this post was submitted on 02 Mar 2025
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If I'm not mistaken the Carmania was a civilian ship that the British outfit with weapons to protect convoys and the germans chose the Carmania because it was a civilian ship so it ended up being a battle between two "civilian" ships with hidden cannons.
Up until the end of WW2, it was quite common to requisition suitable civilian ships into the navy and outfit them as auxiliary cruisers. (often passenger liners due to their high speeds and long range) It wasn't uncommon for governments to subsidise suitable ships under the condition they were already built with preparations for such a conversion (mostly mounting points for a number of cruiser calibre guns).
Those auxiliary cruisers were then often put to use as convoy escorts and for commerce raiding, (Converted passenger ships being especially attractive in this capacity due to their capability of carrying extra personnel to use as prize crews to take over enemy shipping with useful cargo rather than sinking it) freeing up real warships for other tasks.