Hello,
Ula Jolly, you're certainly right, but i would not describe "Q-ships" as armed merchants but combatants.
B.t.w. in the first days of the war when the prize regulations were still in effect, a lot of british or "neutral" ships were stopped, searched and then sunk with the deck gun by U-boats, giving the crew time to man the lifeboats. The installation of guns on merchant ships as well as the existence of "Q-ships" was one (welcomed) reason for the unrestricted U-boat war.
Greetings,
Catfish
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