 She was also fitted with a gun in plain sight; as many merchant ships were defensively armed by this stage of the war, "Pargust" would have looked suspicious without it.Q ship crews of this period had evolved the strategy of giving a half-hearted defence before abandoning ship thus reinforcing the impression they were just helpless merchantmen.She was manned with a volunteer crew and commanded by Commander Gordon Campbell, who transferred with his crew from "Farnborough", another Q ship.