Engineering:Fighter catapult ship
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Fighter catapult ships (FCS) also known as Catapult Armed Ships were an attempt by the Royal Navy to provide air cover at sea. Five ships were acquired and commissioned as Naval vessels early in the Second World War, and these were used to accompany convoys. The concept was extended to merchant ships which were also equipped with rocket assisted launch systems and known as Catapult Aircraft Merchantmen (CAM ships). Both classes could launch a disposable fighter (usually a Hawker Hurricane) to fight off a threat, with the pilot expected to be rescued after either ditching the aircraft or bailing out close to the launching ship.
The ships
There were five fighter catapult ships, collectively known as the Pegasus class. Two, Patia and Springbank, were lost during the war. They were each equipped with a single Fairey Fulmar or "Hurricat" (an adapted Hawker Hurricane Mk.1A).
| Ship | Launched | Converted | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Ariguani | 1926[1] | 1940 | Former ocean boarding vessel, converted to a catapult ship in 1940, war service in the Atlantic[2] after being damaged repaired in 1943 and returned to merchant use. |
| Maplin | 1940 | Former ocean boarding vessel. Maplin saw war service in the Atlantic in 1940. She was a training ship from 1941 to 1944, in reserve from September 1944 and subsequently an accommodation ship. Maplin's war service was focused on Atlantic convoys and her "Hurricat" was the first to destroy an enemy aircraft, a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 in August 1941. The pilot was Robert W H Everett of 804 Naval Air Squadron.[3][4] | |
| Patia | 1922 | 1941[5] | Former ocean boarding vessel. Lost 1941[6][7] Foundered after bombing attack |
| Pegasus | 1914 | 1940 | Commissioned as seaplane carrier HMS Ark Royal in 1914, renamed Pegasus in 1934. Used as seaplane training vessel until converted, returned to training in 1941[8][9] |
| Springbank | 1926 | 1940 | Cargo ship converted to auxiliary anti-aircraft cruiser then to catapult ship. Torpedoed by U-201 on 27 September 1941 and sunk by HMS Jasmine.[6][10][11] |
FCS combat launches
| Date | Ship/convoy | Pilot | Outcome |
|---|---|---|---|
| 18 July 1941 | HMS Maplin | Lt R. Everett RNVR | Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor was shot down by a ship's anti-aircraft guns, just as the Hurricane pilot was about to attack. Everett flew to Northern Ireland and landed at RAF St Angelo.[12] |
| 3 Aug 1941 | HMS Maplin / OG 17 | Lt R. Everett RNVR | Focke-Wulf Fw 200 Condor shot down; pilot recovered by a destroyer[13] |
See also
- List of ships of the Second World War
- List of aircraft carriers of the Second World War
- Merchant aircraft carrier
- Aircraft cruiser
- CAM ship
References
Citations
- ↑ "HMS Ariguani (F 105) (British Fighter catapult ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". http://www.uboat.net/allies/merchants/ships/1184.html.
- ↑ "HMS Ariguani". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/ariguani.html.
- ↑ "HMS Maplin". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/Maplin.html.
- ↑ "804 Squadron". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/squadrons/804.html.
- ↑ Historic England. "Monument No. 1001497". PastScape. http://www.pastscape.org.uk/hob.aspx?hob_id=1001497
- ↑ 6.0 6.1 Smith, Gordon (8 April 2009). "Major British Warship Losses in World War 2". naval-history.net. http://www.naval-history.net/WW2aBritishLosses02CV.htm.
- ↑ "HMS Patia". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/Patia.html.
- ↑ "HMS Pegasus". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/Pegasus.html.
- ↑ Payne, Alan (31 December 1975). "The Catapult Fighters". http://www.navyhistory.org.au/the-catapult-fighters/.
- ↑ "HMS Springbank". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/SPRINGBANK.html.
- ↑ Gregory, Mackenzie J (2009). "The Development of the Catapult Armed Merchantman ( CAM Ships. ) - HMS Springbank". Ahoy - Mac's Web Log - Naval, Maritime, Australian History and more. The Naval Historical Society of Australia, Inc. http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/TheDevelopmentoftheCatapu.html.
- ↑ Barker (2019) p.45
- ↑ "The first Condor shot down by a Hurricat". World War II Today. http://ww2today.com/3rd-august-1941-the-first-condor-shot-down-by-a-hurricat.
Sources
- Barker, Ralph (1978). The Hurricats. London: Pelham Books. ISBN 0-7207-0994-6.
- Pauly, John; Truebe, Carl E.; Wilde, Doug; Wilterding, John H. (2012). "Question 14/48: Catapult Armed Merchant Ships". Warship International XLIX (2): 160–170. ISSN 0043-0374.
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