MV Empire MacCallum

MV Empire MacCallum was a grain ship converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier or MAC ship.

History
United Kingdom
NameEmpire MacCallum
OwnerMinistry of War Transport
OperatorHain Steam Ship Co Ltd
BuilderLithgows, Glasgow, Scotland
Launched12 October 1943
Renamed
  • Doris Clunies in 1947
  • Sunrover in 1951
  • Eudoxia in 1957
  • Phorkyss in 1959
FateScrapped Osaka 1960
General characteristics
Tonnage8,250 GRT
Length425 ft (130 m) (pp) 444 ft 6 in (135.48 m) (oa)
Beam57 ft 9 in (17.60 m)
Depth24 ft 6 in (7.47 m)
Propulsion
  • Diesel
  • one shaft
  • 3,300 bhp
Speed12.5 knots (23.2 km/h)
Complement107
Armament
Aircraft carriedFour Fairey Swordfish

History

MV Empire MacCallum was built at Lithgows shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport. As a MAC ship, only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel[1] and she was operated by Hain Steam Ship Co Ltd of St Ives.[2] On 7 July 1944, a Fairey Swordfish aircraft mistakenly sank the Free French submarine Perle in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland.[3][4][5] Amongst the aircraft that served on Empire MacCallum was Fairey Swordfish Mk II LS326 where it became part of 'K' flight. The aircraft had previously served on Rapana. As of November 2010, it is airworthy with the Royal Navy Historic Flight.[6]

After the war, the ship was converted to a grain carrier, and eventually scrapped at Osaka in 1960.[2]

See also

References
  1. H.T. Lenton & J. J. Colledge (1973). Warships of World War II. Ian Allan. p. 296. ISBN 0-7110-0403-X.
  2. "List and history of the Empire ships - M". Mariners. Retrieved 18 March 2007.
  3. "Q 184". 10 August 2014. Archived from the original on 10 August 2014.
  4. Polmar, Norman (2006). Aircraft Carriers. Vol. 1, 1909-1945 : a history of carrier aviation and its influence on world events (2nd ed.). Potomac Books. p. 276. ISBN 9781574886634.
  5. Rohwer, Jürgen; Gerhard Hümmelchen. "Seekrieg 1944, Juli". Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart (in German). Retrieved 5 September 2015.
  6. Howard, Lee (December 2010). "Return of the Stringbag". Aeroplane. Kelsey Publishing. pp. 47–48, 53–55.
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