British-built escort carriers adapted from merchant ship hulls: HMS Activity (D94), HMS Campania (D48), HMS Nairana (D05), HMS Vindex (D15), HMS Pretoria Castle (F61)
HMS Activity (D94)
(IWM Photo, FL 137)
HMS Activity (D94) underway in the Firth of Forth, October 1942.
HMS Activity was an escort carrier that served with the Royal Navy of the United Kingdom during the Second World War. After the war, she was sold into merchant service as the MV Breconshire, serving for over 20 years until scrapped in 1967. (Wikipedia)
HMS Campania (D48)
(IWM Photo, NH 79613)
HMS Campania (D48) at anchor. Seven Fairey Swordfish and three Grumman Wildcat aircraft are visible on deck, 22 June 1944.
HMS Campania (D48) was an escort aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. After the war, the ship was used as a floating exhibition hall for the 1951 Festival of Britain and as the command ship for the 1952 Operation Hurricane, the test of the prototype British atomic bomb.She was built at Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. When construction started in 1941 she was intended as a refrigerated cargo ship for transporting lamb and mutton from New Zealand, but was requisitioned by the British Government during construction and completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service in early 1944.The ship was of a similar, but not identical design to the other ships of the Nairana class. (Wikipedia)
HMS Nairana (D05)
(IWM Photo, FL 12664)
HMS Nairana (D05) under way with Sea Hurricanes on her foredeck. She was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy in 1946 and was renamed HNLMS Karel Doorman (QH1).
HMS Nairana (D05) was the lead ship of the Royal Navy’s Nairana-class escort carriers that saw service in the Second World War. She was built at John Brown & Company shipyards in Clydebank, Scotland. When construction started in 1941 she was intended as a merchant ship, but was completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service at the end of 1943. Nairana operated escorting convoys and doing anti-submarine work in the Atlantic and Arctic theatres. On 26 May 1944, Royal Navy Sea Hurricanes operating from Nairana claimed the destruction of three Junkers Ju 290s during the defence of a convoy. This represented 10 percent of the total German inventory of the type. She survived the war, and in 1946 was transferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy as the Karel Doorman (QH1), the first Dutch aircraft carrier. In 1948, she was replaced in the Royal Netherlands Navy by another vessel of the same name. Nairana was returned to the Royal Navy, and sold to the Port Line company, becoming the merchant ship Port Victor. (Wikipedia)
(Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Marine Photo)
Hr.Ms. Karel Doorman (QH1), Royal Netherlands Navy.
HMS Vindex (D15)
(State Library of Victoria Photo)
HMS Vindex (D15) in December 1945.
HMS Vindex (D15) was a Nairana-class escort carrier of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. She was built at Swan Hunter shipyards in Newcastle upon Tyne. When construction started in 1942 she was intended as a merchant ship, but was completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service at the end of 1943.Vindex operated escorting convoys and doing anti-submarine work in the Atlantic and Arctic theatres. Her Swordfish aircraft were involved in the sinking of four U-boats during her service. She survived the war, and immediately afterwards served in the Far East transporting men and material to and from Japan. In 1947, she was decommissioned and sold for commercial use, to Port Line and renamed Port Vindex. In 1971, she was scrapped in Taiwan. (Wikipedia)
HMS Pretoria Castle (F61)
(IWM Photo, FL 17631)
HMS Pretoria Castle (F61) was a Union-Castle ocean liner that in the Second World War was converted into a Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser, and then converted again into an escort carrier. e 17,400 tons, 17 knots, 15 aircraft, laid down in 1943.After the war she was converted back into a passenger liner and renamed Warwick Castle. (Wikipedia)
(Fotoafdrukken Koninklijke Marine Photo)
Hawker Sea Hurricane flight training, HMS Pretoria Castle (F61).
Colour profile, HMS Pretoria Castle (F61).