HMS Rawalpindi

HMS Rawalpindi was a British Armed Merchant Cruiser (a converted passenger ship) that was sunk during the Second World War.

She started life as the 16,697 registed tons P. & O. Steam Navigation Co Ltd liner Rawalpindi out of London. She was requisitioned by the Admiralty on 26 August 1939 and converted to an armed merchant cruiser by the addition of eight six-inch guns and two 3-inch guns and set to work from October in the Northern Patrol covering the area around Iceland

While patrolling north of the Faeroe Islands on November 23 1939, she investigated a sighting only to find that she had encountered two of the most powerful German warships, the battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau trying to break out into the Atlantic. The Rawalpindi was able to signal the German ships' location. Effectively trapped, Captain Kennedy of the Rawalpindi decided to fight, despite being hopelessly outgunned, rather than surrender as demanded by the Germans. The German warships soon returned fire and sank Rawalpindi, with the loss of many lives including Captain Kennedy, father of broadcaster and author Ludovic Kennedy.

As their presence had been discovered, the German ships returned to base to avoid the British Home Fleet which had been sent to intercept them. At the time, the incident was regarded by many as an example of heroic defiance in the face of impossible odds, and many people thought that Captain Kennedy should have been awarded the Victoria Cross. However his decision to fight needlessly cost many lives and did not gain anything, and no medal was awarded.