Chinese merchant ships with container missile systems worry people.

"If China is indeed preparing to use commercial ships as potential military platforms, the implications extend beyond naval strategy."(Interesting Engineering, China converts cargo vessels into military ships, containers to be missile launchers: Report)

The armed cargo ships or merchant cruisers are meant. For merchant warfare. Their purpose is to capture freighters and act as a trap for pirates and hostile merchant cruisers.  In some sources,  armed cargo ships. Or merchant cruisers are mentioned as ineffective against normal warships. The case H.M.S Jervis Bay vs. a German pocket battleship. Admiral Scheer lasted half an hour, and then the merchant cruiser Jervis Bay sank. Another case where a merchant cruiser faced two battlecruisers was the case. 

When H.M.S Rawalpindi faced two German battle cruisers. Scharnhorst and Gneisenau, the Rawpindi faced its fate almost immediately. Those cases were demonstrations. Merchant cruisers cannot resist the normal surface combatants. But merchant cruisers are not meant. To fight against large battleships or battlecruisers. 

"Another angle of the ship. (Chinese internet)" (TWZ, Chinese Cargo Ship Packed Full Of Modular Missile Launchers Emerges)

The purpose of merchant cruisers was to go on a merchant war. Their mission was to stop and sink other merchant ships. But as we know. The merchant cruisers also played. Some kind of role in the German Kriegsmarine. The German merchant cruisers forced the Allies to use heavier escort ships over longer distances. That meant those ships were. Out of escort and patrol duties in the North Sea. And that could mean something at the beginning of the war in 1939. The fact is that. 

Merchant cruisers can be deadly if they sneak close to other ships and launch torpedoes. The introduction. About this kind of case. Was. The case when the German auxiliary, or merchant cruiser Kormoran (HSK-8), faced the Australian cruiser HMAS Sydney (D43). Sydney sank Kormoran, but Kormoran had time to launch torpedoes, one or more hit, and they sank that heavy cruiser. This is one. Way to see things. That a merchant cruiser can do. But those WWII merchant cruisers are not what they are today. 

During WWII. Was fear. The Germans would deploy radio-controlled V-1 flying bombs into their ships. And that weapon could be. At least to attempt to use them against Allied ships and cities. 

"A closer look at the radar and CIWS installation on the vessel. (Chinese internet)" (TWZ, Chinese Cargo Ship Packed Full Of Modular Missile Launchers Emerges)

Modern merchant cruisers or container ships can be equipped with hypersonic missiles and drones. 

When we think about those ships and their weapons, we must remember one thing. During WWII. There were no container cruise missiles. Those merchant cruisers. Was. Not equipped with “Kalibr”-type hypersonic missiles. The hypersonic container-missile system can be dangerous. To any target. The nuclear warheads make those missiles the deadliest weapons on Earth. Another thing is that. Those merchant cruisers can make surprise attacks against selected targets. 

Weapon systems like Club-K can make the merchant ship capable. To attack far from the coast. Another thing is that. Those hypersonic weapons can. Threaten aircraft carriers. The hypersonic weapon. Is. Easy to drive on the deck and launch from a variable platform. The container ship can carry or launch those systems. And in the worst cases, those weapons can be deployed even into the U.S. or some other country's territory. 

Another problem is drones. A drone can carry things like drugs and guns to customers. Small-sized kamikaze drones can be launched from the decks of any ships. Drones don’t need any special equipment for launching. Those systems can operate straight from their boxes. And that makes those systems deadly. The suicide drone can also be equipped with a laser pointer, which points targets to the laser-homing missiles or drones. This means that the system is very hard to jam. Things like lightweight kamikaze drones can also operate as surveillance tools, and point targets to other bigger drones.  

https://cimsec.org/weaponized-containers-a-warship-in-a-box-for-warfighting-advantage/

https://interestingengineering.com/military/china-turns-cargo-vessels-into-military-ships

https://www.newsweek.com/photos-chinese-cargo-ship-missile-launchers-11270114

https://www.twz.com/sea/chinese-cargo-ship-packed-full-of-modular-missile-launchers-emerges

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_auxiliary_cruiser_Kormoran

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Gneisenau

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_battleship_Scharnhorst

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/German_cruiser_Admiral_Scheer

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Rawalpindi

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kalibr_(missile_family)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/V-1_flying_bomb