HMS Alcantara

Survived

Type	Armed merchant cruiser
War	Second World War
Main guns	8 × 6″ guns

Royal Mail liner taken up as an armed merchant cruiser. Fought the raider Thor near Trindade off Brazil on 28 July 1940; both ships were hit and Thor got away. Returned to her owners after the war.

Poster of the Royal Mail Steam Packet Company liner Alcantara at Rio de Janeiro, by Kenneth Shoesmith Photo: Kenneth Shoesmith, Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Armament and specifications

Armament

As AMC

8 × BL 6 inch Mk XII naval guns
QF 3 inch 20 cwt anti-aircraft guns

Builder	Harland & Wolff, Belfast
Launched	23 September 1926
Commissioned	1939
Length	630 ft 6 in (192.18 m) p/p 656 ft (200 m) o/a
Speed	16+1⁄2 knots (30.6 km/h) (until 1934) 19 knots (35 km/h) (from 1934)
Complement	254

As built, from the ship's Wikipedia article. Figures there may cover later refits too.

Career

Launched

23 September 1926

Action between Thor and Alcantara

Damaged

28 July 1940

Engine room flooded

Fate

Survived

Returned to civilian service 1948

Broken up 1958