HMS Nairana (D05)

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For other ships with the same name, see HMS Nairana and HNLMS Karel Doorman.
"MV Port Victor" redirects here. For other ships, see Port Victor.

HMS Nairana
History
United Kingdom
NameHMS Nairana
BuilderJohn Brown & Company
Laid down7 November 1941[1]
Launched20 May 1943[1]
Commissioned12 December 1943[1]
Decommissioned1946
IdentificationPennant number D05
FateTransferred to the Royal Netherlands Navy
Netherlands
NameHNLMS Karel Doorman
NamesakeKarel Doorman
Commissioned23 March 1946[1]
Decommissioned28 May 1948[1]
FateReturned to Royal Navy
United Kingdom
NamePort Victor
OperatorPort Line
Acquired1948
FateScrapped 1971[1]
General characteristics
Class and typeNairana-class escort carrier
Displacement14,050 long tons (14,275 t)
Length528 ft 6 in (161.09 m)
Beam68 ft 6 in (20.88 m)
Draught21 ft (6.4 m)
Installed power11,000 hp (8,200 kW)
Propulsion
Speed17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h)
Complement728
Armament
Aircraft carried15–20
Aviation facilities
  • Hangar; 231 ft × 61 ft (70 m × 19 m)
  • 1 × lift; 45 ft × 34 ft (14 m × 10 m)
  • 8 × arrester wires

HMS Nairana (/naɪˈrɑːnə/) 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

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.[2] 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.

Design and description

The Nairanas were a class of three

Harland and Wolff in Northern Ireland, Swan Hunter in England and John Brown & Company in Scotland.[5] The prototype was built by John Brown who supplied the other two companies with copies of the plans. The three ships were supposed to be identical but in reality they were all slightly different.[5]

HMS Nairana—built by John Brown was launched on 20 May 1943 and completed on 12 December 1943.[6] She had a complement of 728 men and displaced 14,050 long tons (14,275 t). Her other dimensions were a length of 528 ft 6 in (161.09 m), a beam of 68 ft 6 in (20.88 m) and a draught of 21 ft (6.4 m).[7] Her aircraft facilities included a 495 ft (151 m) flight deck,[8] a hangar measuring 231 ft × 61 ft (70 m × 19 m), eight arrestor wires and an aircraft lift measuring 45 ft × 34 ft (14 m × 10 m).[7]

She had a traditional

Grumman Martlets or Fairey Swordfish.[9]

Service history

Nairana was commissioned in December 1943, and moved to

ASDIC. Warning Nairana that she had just turned into danger, the carrier took avoiding action. U-592 was sunk by Wild Goose and Walker's own ship Starling, while a Fairey Swordfish from Nairana circled the area.[11]

At the end of May 1944, Nairana sailed with the

Sea Hurricane piloted by Sub-Lieutenant Burgham from Nairana shot down Ju 290 9K+FK of FAGr 5 over the Bay of Biscay. The afternoon of the same day, Sub-Lieutenants Mearns and Wallis attacked two more Ju 290s, Mearns shooting down 9V+GK piloted by Kurt Nonneberg, which ditched in the sea. The other Ju 290 disappeared on fire into cloud and was assumed to have crashed.[13][14]

Three Fairey Swordfish armed with RP-3 rockets.

Russian convoy JW 61—which sailed on 20 October—had three escort carriers, Nairana,

Kola Inlet; even then the heavy escort prevented any attack and the convoy reached port safely. The return convoy RA 61 was equally as successful with only one frigate damaged by a torpedo just after leaving Kola and Vindex had to take avoiding action after detecting a torpedo coming towards her.[16] Vindex's inexperienced squadron lost a Wildcat pilot when his plane crashed into the sea attempting to land back on board. A Swordfish crashed into the sea following a rocket-assisted take off with the loss of the two-man crew. Another Swordfish crashed on landing with the aircraft initially hung over the ship's side from its tail hook. When the hook gave way, it crashed into the sea and only the pilot was rescued. The squadron in total lost or so severely damaged eight Swordfish and two Wildcats that they could not fly again.[17]

A Fleet Air Arm Grumman Wildcat.

On 6 February 1945, Nairana, Campania, the cruiser Bellona, and eight fleet destroyers joined 26 merchant ships in convoy JW64. This time, the squadrons had spare aircrews for their aircraft and Campania's squadron included a Fairey Fulmar fitted with a Royal Air Force A1 air-to-air interception radar, for use as a dedicated night fighter.[18] Shortly after the escorts and convoy came together Campania's radar operator reported a target approaching. Both carriers scrambled two Wildcats to intercept the intruder. Campania's Wildcats arrived first and shot down a Junkers Ju 88; one of the Wildcats was also shot down with the loss of the pilot. The next morning at 07:45, Campania's radar detected aircraft approaching. Two groups of Junkers Ju 88 torpedo bombers appeared and the convoy's escorts opened fire. The ships manoeuvred to avoid the torpedo attack and Nairana's Wildcats were airborne by 08:10. No ships were hit during the attacks and the bombers evaded the fighters in the heavy cloud cover. Campania's Swordfish were flying the daylight anti-submarine patrols, with a mixed armament of four RP-3 rockets and two depth charges.

On 7 November 835 Squadron claimed a Junkers Ju 88 damaged.[19] The long Arctic night with only four hours of light a day—together with heavy seas and low visibility—hampered any operations by the Wildcats. In the darkness, the ships could hear the engines of the shadowing German aircraft closing in. Campania's night fighting Fulmar took off at 17:30, but its electrics failed as it was approaching the German aircraft and it was forced to return to the carrier. The Fulmar landed off centre and crashed into the safety barrier, putting itself and the carrier out of action. On 10 November, a Swordfish on anti-submarine patrol reported 30 Junkers Ju 88s approaching the convoy. The Wildcats took off to intercept the torpedo bombers and the escorts opened fire on them. The combined fire from the escorts and the Wildcats shot down four Ju 88s, two more were claimed as probably shot down by the Wildcats, and another was severely damaged. Those Ju 88s that did release their torpedoes failed to hit any of the ships and a number of the torpedoes were seen to detonate in the ships' wakes, as they turned away from the attack. Two of the Wildcats were also shot down by the barrage from the escorts.[20] The combined losses had reduced the escort's fighter cover to three aircraft, one on Campania and two on Nairana. At 11:30, another group of Ju 88 torpedo bombers were discovered approaching. Nairana's Wildcats took off and shot one down. The others, under fire from the escorts, dropped their torpedoes too soon and they all missed.[21]

The return convoy RA 64 left Kola Inlet on the morning of 17 February. One of the escorts and a merchant ship were torpedoed almost immediately. Another merchant ship was torpedoed that afternoon. Terrible weather conditions kept all aircraft grounded until 20 February. When it began to clear, the Luftwaffe also appeared and the Wildcats were scrambled to intercept them. Two Ju 88s were shot down by the fighters, another two by the escorts, and three were damaged.[22] The convoys had lost to enemy action two fighters, two escorts and two merchant ships. In return, they claimed 15 aircraft destroyed, seven aircraft probably destroyed and one U-boat sunk.[23] Campania did one more Russian convoy JW 65 in March 1945, which had two merchant ships torpedoed and sunk on their approach to Kola Inlet. These were the last losses on a Russian convoy.[23]

Karel Doorman (QH1) of the Royal Netherlands Navy.

With the war over there was no further need for escort carriers. Nairana was transferred to the

Faslane to be scrapped.[1][26]

Notes

  1. ^ a b c d e f g "HMS Nairana". U-boat.net. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  2. ^ "Obituary,Sammy Mearns". The Daily Telegraph. 14 June 2009. Retrieved 14 October 2010.
  3. ^ Cocker (2008), pp.76–78
  4. ^ Poolman (1972), p.155.
  5. ^ a b c Poolman (1972), p.111.
  6. ^ Poolman (1972), pp.111–112.
  7. ^ a b c d Cocker (2008), p.77.
  8. ^ a b Poolman (1972), p.112.
  9. ^ Cocker (2008), p.80.
  10. ^ Poolman (1972), p.114.
  11. ^ Poolman (1972), p.115.
  12. ^ Poolman (1972), p.141–142.
  13. ISBN 978-1-84176-610-2
    .
  14. ^ Obituary of Lt-Cdr Sammy Mearns
  15. ^ Poolman (1972), p.144.
  16. ^ Poolman (1972), p.145.
  17. ^ Poolman (1972), p.146
  18. ^ Poolman (1972), p.147.
  19. ^ Poolman (1972), pp.147–148.
  20. ^ Poolman (1972), pp.148–149
  21. ^ Poolman (1972), p.149.
  22. ^ Poolman (1972), pp.151–152.
  23. ^ a b Poolman (1972), p.154.
  24. ISBN 1-86126-620-0
    .
  25. ^ Poolman (1972), pp.155–156.
  26. ^ "Commonwealth & Dominion Line Port Line". The Merchant Navy Association. Archived from the original on 8 July 2012. Retrieved 14 October 2010.

References

External links
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