Rawalpindi file photo [8665]

Rawalpindi

CountryUnited Kingdom
Ship ClassR-class Merchant Vessel
BuilderHarland and Wolff Heavy Industries, Greenock, Scotland, United Kingdom
Launched22 Aug 1925
Commissioned1 Oct 1939
Sunk23 Nov 1939
Displacement16,965 tons standard
Length548 feet
Beam69 feet
Draft29 feet
Speed15 knots
Crew276
Armament8x150mm guns, 2x76mm AA guns
Original OwnerPeninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation Company
Acquired by Royal Navy24 Aug 1939

Contributor:

ww2dbaseAt the outbreak of World War II the Admiralty re-established what was known in the 1914-18 war as the Northern Patrol - an extended line of warships patrolling a vast area of the North Atlantic from Norway to Greenland. Their purpose was to intercept German shipping returning to Germany, and to report the presence of German warships breaking out into the Atlantic. Many of the patrol ships were armed merchant cruisers: ex-passenger liners fitted with guns, flying the White Ensign and commanded by retired naval officers who had been recalled to service (some of them after been on the retired list since the 1921 Geddes Act - a Government economy to reduce drastically the number of senior naval officers).

ww2dbaseShortly before the outbreak of hostilities, Captain (Retd) Edward Coverley Kennedy RN, almost sixty years of age, was surprised and pleased to receive a letter from the Admiralty inviting him to assume command of the SS Rawalpindi, a 17,000-ton former P & O cruise liner which was in the process of being converted into just such an armed merchant-cruiser. Captain Kennedy (incidentally the father of the famous journalist, broadcaster and author-Sir Ludovic Kennedy) was one of the "old-school" naval officers who believed fervently in a code of honour that placed duty above life itself. A man of strong opinions (he had been the Conservative Agent for South Buckinghamshire between the wars), there was never going to be any doubt about his willingness to take up the position. His son, also serving in the RNVR as a Lieutenant, would say later that he had never seen his father so pleased as when they toured the vessel together inspecting the work in progress.

ww2dbaseThe Merchant-Cruisers were never intended to engage in combat with enemy warships, but only to intercept and search any vessels attempting to bring contraband goods into German ports. Nevertheless it was to the Rawalpindi fame that she should be the vessel involved in the first naval clash between surface warships during the war.

ww2dbaseAt 3.51 pm on the 23rd of November 1939 the patrolling Rawalpindi sent an enemy-sighted report to the Admiralty and, a few minutes later (falsely), identified the enemy as the German pocket-battleship Deutschland, which had been earlier reported to be at sea. (It wasn't-The Deutschland had already been recalled to port after sinking just two small ships). The enemy was in fact the mighty German Battle-cruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau which Grand Admiral Raeder had despatched two days earlier as a preliminary operation to give the two big ships some experience before letting them loose on the main trade routes.

ww2dbaseSignalled by the German warships to heave to and abandon ship, Captain Kennedy chose instead to turn and engage the enemy warships. Long before the gallant Rawalpindi could get within range to use her elderly 6-inch guns, German shells, from the powerful 11-inch guns of the Scharnhorst, reduced her to a smashed and burning wreck. Within forty minutes the shattered vessel sank beneath the waves taking with her 265 brave men including her gallant Captain. The Gneisenau picked up twenty-one survivors, Scharnhorst another six, and on the following day HMS Chitral found eleven more.

ww2dbaseAdmiral Forbes, the Royal Navy Commander-in-Chief, having been notified of Rawalpindi's two sighting reports of the "Deutschland", ordered the Home Fleet to sail at once from Scapa Flow to intercept, but in the meantime, HMS Newcastle, the next ship to the Rawalpindi on the patrol line, closed the position and also sighted the two German Battle-cruisers, but lost them again in a heavy rainstorm. This was probably fortuitous for Newcastle as her six-inch guns would most certainly have been no match against the superior firepower of the German ships, and she might well have gone to a similar fate as Rawalpindi if she too had attempted to engage alone.

ww2dbaseAdmiral Marschall, who commanded the two German ships, correctly anticipating Admiral Forbes' response, chose to abandon his mission immediately and at high speed broke away to return to Germany. The Home Fleet had little chance of catching the two fast Battle-cruisers, for the distance was just too great. This sudden retirement by the German vessels astonished many in the British Admiralty, who just could not believe that the Germans had turned back and ran for home when they held all the cards to their advantage. This was something that would recur often during the war leaving Allied naval commanders constantly surprised that the German Navy did not more often stand and make a fight unless so cornered that they had no other choice.

ww2dbaseOn the 6th of December 1939, First Lord of the Admiralty, Winston Churchill would pay honour to the sacrifice of the Rawalpindi with this tribute to Parliament: "...Whose glorious fight against overwhelming odds deserves the respect and honour of the House (of Commons) and of the nation". And on the 18th of December in a broadcast to the Nation, Churchill would compare the tragic but heroic end of Rawalpindi to the inglorious scuttling of the German pocket-battleship Admiral Graf Spee in Montevideo Roads (the day before) with the comment "Once in harbour she had the choice of submitting in the ordinary manner to internment, which would have been unfortunate for her, or, of coming out to fight and going down in battle, like the Rawalpindi, which would have been honourable to her".

ww2dbaseSources:
The War at Sea (John Winton, Book Club Associates, 1972) - For Ludovic Kennedy's tribute to his father
War Diary, (Lincolnshire Echo Supplement, November 2005) - Not entirely accurate but I have listed it here as the only place where I could find reference to the number of crewmen lost
Battle of the Atlantic (Purnell's History of the World Wars Special, 1975)
Pictorial History of the Second World War Vol.2 (Walter Hutchinson, Library Press, undated) - For Churchill's remarks

Last Major Revision: Oct 2009

Rawalpindi Operational Timeline

22 Aug 1925 Rawalpindi was launched.
1 Oct 1939 Rawalpindi was commissioned into British Royal Navy service.
23 Nov 1939 Rawalpindi stumbled upon German battlecruisers Scharnhorst and Gneisenau. When asked to abandon ship, Captain Edward Kennedy turned toward the German ships in an attempt to get into range of her 6-inch guns. She was to be sunk by the German 11-inch guns before she could get close enough.
6 Dec 1939 First Lord of the Admiralty Winston Churchill honored the officers and crew of Rawalpindi, "[w]hose glorious fight against overwhelming odds deserves the respect and honour of the House [of Commons] and of the nation".




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Visitor Submitted Comments

1. Conall McGillivray says:
19 Nov 2011 08:23:00 AM

Do you have any information/records of Thomas Sturdy
2. Kevin rooney says:
5 Jun 2015 08:53:32 AM

Do you have any record of my father, Charles John Rooney ?
3. rosemary shepperd says:
22 Jul 2015 08:18:35 AM

Please is there any person on Rawalpindi with the surname Shepperd? He would have been my uncle...my mum doesn't even know his forename as my dad wouldn't talk about him...I would be grateful if you could help
4. Commenter identity confirmed David Stubblebine says:
22 Jul 2015 12:07:24 PM

The casualty list for the Rawalpindi can be found here: http://wow.naval-history.net/xDKCas1939-11NOV.htm
Thomas Sturdy is on the list but Charles Rooney and Mr. Shepperd are not. That does not mean they were not there, it just means they are not on this list.
5. Karen Coombes says:
17 Oct 2017 09:11:41 AM

My grandfather James walker was killed on the Rawalpindi. We would like to research his naval career more as we have virtually no information - I have his crew number as D/JX 158743 MPK - would you know of any way we could research naval archives with this information?
6. Davidwilson says:
15 Nov 2018 02:35:00 PM

My grandfather served and died on the rawalpindi and his name was William Henry Wilson
7. Anonymous says:
10 Dec 2018 01:40:16 AM

My father, CPO Arthur Chandler was a gunner on the RAWALPINDI and was one of the survivors picked up by the CHITRAL.
8. Anonymous says:
16 Jan 2019 10:57:52 PM

my grandfather Tim dugdale was an officer on the rawalpindi and survived. I have some of his writings about it, if any one is interested

Peter
9. John Thornton says:
21 Mar 2019 02:22:01 AM

My father who had joined the RNR on the outbreak of war was sent an appointment to Rawalpindi. However the Admiralty clerk who sent it out got the town wrong - Forfar not Arbroath, so it finally arrived marked "Not Forfar try Arbroath". It arrived too late for him to join, hence the reason I am here today.
10. Anonymous says:
11 Jul 2019 02:39:04 PM

My Uncle was CPO James Ward, who served on the Rawlpindi, before and during the period of her sinking . He did not survive.
11. Anonymous says:
20 Sep 2019 12:50:06 AM

Peter - my grandfather was an able seaman on board and he died - I would love to read some of your Grandfather's writing please.
12. Anonymous says:
23 Aug 2020 12:30:20 PM

My grandad was L G P Runicles a scullion on the Rawalpindi. He was one of the survivors who got picked up by the Germans and spent the rest of the war in a German pow camp. Unfortunately he past away in 1987 when I was in my early teens. It’s only in later life I learned of his past. So many questions I would of loved to of asked. One of the memories I do have is of his strong interest in the navy and teaching me how to tell which direction and how fast ships where going. Would love to know if he was part of the original P & O crew or signed up because of the war.
13. Jennifer says:
12 Dec 2020 07:02:15 PM

My grandfather was a survivor of the Rawalpindi although records don't appear to show this. He was taken pow when the ship was sunk and released in 1945. I am curious to know which camp he may have been prisoner in if anyone can help?
14. Anonymous says:
25 Apr 2021 07:58:01 AM

ref Jennifer- I managed to obtain a copy of my grandads service records Leslie Runicles and on one paper it says-all Rawalpindi prisoners are now in Stalag XB MARLAG except one. Extract from LT COM B.J.Dyer dated 28-07-41 I hope this reaches you. I have been in touch with Stalag XB and unfortunetly my trail stops there as they have no further records.
15. Jane Carlton says:
12 Nov 2021 11:11:32 AM

My father was a fireman on Rawalpindi and picked up by Gneisenau. He was taken to one camp first which was in a poor state, then to Marlag-Milag and was there for the duration. I managed to get his German records via the Red Cross in Geneva, which show his work record, a photo and his description. Ihope this is useful.
16. Paul Crane says:
3 Dec 2021 07:23:37 AM

My great grandfather was CPO on the Rawalpindi. He had served in the first world war including Jutland and was retired at the start of the second. He was asked to return to help train new recruits, sadly the call of duty cost his life.
17. Roger Fry says:
10 Jul 2023 01:26:33 AM

Ernest Leburn was apparently a crew member. I have a postcard image of (apparently) his father, also called Ernest in naval uniform in 1910 at ventnor sea front. (viewable on Flikr and Facebook)

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