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53-767: Laurie Island is the second largest of the South Orkney Islands . The island is claimed by both Argentina as part of Argentine Antarctica , and by the United Kingdom as part of the British Antarctic Territory . Under the Antarctic Treaty System all sovereignty claims are suspended, as the island lies south of the parallel 60°. Buchanan Point at the north-eastern end of the island, with Cape Whitson on its south coast, are Important Bird Areas . Laurie Island

106-610: A Russian Volunteer Fleet . Germany and the United Kingdom responded to the precedent by asking their shipping companies to design fast steamers with provision for mounting guns in time of war. In 1890 German and British shipyards built new civilian ships designed for wartime conversion, and France , Italy , Japan , Austria-Hungary , and the United States made similar agreements with their shipyards. In 1892 Russia likewise built two more auxiliary cruisers. In 1895

159-841: A false flag with guns concealed, and sometimes with her appearance altered with fake funnels and masts and often a fake paint scheme. The victim was thus engaged at point-blank range and had no chance to escape. In World War I, the Imperial German Navy initially used fast passenger ships, such as past holders of the Blue Riband for fastest North Atlantic crossings, but they made obvious and easy targets because of their very familiar silhouettes. The Germans, therefore, soon moved on to using captured and refitted Allied vessels, but principally modified transport ships. These were slower, but less recognizable. In both world wars, these ships were vulnerable to attack, and were withdrawn before

212-481: A group of islands, the South Orkney Islands are at approximately 60°36′S 45°30′W  /  60.600°S 45.500°W  / -60.600; -45.500 . The archipelago comprises four main islands. Coronation Island is the largest, measuring about 30 mi (48 km) long; its highest point is Mount Nivea which rises to 4,153 ft (1,266 m) above sea level. Laurie Island

265-403: A number of small arms and the use of the ship's fire hoses to repel boarders. One notable exception to this were the ships of Pacific Nuclear Transport Limited , which are used to transport spent nuclear fuel and reprocessed uranium on behalf of British Nuclear Fuels Limited . Transporting enough fissile material between them to produce 50–60 nuclear weapons, these ships, beginning with

318-431: A shipping container, in theory enabling any cargo ship to be armed with an anti-ship missile. This type of missile was allegedly capable of disabling or even sinking an aircraft carrier, but "it's not known how many of them would have to hit a carrier to knock it out of action, much less sink it." During the 2011 Libyan civil war , forces loyal to Gaddafi armed several merchant vessels and attempted to use them to blockade

371-442: A single fighter aircraft. The merchant aircraft carrier or "MAC" was a British or Dutch cargo ship with a flight deck that could carry a small number of aircraft. CAM and MAC ships remained as civilian ships operated by civilian crews, with Fleet Air Arm or Royal Netherlands Navy "air parties". Despite a rise in modern piracy , it was up until the early 2010s very unusual for modern merchant ships to be armed, save for maybe

424-895: A total of 15 ships in 1914 and 1915, before finally running out of supplies and having to put into port in Virginia , where the Americans interned her and eventually converted her into the United States Navy troop transport USS Von Steuben . The most famous German commerce raider of World War I probably was Seeadler , a sailing ship under the command of the legendary Count Felix von Luckner . However, both Wolf and Möwe were each much more successful than Seeadler . In World War II, Nazi Germany's Kriegsmarine operated ten very successful auxiliary cruisers, ranging in tonnage from 3,860 to 9,400; typically these vessels were equipped with: To preserve their cover, these ships flew

477-475: Is the easternmost of the islands. The other main islands are Powell and Signy . Smaller islands in the group include Robertson Islands , the Saddle Islands , and Acuña Island . The total area of the archipelago is about 240 sq mi (620 km ), of which about 90 percent is glaciated. The Inaccessible Islands about 15  nmi (17 mi; 28 km) to the west are considered part of

530-511: The Action of 4 April 1941 . During World War II, German auxiliary cruisers are believed to have either sunk or captured some 800,000 long tons (812,838 t) of Allied shipping. Compare to the Q-ship , which was a disguised merchantman for anti-submarine operations. The CAM ship (from catapult armed merchantman) was a British merchantman fitted with a catapult that could launch, but not recover,

583-457: The Imperial German Navy mobilized the provisional auxiliary cruiser Normannia for a 15-day trial armed with eight 6-inch guns, two 3.5-inch (89 mm) guns, six 37-millimetre (1.46 in) guns, and two torpedo boats. In both World Wars, both Germany and the United Kingdom used auxiliary cruisers. While the British used armed passenger liners defensively for protecting their shipping,

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636-601: The Letters Patent of 1908, Britain declared a claim over the South Orkney Islands and incorporated Laurie Island into the newly created Falkland Islands Dependencies , meaning that Laurie Island would be subject to the British government in the Falklands . Argentina did not lodge a formal protest against the Letters Patent and Britain interpreted this as an acceptance of the British claim. The British position

689-610: The Orkney Islands in the north of Scotland ) and also renamed some of the islands. The South Orkney Islands are located at roughly the same latitude south as the Orkney Islands are north (60°S vs 59°N), although it is not known if this was a factor behind the naming of the islands. (Incidentally, the South Shetland Islands , discovered in 1819 by William Smith , are roughly the same latitude south as

742-605: The Pacific Pintail and Pacific Teal , became armed in 1999 to avoid the cost of a Royal Navy escort. Travelling together in convoy during these ships' intermittent voyages, they have an onboard escort of armed police from the UKAEAC and its successors and are equipped with two or three 30 mm (1.18 in) autocannons . Another exception were various ships of the Soviet Union's Merchant Marine (MORFLOT) during

795-570: The Rawalpindi was quickly sunk. The Spanish and United States Navies used auxiliary cruisers during the Spanish–American War of 1898. In World War I , too, American auxiliary cruisers fought several engagements with German U-boats. The German practice was to arm merchantmen with hidden weapons and use them as commerce raiders . An auxiliary cruiser, Hilfskreuzer or Handels-Stör-Kreuzer (HSK), usually approached her target under

848-517: The Shetland Islands are north: 62°S vs 60°N.) Subsequently, the South Orkney Islands were frequently visited by sealers and whalers , but no thorough survey was done until the expedition of William Speirs Bruce on the Scotia in 1903, which overwintered at Laurie Island. Bruce surveyed the islands, reverted some of Weddell's name changes, and established a meteorological station, which

901-459: The 1960s. It has since colonized much of the island and is altering the entire soil ecosystem. Some places they can reach 20,000 individuals per m2. Because it can survive in water, there are concerns that it could reach other islands. The two claimant nations maintain research stations on the islands. Auxiliary cruiser An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after

954-670: The 80th degrees of west longitude", including the South Orkney Islands. The Islands were subsequently administered as part of the Falkland Islands Dependencies . A biological research station on Signy Island was built in 1947 by the British Antarctic Survey , and was staffed year-round until 1996, when the Station staffing was reduced to 8–10 personnel who remained only during the southern hemisphere summer (November to April each year). In 1962,

1007-556: The Argentine station house up to 45 people during the summer, and an average of 14 during winter. The British Antarctic Survey base, Signy Research Station , is located on Signy Island and was established in 1947. Initially operated year-round, since 1995/6 the Signy Research Station has been open only from November to April each year. Apart from personnel at the bases, there are no permanent human inhabitants on

1060-458: The Australian light cruiser HMAS  Sydney , which approached too close, though Kormoran was also sunk in the engagement. This was the only occasion in history when an armed merchantman managed to sink a modern warship ; in most cases, auxiliary cruiser raiders tried to avoid confrontation with warships. Kormoran ' s attack upon Sydney was motivated by desperation. She was not

1113-516: The British government refused to acknowledge the legitimacy of the post office. When the auxiliary cruiser HMS Carnarvon Castle visited Laurie Island on 9 February 1943, the Secretary of State for the Colonies cautioned the crew against sending letters while on shore, as doing so would undercut the British position that Argentina had no authority to establish a post office on Laurie Island in

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1166-624: The Cold War (MORFLOT often operated as an adjunct to Soviet foreign and military policy, both overtly and otherwise). In 2007, facing a chronic shortage of naval vessels the Cuban Navy placed into service the Rio Damuji class of frigates , which are large fishing trawlers converted into warships. In April 2010, it was reported that a Russian company was offering a version of the 3M-54 Klub missile that could be disguised and launched from

1219-586: The German approach was to use them offensively to attack enemy shipping. The armed merchant cruisers (AMC) of the British Royal Navy were employed for convoy protection against enemy warships. They ultimately proved to have limited value and many, particularly ocean liners , were later converted into troopships, a role for which they were more suited. Documentary evidence quoted by the BBC researched from

1272-617: The German ship attacked the convoy. Though she and five vessels of the convoy were sunk, this enabled the rest of the convoy to escape. Her master, Acting Captain Edward Fegen was awarded the Victoria Cross posthumously for his actions. Another famous action involving an armed merchant cruiser was the November 1939 battle between HMS  Rawalpindi and the German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau . Outgunned,

1325-537: The South Orkneys. The climate of the South Orkneys is generally cold, wet, and windy. Summers are short and cold (December to March) when the average temperatures reach about 3.5  °C (38.3  °F ) and fall to about −12.8 °C (9 °F) in July. The all time temperature range at Orcadas Base is between 12 and −44 °C (53.6 and −47.2 °F). The highest temperature recorded at Signy Research Station

1378-735: The early stages of the First World War suggests that the express liners had greater speed than most warships (few warships of the period could exceed 21 knots), which made them suitable as AMCs. The downside proved to be their high fuel consumption; using them in a purely AMC role would have burned through the Admiralty reserve supplies of steam coal in less than three months. The ships were vulnerable to enemy fire because they lacked warship armour, and they used local control of guns rather than director fire-control systems , which reduced their effective fire power. A famous AMC of World War I

1431-532: The fact. In the days of sail, piracy and privateers , many merchantmen would be routinely armed, especially those engaging in long distance and high value trade. In more modern times, auxiliary cruisers were used offensively as merchant raiders to disrupt trade chiefly during both World War I and World War II, particularly by Germany. While armed merchantmen are clearly inferior to purpose-built warships, sometimes they have scored successes in combat against them. Examples include East Indiamen mimicking ships of

1484-585: The first place. Sedimentary rocks , most notably the Greywacke-Shale Formation, constitute the bulk of Laurie Island. Dr. John H. Harvey Pirie, a geologist aboard the Scotia described the rock as "a fine-grained greywacke of a blue-grey or greenish-grey colour." The greywacke contained grains of many different minerals, quartz being the most numerous, along with plagioclase feldspar, titanite, zircon, biotite, chlorite, and veins of calcite. Pirie also found shale formations distributed across

1537-690: The flags of neutral or occasionally Allied nations. They were refueled and provisioned from special supply ships, from Japanese island bases or from prizes they had taken. To counter the effectiveness of these disguises, the Allies introduced the check-mate system in 1942 to identify individual ships on a one-by-one basis with the Admiralty in London. In one incident, the German Kormoran (ex-merchantman Steiermark ) managed to surprise and sink

1590-552: The formation of the Greywacke to the Carboniferous Period , many millions of years later than originally thought. 60°43′43″S 44°31′05″W  /  60.72861°S 44.51806°W  / -60.72861; -44.51806 South Orkney Islands Britain and Argentina both maintain bases on the islands. The Argentine base, Orcadas , established in 1904, is sited on Laurie Island . The 11 buildings of

1643-617: The graptolites belonged. Later analysis showed that the fossils on Graptolite Island were merely the remains of ancient plants. The dating of the Greywacke-Shale Formation has proved to be a source of scientific controversy. Based on Pirie's incorrect analysis of the "graptolites", geologist I. Rafael Cordini dated the rock's genesis to the Ordovician Period . However, this explanation proved to be untenable, as Laurie Island would have been far older than had been thought possible. The reassessment of Pirie's fossils as plant remains dates

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1696-760: The harsh conditions, the islands do support vegetation and constitute the South Orkney Islands tundra ecoregion . All islands lie in the cold seas below the Antarctic Convergence . These areas support tundra vegetation consisting of mosses , lichens and algae , while seabirds, penguins and seals feed in the surrounding waters. The littoral zone of the South Orkneys is biologically either lifeless or very poor. Amphipods and planarians exist under rocks, along with various algaes, chitons , and some gastropods . With increasing water depth, life becomes more varied: starfish appear beyond 2–3 metres along with sponges, urchins, and ascidians . At 8–10 metres,

1749-530: The home countries were at war, a convoy system would be used whereby the ships were escorted by a warship . However, many East Indiamen also travelled on their own, and therefore were heavily armed in order to defend themselves against pirates and privateers . They also defended themselves against warships, scoring signal victories at the Battle of Pulo Aura and the action of 4 August 1800 . The British Royal Navy purchased several that it converted to ships of

1802-491: The island demonstrated sovereignty, a key to securing a claim over a mostly desolate area. Robert Rudmose-Brown , who participated in Bruce's expedition, expressed a different view. He argued in a 1947 article that no country had the capability to govern a region as vast as Antarctica and thus no country had the standing to claim Antarctica as its own. By 1908, Britain had come to regret its previous assessment of Laurie Island. In

1855-571: The island to Melville Island for the 2nd Viscount Melville , but the name failed to stick when the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition opted for Laurie Island instead. William S. Bruce conducted the first comprehensive scientific study of Laurie Island during the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition. Aboard his ship, the Scotia , Bruce landed on Laurie Island in March 1903. The first settlement, Omond House,

1908-418: The island, usually fractured and twisted. Graptolite Island , off of Laurie Island's south-east coast, particularly exhibited these shale formations. It was on Graptolite Island that Pirie collected three fossils which he later mistook to be the remains of ancient animal organisms known as graptolites , hence the name of the island. Gertrude Elles believed that Pleurograptus was the specific species to which

1961-524: The island. Britain saw the possibility of strategically relinquishing the South Orkney Islands to Argentina in order to strengthen diplomatic relations or to secure the Falkland Islands themselves. The Argentine occupation of Laurie Island posed a problem for this strategy, as it weakened Britain's claim to the South Orkneys. Before a British cession of the South Orkney Islands could exert any leverage, Britain would have to solidify its own claim over

2014-536: The islands became part of the newly established British Antarctic Territory . The Argentine claim to the islands dates from 1925. It was originally justified by the Argentine occupation of the Laurie Island base and later subsumed into a wider territorial claim . The islands are situated at latitudes about 60°30' to 60°48' S and longitudes 44°25' to 46°43' W in the Southern Ocean . As

2067-558: The islands. The South Orkney Islands were discovered in 1821 by two sealers , the American Nathaniel Brown Palmer and the Briton George Powell . The islands were originally named Powell's Group , with the main island named Coronation Island as it was the year of the coronation of King George IV . In 1823, James Weddell visited the islands, gave the archipelago its present name (after

2120-547: The line and chasing off regular French warships in the Battle of Pulo Aura in 1804, and the German auxiliary cruiser  Kormoran sinking the Australian light cruiser HMAS  Sydney in their battle in 1941, although Kormoran was also destroyed and had to be scuttled. East Indiamen of various European countries were heavily armed for their long journeys to the Far East . In particularly dangerous times, such as when

2173-710: The line . In 1856, privateering (or seizure of a belligerent country's merchant ships as a private enterprise) lost international sanction under the Declaration of Paris . From 1861 to 1865 European countries built high-speed ships to run the Union Blockade during the American Civil War . Some of these were armed and served as Confederate States Navy raiders. Russia purchased three ships in 1878 of 6,000 long tons (6,100  t ) armed with 6-inch (150 mm) guns for use as auxiliary cruisers for

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2226-698: The most successful German raider of World War II (both Atlantis and Pinguin scored higher kill tonnages). Another, Stier , was also sunk in a mutually destructive engagement with the American Liberty ship SS  Stephen Hopkins . The only encounters between Allied and Axis auxiliary cruisers in World War II were all with the raider Thor . This small vessel, which captured or sank 22 merchantmen, encountered three British AMCs in her career, defeating RMS  Alcantara and HMS  Carnarvon Castle and later sinking HMS Voltaire in

2279-473: The necessary mandate to claim the island for either Britain or Scotland . Nevertheless, Bruce's offer was accepted, and the Argentines would continue operating the meteorological station at Omond House, sending a ship each year to replenish supplies. Laurie Island would prove politically valuable to Argentina. To justify its claim to a sector of Antarctica, Argentina argued that its permanent settlement on

2332-448: The port of Misrata . In October 2011, British Prime Minister David Cameron announced that British merchant shipping passing through areas known for piracy were permitted to carry firearms. Since the late 19th century various navies have used armed merchant ships in the role of auxiliary cruisers , also called armed merchant cruisers . Significant use of this type of ship was made by Britain and Germany in both World Wars. Some of

2385-534: The territory. Laurie Island is also the site of the first post office built in the Antarctic. After William S. Bruce turned over the meteorological station to the Argentinian government, Argentina initiated postal services on 20 February 1904. The post office went inactive shortly after, until 1942, when Argentina restarted postal services, in part to assert its claim to the South Orkney Islands. In response,

2438-418: The variety of starfish increases along with the general biomass, and below 30 metres there are vast colonies of these creatures. Two penguin species, Chinstrap ( Pygoscelis antarctica ) and Adélie ( Pygoscelis adeliae ), are present on land. On Signy Island a parthenogenetic flightless midge originally from South Georgia , Eretmoptera murphyi , was accidentally introduced during a botany experiment in

2491-424: The war ended. Many were sunk after being caught by regular warships – an unequal battle, since auxiliary cruisers had poor fire control and no armor. There were, however, a few success stories. Kaiser Wilhelm der Grosse was a former passenger liner that sank two freighters in 1914 before being caught by HMS  Highflyer . Her sister ship, Kronprinz Wilhelm , had a legendary journey, sinking or capturing

2544-430: Was 19.8 °C (67.6 °F) on 30 January 1982, which is the highest temperature recorded anywhere south of 60°S . The seas around the islands are ice-covered from late April to November. South Orkney Trough ( 60°0′S 45°0′W  /  60.000°S 45.000°W  / -60.000; -45.000 ) is an undersea trough named in association with the South Orkney Islands and approved 10/77 (ACUF 177). Despite

2597-453: Was built by the crew out of stone, and would be used both as a shelter and as a post from which to study the weather. In January 1904, Bruce offered control of Omond House to the government of Argentina ; the house would later be renamed Orcadas Base . The British Government had previously refused to carry on the Scottish National Antarctic Expedition's scientific studies, as they considered Laurie Island itself worthless. The expedition lacked

2650-490: Was discovered by Captains George Powell and Nathaniel Palmer in the course of their 1821 expedition to the South Atlantic. Richard Holmes Laurie used Powell's observations to create a map of the island, and subsequently, the island was named after him. Two years later, James Weddell mapped the island for the second time, though his charts turned out to be much less accurate than Powell's. Weddell attempted to rename

2703-476: Was sold to the Argentine Government upon his departure in 1904. This base, renamed Orcadas in 1951, is still in operation today and is thus the oldest research station continuously staffed in the Antarctic. In 1908, the United Kingdom declared sovereignty over various Antarctic and South American territories "to the south of the 50th parallel of south latitude, and lying between the 20th and

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2756-459: Was that Bruce had given the meteorological station, but not the island itself to Argentina. The territorial dispute escalated in 1925 with the construction of an Argentinian wireless telegraph station on the island. As Argentina viewed Laurie Island as its own, the Argentine government did not request permission from the British government to operate the station, and for the first time, Argentina made an outright declaration that it had sovereignty over

2809-549: Was the British RMS ; Carmania which, after a battle that caused heavy damage on both sides, sank the German auxiliary cruiser SMS  Cap Trafalgar near the Brazilian island of Trindade in 1914. By coincidence, Cap Trafalgar was disguised as Carmania . In World War II, HMS  Jervis Bay , the sole escort for convoy HX 84 in November 1940, stood off the pocket battleship Admiral Scheer , when

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