HMS Audacity was a British escort carrier of the Second World War and the first of her kind. She was originally the German merchant ship Hannover, which the Royal Navy captured in the West Indies in March 1940 and renamed Sinbad, then Empire Audacity. She was converted and commissioned as HMS Empire Audacity, then as HMS Audacity. She was torpedoed and sunk by a German U-boat on December 21st, 1941.
On 22 January 1941, she was sent to Blyth Dry Docks & Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Blyth to be rebuilt as an escort carrier. Britain did not have enough aircraft carriers and shipping was vulnerable to attacks by U-boats in the Mid-Atlantic Gap, where there was no air cover. The Admiralty decided that small carriers were part of the solution and had a number of merchantmen, including Empire Audacity, converted. Empire Audacity was the largest ship handled at Blyth, which was more used to ships of 300 ft (91 m) length. The townsfolk of Blyth wondered why the superstructure of a perfectly good ship was being scrapped at a time when Britain was desperately short of ships. Empire Audacity was commissioned on 17 June 1941. She was the Royal Navy's first escort carrier.
HMS Empire Audacity worked up in the Clyde. The first deck landing was by a Grumman Martlet of 802 Naval Air Squadron (FAA) on 10 July. A detachment of aircraft were based on Empire Audacity from 19–21 July. All her aircraft had to be stored on the flight deck, as the hasty conversion into an escort carrier did not include a hangar deck. The Admiralty disliked her merchant name, and HMS Empire Audacity was renamed HMS Audacity on 31 July 1941.
Convoy HG 76 sailed from Gibraltar on 14 December. Audacity had only four Martlet aircraft serviceable. The convoy came under attack from 12 U-boats. Martlets from Audacity shot down two Condors; U-131 was attacked on 17 December. U-131 shot down a Martlet, but was unable to dive after the attack, and was scuttled by her crew, who were taken prisoner.
As Audacity left the convoy on the night of 21 December, one of the merchantmen fired a "snowflake" flare which revealed her in silhouette to the German U-boats. The submarines had been given specific orders to sink her as she had caused a lot of trouble for the Germans both at sea and in the air. The first torpedo fired by U-751 under Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk hit her in the engine room and she began to settle by the stern. The next two torpedoes caused an explosion of the aviation fuel blowing off her bow. Audacity sank some 500 mi (430 nmi; 800 km) west of Cape Finisterre at 43°45′N 19°54′W. She sank in 70 minutes. 73 of her crew were killed. Her survivors were picked up by the corvettes Convolvulus, Marigold and Pentstemon, one of the survivors being pilot Eric Brown. The German commander had confused her with a 23,000 long tons (23,000 t) Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, the sinking of which was announced by Nazi propaganda sources. In reality Audacity was an escort carrier of 11,000 long tons (11,000 t).
As Audacity left the convoy on the night of 21 December, one of the merchantmen fired a "snowflake" flare which revealed her in silhouette to the German U-boats. The submarines had been given specific orders to sink her as she had caused a lot of trouble for the Germans both at sea and in the air. The first torpedo fired by U-751 under Kapitänleutnant Gerhard Bigalk hit her in the engine room and she began to settle by the stern. The next two torpedoes caused an explosion of the aviation fuel blowing off her bow. Audacity sank some 500 mi (430 nmi; 800 km) west of Cape Finisterre at 43°45′N 19°54′W. She sank in 70 minutes. 73 of her crew were killed. Her survivors were picked up by the corvettes Convolvulus, Marigold and Pentstemon, one of the survivors being pilot Eric Brown. The German commander had confused her with a 23,000 long tons (23,000 t) Illustrious-class aircraft carrier, the sinking of which was announced by Nazi propaganda sources. In reality Audacity was an escort carrier of 11,000 long tons (11,000 t).
No comments:
Post a Comment
Note: Only a member of this blog may post a comment.