15. Merchant ships were attacked with long-range aircraft as well as from the sea
The Germans used long-range bombers to attack convoys and escorts, which included bombing raids on ships in the Channel Ports. Ranges extended as the war went on, and fighters from land bases often could not intervene. The British arrived at a scheme in which catapults were installed in merchant ships, equipped with a single Hawker Hurricane fighter. The ships were called Catapult Armed Merchantmen (CAM). CAMs were designed to launch the fighter to attack the oncoming bombers, after which the pilot would either ditch in the sea or parachute into it, where he would be picked up by a British vessel or patrol boat.
Nine times CAMs were used in combat during the Battle of the Atlantic. The pilots succeeded in shooting down 8 German aircraft, and only one British pilot was lost. It was impossible to estimate the number of ships saved by the operation. The CAM ships were crewed by the Royal Navy, though they carried a full load of cargo. The pilots were recruited from the Royal Air Force. Due to weather conditions, the CAMs frequently could not launch their aircraft and by 1943 the program was disbanded. Before it was, 35 CAM ships were deployed. Twelve of them were sunk by the Germans and Italians.
