafting naval warfare in the opening years of the war.

final thoughts

Converted from a 1925 P&O liner, HMS Rawalpindi was a key player in the Battle of the Atlantic. It's intterception of Gonzenheim and fight against the Scharnhorst and Gneisenau on 23 November 1939 were the epitome of bravery in the face of heavy odds. Despite his death, Captain Kennedy chose to fight and in doing so, signaled the Royal Navy and German plans were spoiled. The vulnerabilities of Rawalpindi exposed the inadequacy of outdated escorts, which contributed to the move towards the development of the escort carrier. Its legacy remains as a tribute to naval courage and the price that was paid to ensure an Allied victory.