German auxiliary cruiser Pinguin
The Pinguin was a German auxiliary cruiser (Hilfskreuzer) which served as a commerce raider in World War II. The Pinguin was known to the Kriegsmarine as Schiff 33, and designated HSK 5. The most successful commerce raider of the war, she was known to the British Royal Navy as Raider F. The name Pinguin means penguin in German.
Pinguin in the Indian Ocean in 1941.
An armed merchantman is a merchant ship equipped with guns, usually for defensive purposes, either by design or after 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.
HMS Alcantara and SMS Greif dueling at close range during the action of 29 February 1916
RMS Carmania sinking SMS Cap Trafalgar near the Brazilian islands of Trindade, 14 September 1914
Kormoran in 1940. During a single ship action on 19 November 1941, off the coast of Western Australia the German auxiliary cruiser Kormoran sank HMAS Sydney before being scuttled.