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Even more about HMS Nabob (D77) |
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None of the escorts had been in asdic contact and it was presumed that Nabob had been hit by an electric torpedo fired at extreme range. The First Division of the escort group altered 140° to starboard together to search for the submarine on the starboard side of the carrier; at 1724 Bickerton, the senior officer’s ship, was hit by a torpedo, the stern of the frigate being blown off and more than 40 men killed by the explosion. Ironically hands were working on Bickerton’s quarter-deck to stream CAT gear,* which would probably have saved her. To add to the confusion the ship’s siren jammed on, bellowing continuously, and the tank of liquid used in making white smoke screens burst. White smoke was sucked in by the ventilating fans and circulated through the mess decks causing choking and acute discomfort. Kempthorne closed Bickerton to take off survivors whilst Aylmer and Bligh with HMS Vigilant carried out an A/S search around the stricken ships.
Aboard the immobile Nabob an engine-room tem-perature of 150° had made it necessary to shut down main engines and boilers; all electrical power having failed, ventilation fans had stopped. Boats and Carley rafts were put over the side and 214 men, of whom ten were wounded, were transferred to Kempthorne. Dam-age control parties shored the vital engine-room bulk-head while the engines, shaft and propeller were checked. As the latter were found in good order, electri-cal power was restored and steam raised. Flooding was under control by 1900 and Nabob slowly gathered way about 2140 to begin the long 1,100 mile passage home.† During the previous hour Bickerton had been sunk by torpedo from Vigilant as under the circumstances it was not practicable to attempt a tow. |
In the middle of the night a submarine was detected by HF/DF following close astern and by 0230 on 23 Au-gust, both asdic and radar bearings indicated that it was 3,600 yards on the starboard quarter. Course was altered to 200° to put the submarine astern and two Avengers were catapulted off. The aircraft managed to keep the enemy submerged for about three and a half hours as Nabob limped away to the westward and safety. Landing on the sloping deck for the two planes was a most haz-ardous operation; one managed it without mishap but the second one flew into the barrier completely wrecking two Avengers, which had to be jettisoned, and damaging four other aircraft. Luckily, no one was hurt. Another HF/DF bearing was received about 0945 but it gave a position well to the southward and was probably a “lost contact” signal. It was therefore considered that in spite of the heavy oil track being made by Nabob, the subma-rine had been successfully evaded.
Throughout 23 August, those remaining on board struggled on the canted, heaving decks to jettison or move forward all portable heavy gear, the while listen-ing for the dread rending sound, which would announce the collapse of the shored engine-room bulkhead and a rush of water through the ship. The work of strengthen-ing decks and bulkheads in the after part of the carrier with baulks of timber was also given top priority. In the afternoon an Avenger from Trumpeter passed overhead and an aerial A/S patrol was maintained until she and her escorts joined company at about 1930.
Half-an-hour later a further 203 of Nabob’s company were transferred to Algonquin in the motor boats belonging to the de-stroyer and Keats.
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The next day, 24 August, found Nabob ploughing slowly along at ten knots, in worsening weather, with her escorts on the screen and Trumpeter zigzagging close astern. Wind force reached 43 knots but luckily the sea, although steep, was short. After a “blow” of eleven hours both wind and ocean moderated. Algonquin was detached at 0540 on the 26th to contact the relieving escort and transfer Nabob’s personnel to HMS Zest. In the morning watch of 27 August, the carrier entered Scapa Flow and secured to a buoy. By the resourceful-ness and energy of her company Nabob had been saved* and a glorious final chapter written to a commission, which had not started too happily.
So expertly had the shoring15 been carried out in Na-bob that it was merely added to for her passage south in early September. More top weight had been removed including gun mountings, aircraft, and stores belonging to 852 Squadron, with the result that the ship’s draught was reduced from 42 feet aft to 37 feet. The carrier was assisted through the boom gate by two tugs, who slipped when clear of Hoxa Gate; escorted by a destroyer and an ocean-going tug, she then shaped course for the Firth of Forth. In drydock at Rosyth the bodies of 14 of the 20 missing were recovered from the compartments previ-ously flooded.16
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Nabob would most certainly have been repaired and put back into service, if sentiment had prevailed, but her damage was so extensive and British yards so over-crowded that the Admiralty decided to “cannibalize”† her. Until the end of the war she provided emergency spares for the other ships of her class. In March 1947 Nabob was sold to a Netherlands firm for scrap and on 21 September she arrived at Rotterdam, where the flight deck was stripped off and the damaged hull repaired. Sold to the Roland Linie Schiffart, Bremen, Germany, a subsidiary company to the North German Lloyd Line, she was completed as the dry cargo ship SS Nabob. The first voyage was to Montreal in 1952 for a cargo of grain. Latest information (1963) is that Nabob is sailing on the Australian run and is also the training ship of the North German Line, carrying 18 probationary officers on board.
Although HMS Nabob†† was only in commission for just over a year it can truly be said that there was never a dull moment. The majority of the Canadian officers and ratings who manned the carrier were accustomed to small ships only and had to adapt themselves to com-pletely different living conditions and daily routine. In addition they had to learn a new aspect of their trade, namely the operation of aircraft. Bearing in mind that the ship was also a unit of the Royal Navy and the rami-fications that were caused thereby, it is not surprising that there were many problems to be solved. In spite of many efforts to make her so, Nabob never did become one of HMC Ships but by her contribution to the RCN she is entitled to an honourable place amongst them. |
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With the paying-off of Nabob on 30 September, 1944, Canadian personnel were now only manning one escort carrier, Puncher, which had commissioned on 5 February, 1944.17 This ship was also built by the Seattle-Tacoma S.B. Corporation and although of the same class as Nabob had slightly smaller specifications. With a re-duced complement on board, she was steamed to Van-couver, where Captain R.E.S. Bidwell, RCN, assumed.
Text from
A HISTORY OF CANADIAN NAVAL AVIATION 1918-1962
by
J. D. F. KEALY
and
E. C. RUSSELL |
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