Quote:
Originally Posted by iambecomelife
You are right about ship armament. As early as 1940, thousands of British cargo ships were armed. By 1941, nearly all British ships would have been armed. By 1943 ALL British and American ships on oceangoing convoy routes were armed, according to my historical sources. Usually at least one 4-5" gun, and at least four antiaircraft guns of .50cal - 20mm. The only ships that would not have been armed would be small craft that never left the safety of harbor.
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Even better, it appears some were preemptively armed before the war, like in this example:
https://uboat.net/allies/merchants/ship/5.html
Steamer "Manaar" returned fire when she was attacked on 6th September 1939, three days after Britain declared war.