Passagierdampfer als Hilfskreuzer: kurze Geschichte der Entwicklung einer Schiffsgattung

Abstract

To date there is no cohesive historical account of the international development of the auxiliary cruiser, and the scattered investigations of various single aspects of this ship category do not add up to a comprehensive survey. These were the circumstances discovered by the author as, upon request of the editor of this publication, he undertook to provide an introduction to the report by Captain Meyer of the only voyage of the "Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse" as an auxiliary cruiser (see the following article). The first task was thus to gain an overall impression of this history. "Auxiliary cruisers", as defined here, were passenger steamships kept ready for battle by large shipping companies in countries with significant naval power. These ships were technically equipped for the installation of weapons, and their conversion could be carried out within a few days. The auxiliary cruiser was first to put into service by the Russians, who felt threatened by the British Royal Navy after the Russian-Turkish Balkan War. At that time a newly established shipping company, later called the "Russian Voluntary Fleet", bought three steamships from the Hamburg-America Line and had them converted for combat purposes. By the turn of the century, this originally Russian idea had been adopted by all of the world's Iarge navies . This brief study also touches on the various attempt worldwide to incorporate the legal status of the ship type "auxiliary cruiser" into international public and military law. Because of geopolitically based conflicts of interest between the naval powers, these endeavours were only partially successful. ln conclusion the author examines the auxiliary cruiser concept of the Imperial German Navy, whose goal it was to interfere with and impair the enemy's overseas commerce. The express Iiners originally designated for this purpose, however, were for various reasons inconceivably ill-suited to it. As early as 1915 the German Navy proceeded to commission cargo vessels as auxiliary cruisers, as they were inconspicuous and easier to supply. This was then the mode of operation employed by the navy during World War II.