Q-ship

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Q-ship

(kyo͞o′shĭp′)

A decoy ship, especially an armed ship disguised as a merchant ship to entice submarines to surface so that they may be attacked with gunfire.

[Q, naval classification.]

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Q-ship

(Nautical Terms) a merchant ship with concealed guns, used to decoy enemy ships into the range of its weapons

[named from q(uery)]

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

Mentioned in ?

decoy ship

References in periodicals archive ?

Q-ships were heavily armed merchant ships with concealed weaponry, designed to lure submarines into making attacks on the surface.

Saved for nation he served so heroically; Great-nephew of war hero Gordon pays world record PS840,000 for VC medal set

In early 1917 he received a DSO for his part in the attack on a German submarine after the Q-ship HMS Farnborough had allowed itself to be torpedoed to set a trap.

Enemy U-boat was lured - then blown in half

The Q-ship was attacked by a German U-boat, UC29, and struck by a torpedo at close range.

Flying an unarmed plane, he attacked a Junkers bomber armed only with a flare pistol

It is anticipated that WOQOD will also provide marine lubricants under the agreement to the four LPG carriers owned and operated by Gulf LPG Transport, a joint venture between Nakilat and Q-Ship.

Shell Marine Products ties up with Qatar Fuel

The Germans said Trooper was sunk by Q-ship GA45 off Kos - but this is dismissed by the Navy.

`Peter was one of the lucky ones'

The Victoria (40p value) included a spell as a First World War decoy 'Q-ship' in her service, while the Attala (45p) was originally built in America as a navy escort vessel and later converted for passengers which it carried from 1920 until 1925.

Antiques and Collecting: Back to tradition after 2000 surfeits

The VC was awarded to Vice Admiral Gordon Campbell, who, as captain of the Q-Ship Farnborough, destroyed German sub U83 in February 1917.