Fighter catapult ship

Fighter catapult ships 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).

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 (F105) 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 "Condor" 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]

See also

References

Citations
  1. "HMS Ariguani (F 105) (British Fighter catapult ship) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net". www.uboat.net.
  2. "HMS Ariguani". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. Archived from the original on 3 March 2016. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  3. "HMS Maplin". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. Archived from the original on 19 June 2010. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  4. "804 Squadron". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 2001. Archived from the original on 25 September 2009. Retrieved 28 October 2009.
  5. Historic England. "Monument No. 1001497". PastScape. Retrieved 3 October 2015.
  6. Smith, Gordon (8 April 2009). "Major British Warship Losses in World War 2". naval-history.net. Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  7. "HMS Patia". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  8. "HMS Pegasus". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  9. Payne, Alan. "The Catapult Fighters". Retrieved 27 October 2009.
  10. "HMS Springbank". Fleet Air Arm Archive. 23 February 2001. Retrieved 26 October 2009.
  11. Gregory, Mackenzie J (2009) [1984]. "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. Retrieved 27 October 2009.

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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