HMS Nairana (1917)

Coordinates: 37°50′27″S 144°55′13″E / 37.8407°S 144.9204°E / -37.8407; 144.9204
Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For other ships with the same name, see HMS Nairana.

37°50′27″S 144°55′13″E / 37.8407°S 144.9204°E / -37.8407; 144.9204

History
Australia
NameNairana
NamesakeTasmanian word for wedge-tailed eagle
OwnerHuddart Parker
Ordered22 January 1914
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland
Cost£129,830
Laid down1914
Launched21 June 1915
FatePurchased by Royal Navy, 27 February 1917
United Kingdom
NameHMS Nairana
Cost£138,118
Acquired27 February 1917
Commissioned25 August 1917
FateSold to original owner, January 1921
OwnerHuddart Parker
Acquired1921
Identification
  • United Kingdom official number 143476
  • Code letters THPM
FateTransferred to Tasmanian Steamers, January 1922
OwnerTasmanian Steamers
Port of registryMelbourne
AcquiredJanuary 1922
Out of serviceFebruary 1948
Identification
  • United Kingdom official number 143476
  • Code letters THPM (1922-34)
  • Code letters VJGY (1934-54)
FateWrecked 18 February 1951 and scrapped 1953–54
General characteristics
TypeSeaplane carrier
Displacement3,070 long tons (3,119 t)
Length
  • 315.8 feet (96.3 m) p/p
  • 352 ft (107.3 m) o/a
Beam45.6 ft (13.9 m)
Draught13 ft 2 in (4.0 m) (mean)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts, 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Range1,060 nmi (1,960 km; 1,220 mi) at 19.5 kn (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Complement278
Armament4 × 76 mm (3.0 in) 12 cwt guns
Aircraft carried7–8
Aviation facilities1 × flying-off deck forward

HMS Nairana (

intervention in the Russian Civil War
.

Nairana was returned to her former owners in 1921 and refitted in her original planned configuration, and spent the next 27 years ferrying passengers and cargo between

laid up in 1948, wrecked in a storm three years later and scrapped
in situ in 1953–54.

Background and description

Original design

In December 1913, negotiations between the Australian shipping line Huddart Parker and the British shipbuilders William Denny and Brothers began for a passenger ship with some cargo capacity to serve in the Australian coastal trade.[1] The shipping line wanted a vessel that would improve on their earlier ferry Loongana, which had also been built by Denny's.[2] Huddart Parker decided on a design that could carry 800 long tons deadweight (DWT) of cargo on a draught of 14 feet (4.3 m) and could maintain 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph) for 12 hours. The ship was ordered on 22 January 1914, at a cost of £129,830, for delivery in May 1915.[1] She was named Nairana, an Aboriginal Tasmanian name for the wedge-tailed eagle (Aquila audax).[2][3][4]

Nairana was designed to accommodate 280 first-class and 112 second-class passengers, and had a crew of 26 officers, 42 crewmen and 25

stokers. She had an overall length of 328 feet (100.0 m), a beam of 45 feet 6 inches (13.9 m), and a draught of 14 feet 7 inches (4.4 m). Designed to displace 3,479 long tons (3,535 t)[5] Nairana had tonnages of 3,547 gross register tons (GRT),[6] 1,118 long tons DWT, 2,014 net register tons (NRT) and 3,311 tons Builder's Old Measurement.[5]

The ship was

launched 21 June 1915 at the Denny shipyard in Dumbarton, Scotland. The launch had been delayed nine months, after the British Government ordered that all construction workers be pulled from non-military vessels after the start of the First World War, and work had been resumed only to make her slipway available for warships. She remained at anchor for the next year and a half. The Royal Navy purchased her on 27 February 1917 for completion as a combined landplane and seaplane carrier.[2] The price of £138,118 included the cost of conversion to her new role. The ship was nearly complete when requisitioned, although her propelling machinery was not yet installed. Consequently, only limited internal modifications, notably the addition of three large workshops, could be made.[1]

Military configuration

Black and white photograph of a ship. The vessel has two funnels, a large boxy superstructure topped by a crane, and an aircraft on her stern
HMS Nairana in 1918

HMS Nairana displaced 3,070 long tons (3,119 t) in RN service. She was 352 feet (107.3 m) long overall, had a beam of 45.6 feet (547.2 in), and a mean draught of 13 feet 2 inches (4.01 m). The ship was powered by two sets of Parsons geared steam turbines designed to produce a total of 6,700 shaft horsepower (5,000 kW),[7] each driving one three-bladed propeller. The turbines were powered by steam provided by six Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers at a working pressure of 202 psi (1,393 kPa; 14 kgf/cm2).[5] On her sea trials, Nairana made 7,003 shp (5,222 kW) and reached 20.32 knots (37.63 km/h; 23.38 mph).[7] She carried 448 long tons (455 t) of coal which gave her a range of 1,060 nautical miles (1,960 km; 1,220 mi) at a speed of 19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph).[8] Her crew numbered 278, including 90 aviation personnel.[7]

The ship was armed with four 40-

12-pounder 12 cwt[Note 1] quick-firing guns on single mounts. Two of these were mounted on the forecastle as low-angle guns, and the other two were mounted on the rear hangar roof as anti-aircraft guns.[9] They fired 12.5-pound (5.7 kg) projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,359 ft/s (719 m/s); this gave a maximum range of 9,720 yd (8,890 m).[10]

Nairana was fitted with a 95-foot (29.0 m) flying-off deck forward, intended for aircraft with wheeled

petrol for her aircraft.[11]

During her service, Nairana carried Beardmore W.B.III, Fairey Campania, Short Type 184, and Sopwith Baby, Pup, and 2F1 Camel aircraft.[12]

Career

Military service

Upon commissioning on 25 August 1917, Nairana was assigned to the Battle Cruiser Force of the Grand Fleet at Scapa Flow,[7][13] carrying four Short Type 184 floatplanes and four Beardmore W.B.III aircraft.[9] She saw little operational use as she was employed for pilot training and ferrying aircraft to ships equipped with flying-off decks.[7]

In 1918, Nairana participated in the

Northern Dvina River.[14] Nairana used her own guns on the Bolshevik batteries.[13] She and her aircraft then scouted ahead of the Allied force as it proceeded up the channel to Arkhangelsk. The appearance of one of her Campanias over Arkhangelsk caused the Bolshevik troops there to panic and abandon the city.[15] Nairana sustained no damage during the assault.[13] As of October, the ship was carrying five Campanias and two Sopwith Babies, although these last two aircraft were replaced by Sopwith Camels in 1919.[9]

By May 1919, Nairana was refitting in

decommissioning from naval service.[16]

Ferry service

The British Government sold Nairana to William Denny and Brothers after her service in Russia to be rebuilt to her original plans, and the ship was handed over to Huddart Parker in January 1921. Nairana arrived in Melbourne in March, after a two-month voyage from

Federal Government and crewed by non-union labour, following a strike by shipping workers.[22] She was taken out of service for a major overhaul at Cockatoo Island from May to October 1927. On the night of 24 January 1928, she was struck by a rogue wave in heavy seas, and almost capsized; one woman, already ill when she boarded in Launceston, died.[23]

Black and white photograph of passenger ship with twin funnels, under steam
Nairana as a Bass Strait ferry between the wars

As well as passengers, Nairana regularly carried cargo, including gold bullion, and live animals such as horses and cattle between Tasmania and the mainland. A Tasmanian devil being transported to Melbourne Zoo in a wooden crate placed in one of the ship's four horse stalls escaped by chewing a hole through its box, and was never seen again.[24] In 1934, her code letters were changed to VJGY.[25] Nairana was withdrawn from service in December 1935 as a result of a ship workers' strike, returning to the Bass Strait run in the new year. As she neared Port Phillip Bay on 12 April 1936, on a clear day with apparently calm seas, she was again struck by a rogue wave and rolled onto her port side before swinging back over to starboard and eventually righting. The impact injured most of her 88 passengers and killed four, including a family of three who disappeared after being swept overboard. Despite this, she proceeded to her berth in the Yarra River, having sustained only minor damage.[26]

After

4-inch Mk VIII anti-submarine gun on the aft promenade deck, and a 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft gun on her deckhouse. She also carried some .303 rifles for shooting at mines.[27] As a coal burner that emitted tell-tale black smoke visible for miles, Nairana was not considered for war service, the only Bass Strait ferry not to be requisitioned. She thus became the sole commercial passenger vessel to operate between Tasmania and the mainland through the war years, maintaining a heavy schedule. The ship underwent repairs for 13 days at Williamstown, Victoria, after running aground in the Tamar River in 1943.[28]

Nairana had her final overhaul at Cockatoo Island between February and April 1944.[28] By mid-1947, airlines had captured a significant portion of the passenger trade across Bass Strait, and Nairana's schedule was reduced.[29][30] On 31 December, her captain collapsed and died as he was speaking to two of his officers while the ship was alongside in Burnie; a post-mortem examination attributed the death to heart disease.[31] Nairana made her last crossing from Tasmania to the mainland on 13–14 February 1948, after which she was retired and laid up in Melbourne. Sold for scrap to William Mussell Pty Ltd, Williamstown, Nairana broke her moorings during a gale on 18 February 1951 and was driven ashore off Port Melbourne. Unrecoverable, she was broken up in place in 1953–54.[32]

Legacy

Throughout her career as a Bass Strait ferry, Nairana had displayed a commemorative plaque and a photograph from her days as a carrier, presented by the

Museum of Wellington City & Sea, New Zealand, and the photograph at the Launceston Maritime Museum, Tasmania.[13]

Notes

  1. ^ "Cwt" is the abbreviation for hundredweight, 12 cwt referring to the weight of the gun.

Footnotes

  1. ^ a b c Lyon, pp. 679–680.
  2. ^ a b c Plowman, p. 53.
  3. ^ Whittell, Hubert Massey (10 February 1954). "The Literature of Australian Birds: A History and a Bibliography of Australian Ornithology". Paterson Brokenshaw – via Google Books.
  4. ^ "A History of H.M.S. NAIRANA". www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk.
  5. ^ a b c Lyon, p. 679.
  6. ^ Gardiner & Gray, p. 69.
  7. ^ a b c d e Layman, p. 54.
  8. ^ Friedman 1988, p. 365.
  9. ^ a b c Friedman 1988, p. 51.
  10. ^ Friedman 2011, p. 114
  11. ^ Friedman 1988, pp. 51–52, 365.
  12. ^ Davis, pp. 38, 110, 118.
  13. ^ a b c d e Plowman, p. 54.
  14. ^ Dobson & Miller, p. 63.
  15. ^ Dobson & Miller, pp. 63–64.
  16. ^ a b Royal Navy Log Books
  17. ^ Dobson & Miller, p. 228.
  18. ^ Lloyd's of London (1930). "Lloyd's Register, Navires a Vapeur et a Moteurs" (PDF). Lloyd's Register. Plimsoll Ship Data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  19. ^ Plowman, p. 57.
  20. ^ Plowman, p. 55.
  21. ^ Plowman, pp. 57–59.
  22. ^ Plowman, pp. 60–64.
  23. ^ Plowman, p. 65.
  24. ^ Plowman, p. 67–69.
  25. ^ Lloyd's of London (1934). "Lloyd's Register, Steamers & Motorships" (PDF). Lloyd's Register. Plimsoll Ship Data. Archived from the original (PDF) on 21 June 2015. Retrieved 21 June 2015.
  26. ^ Plowman, p. 84.
  27. ^ Plowman, pp. 57, 90–91.
  28. ^ a b Plowman, pp. 92–93.
  29. ^ "Airways capturing Strait traffic". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 24 July 1947. p. 20. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  30. ^ "Planes 'stop' the Nairana". The Argus. Melbourne: National Library of Australia. 15 September 1947. p. 3. Retrieved 14 March 2015.
  31. ^ "Sudden death of Nairana's captain". The Advocate. Burnie, Tasmania: National Library of Australia. 1 January 1948. p. 2. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  32. ^ Plowman, p. 95.

References

Further reading

External links

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