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HMSRawalpindi

Coordinates:63°23′59″N12°18′36″W/ 63.39972°N 12.31000°W/63.39972; -12.31000
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Scale model of HMSRawalpindi
History
United Kingdom
NameRawalpindi
NamesakeThe city ofRawalpindi(British India)
OwnerPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
Port of registryUnited KingdomGreenock
RouteLondon–Bombay
BuilderHarland and Wolff,Greenock
Yard number660[1]
Laid down1923
Launched26 March 1925
Completed3 September 1925[1]
HomeportLondon
FateRequisitioned byAdmiralty,24 August 1939
United Kingdom
NameHMSRawalpindi
Acquired24 August 1939
Commissioned19 September 1939
Out of service23 November 1939
FateSunk by German battleships, 23 November 1939
General characteristics
TypeArmed merchant cruiser
Tonnage16,697GRT
Length548 ft (167 m)
Beam69 ft (21 m)
Draught29 ft 6 in (8.99 m)
Propulsion2 ×quadruple-expansion steam engines
Speed15kn(28 km/h)
Complement276
Armament
Notes

HMSRawalpindiwas a Britisharmed merchant cruiser(a convertedocean lineremployed as a convoy escort, as a patrol vessel, or to enforce ablockade) that was sunk in a surface action against the GermanbattleshipsScharnhorstandGneisenauduring the first months of theSecond World War.Her captain wasEdward Kennedy.

Service history

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Merchant service

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The ship started life as the 16,697GRTPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company(P&O)ocean linerRawalpindi,built byHarland and Wolff.She was launched on 26 March 1925 by Lady Birkenhead, the wife ofF. E. Smith, 1st Earl of Birkenhead,and joined the P&O fleet in September of the same year. She was named after thecity of Rawalpindi,a Britishgarrison townin what is nowPakistan.She had berths for 307 First Class and 288 Second Class passengers, and was employed on the London toBombayservice.[2]

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TheAdmiraltyrequisitionedRawalpindion 26 August 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser by the addition of eight elderly6 in (150 mm) gunsand two3 in (76 mm) guns.She was set to work from October 1939 in theNorthern Patrolcovering the area aroundIceland.On 19 October in theDenmark Strait,Rawalpindiintercepted the GermantankerGonzenheim(4,574 grt), which had leftBuenos Aireson 14 September. The tanker wasscuttledby her crew before aboarding partycould get on board.[3][4]

Sinking

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While patrolling north of theFaroe Islandson 23 November 1939, she was detected at 16:07 by the German battleshipScharnhorstwho was assigned together with her sister shipGneisenauto attack the Northern Patrol. The German ship closed in onRawalpindiand half an hour later signalled several times 'Stop! What ship?'.Rawalpindianswered with the signal 'F-A-M', altered course and started to lay smoke.[5]

Despite being hopelessly outgunned, 60-year-oldCaptainEdward KennedyRN ofRawalpindidecided to fight. He was heard to say "We'll fight them both, they'll sink us, and that will be that. Good-bye".

At 17:03Scharnhorstopened fire at a distance of 7.5 kilometers. andRawalpindiimmediately returned fire. Three minutes laterRawalpindiwas hit and started to burn fiercely.Rawalpindimanaged to score one hit on the aft deck ofScharnhorst,which caused minor splinter damage. At 17:11Gneisenaujoined the fight and opened fire, but five minutes later the German commander ordered to cease fire asRawalpindisignals 'Please send boats'. Both German ships started to pick up survivors but at 19:15 German lookouts spotted another ship in the darkness and gave alarm. The German ships retreated northwards as the British cruiserNewcastlearrived on the scene. During the battleRawalpindimanaged to broadcast two signals to the British admiralty. The first signal mentioned she had sighted a battlecruiser, the second mentioned she was attacked by the heavy cruiserDeutschland.[6][7][8]

238 men died onRawalpindi,including Captain Kennedy. Thirty-seven men were rescued by the German ships,[9]a further 11 were picked up by HMSChitral(another converted passenger ship). Captain Kennedy—the father of naval officer, broadcaster and authorLudovic Kennedy—was posthumouslyMentioned in Dispatches.[10]Crew members onScharnhorstandGneisenauwere eligible for theHigh Seas Fleet Badgefor participating in the sinking ofRawalpindi.

Sister ships

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Rawalpindiwas one of the P&O "R" -class liners from 1925 that had had much of their interiors designed byLord Inchcape'sdaughterElsie Mackay.[11]Hersister shipsRanchi,RanpuraandRajputanawere also converted into armed merchant cruisers.Rajputanawastorpedoedand sunk by theGerman submarineU-108in the Denmark Strait on 13 April 1941.

Notes

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  1. ^abMcCluskie,p. 133.
  2. ^"Rawalpindi".Scottish Built Ships.Caledonian Maritime Research Trust.
  3. ^Kindell, Don."Phoney War, World War 2 at Sea, October 1939".naval-history.net.Retrieved5 July2015.
  4. ^Rohwer,p. 6.
  5. ^Bekker,p. 37.
  6. ^Bekker,pp. 37–40.
  7. ^Rohwer,p. 9.
  8. ^Bredemeier,pp. 30–34.
  9. ^"BBC - WW2 People's War - My Night to Remember- the Sinking of the HMS Rawalpindi".
  10. ^"No. 34893".The London Gazette(Supplement). 9 July 1940. p. 4261.
  11. ^"P & O Line Ships (and technical data) from 1920–1930".Archived fromthe originalon 30 January 2010.Retrieved28 May2008.

References

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  • Bekker, Cajus (1971).Verdammte See(in German). Oldenburg: Gerhard Stalling Verlag.ISBN3-548-03057-2.
  • Bredemeier, Heinrich (1997).Schlachtschiff Scharnhorst(in German) (5th ed.). Hamburg: Koehler.ISBN3-7822-0592-8.
  • McCluskie, Tom (2013).The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff.Stroud: The History Press.ISBN9780752488615.
  • Rohwer, J. (2005).Chronology of the War at Sea 1939–1945.Naval Institute Press.ISBN978-1-59114-119-8.

Further reading

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  • Osborne, Richard; Spong, Harry & Grover, Tom (2007).Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945.Windsor: World Warship Society.ISBN978-0-9543310-8-5.
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63°23′59″N12°18′36″W/ 63.39972°N 12.31000°W/63.39972; -12.31000

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