
HMS NABOB
Ruler
Class Escort Aircraft Carrier
CELER ET AUDAX
SWIFT
AND DARING |
HMS Nabob down by the stern
after being torpedoed. Even though severely damaged, she
managed to return to base 1070 miles away.
Source:
IWM
Official Admiralty Collection A25368 |
Laid down: 30 Oct 1942
Launched: 09 Mar 1943
Commissioned: 07
Sep 1943
|
Paid off: 10 Oct 1944
Fate: Broken up in 1978 |
Laid down as the merchant
vessel Edisto, but converted to an aircraft carrier while building,
she was commissioned HMS Nabob at Tacoma, Wash., on 07 Sep 1943. After working up, she entered Burrard Drydock at Vancouver on
01 Nov for modification to RN standards, completing 12 Jan
1944. About this time it was arranged that she and a near-sister
Puncher, should be manned largely by Canadians while remaining RN
ships.
After training the ship went to San
Diego and took the 852 FAA-Squadron on board, equipped with Avenger
aircraft. She then proceeded with HMCS New Waterford via Panama Canal to
Norfolk, where 45 P-51 Mustang fighters were embarked as deck load and U.S.
Army Air Force personnel was taken on board as passengers when the ship made
passage to UK in convoy VT-10. In April 1944, four Wildcat Mk.V fighters
were added to the 852 FAA-Squadron, while a detachment of the 856
FAA-Squadron, equipped with Avenger Mk.II aircraft joined the escort carrier
in June. Nabob joined the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow on 01 Aug 1944 and took
part in two Operations that month off the coast of Norway. The first
operation was Operation Offspring, a mine laying operation off Norway; the
2nd was an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz.
Departing on 18 Aug 1944, HMS Nabob (D 77) (Capt. Horatio Nelson Lay)
participated in Operation Goodwood and formed together with HMS
Trumpeter and HMS Kent the second group of carriers from the Home
Fleet (Adm Moore), which covered the convoy JW-59 and launched further
attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Altenfjord. It was planned
that the Avengers from the escort carriers fly attacks on German airfields
on 20 Aug and to lay mines before attacking the battleship, but bad weather
prevented any attacks and the task force was withdrawing, when U-354
encountered them on her search for the convoy northwest of the North Cape in
the Barents Sea.
At 01:14 hours on 22 Aug 1944, the German Submarine U-354 fired a spread of
FAT torpedoes and hit HMS Nabob with one torpedo in the starboard side aft,
resulting in a hole about 32 feet square located aft of the engine room and
below the waterline. At 01:22 hours, the U-boat fired a Gnat to finish off
the carrier, but struck HMS Bickerton instead, which was about to refuel
from the escort carrier at the time of the attack. The frigate was
subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from HMS Vigilant. The stern of Nabob
quickly sank 15 feet and the power went off. The fans in the engine room
stopped and the main engines had to be shut down because the temperature
soared to 150 degrees. As the ship laid dead in the water, 205 men were
evacuated from the ship and transferred to the Canadian destroyer HMCS
Algonquin by boats and Carley floats, two weeks later they were transferred
to HMS Zest near the Faeroe Islands and finally brought to Scapa Flow. The
remaining crew worked hard to get the ship under control. Emergency diesel
generators were used to get power for the pumps to limit the flooding, but
the engine room bulkheads bulged inward from the pressure of the sea that
had rushed in through the hole. Heavy gear was ditched or brought to the bow
to improve the trim, including the two 5 inch guns, which were removed with
cutting torches and dropped overboard. This helped raise the stern so there
was not as much pressure on the drive shaft bearings. In the early evening,
the escort carrier was underway again at 10 knots. Early the next morning,
an HF/DF bearing and a surface contact indicated that a U-boat was in the
area. Two Avengers managed to start and kept the U-boat under water for
three and a half hours. The first returned and made a good landing, but the
second crashed and damaged six other aircrafts on deck, which were later
jettisoned. On August 27, the ship reached Scapa Flow under her own power
after travelling 1100 miles since being hit. As the galley was destroyed the
skeleton crew lived on short rations and rum for the five days it took to
get the ship home. Nabob had lost 21 man; 815 of her crew survived.
HMS Nabob was deemed not worth repairing, towed to Rosyth, beached and
abandoned. Paid off on 30 Sep 1944, retained in nominal reserve, but was
cannibalized for spare parts for sister ships. On 16 Mar 1946 she was
returned to the US Navy and stricken. Sold for scrap in Mar 1947 in the
Netherlands. However, she was resold to the Norddeutscher Lloyd, converted
to the German motor merchant Nabob until 1952 and used as a civilian
training vessel for the post war German merchant service. In 1968 renamed
Glory and registered in Panama. In Dec 1977 sold for scrap in Taiwan.
Photos
and Documents Ship's
company photos The
Ship's Bell
HMS
Nabob - Royal Navy Research Archive
HMS Nabob
photos gallery - Royal Navy Research Archive
REMEMBERING CHARLIE - From the memoirs
of Lt Donald Bowman, RCNVR
Charlie and I
literally bumped into each other on a street corner in Saskatoon about a
year after war’s end. I met Charlie in basic training at Cornwallis in
Nova Scotia. He was tall, athletic, blonde and friendly. When I looked at
him on the street corner, I wasn’t certain it was Charlie. The confident
Charlie was gone. The new Charlie was haggard and untidy. It was nearly noon
and I invited him home for lunch. Muriel always gracious, welcomed Charlie
and adroitly adjusted the menu. When coffee arrived, Charlie’s hands shook
so much he required both hands to raise the cup to his lips. Gradually I
coaxed him to tell us what happened to him.
After Cornwallis,
Charlie joined HMS Nabob, a baby flat-top aircraft carrier. Off the coast of
Norway, the ship took a torpedo. Charlie was ejected from his bunk. When he
picked himself up from the deck, water was up his ankles. Charlie was first
on the ladder and three friends were following. As Charlie emerged through
the hatch, the command ‘close all white watertight doors and hatches’
boomed from the loudspeakers. A seamen stationed at that point slammed down
the cover and tightened the turnbuckles. Charlie’s screams of protest were
ignored and he was physically restrained from opening the cover.
Nabob was severely
damaged, but kept afloat. It took 10 days to be towed to harbour. There were
about 30 fatalities, mostly caused by drowning. It was a navy version of
death by friendly fire. Militarily, the captain acted wisely. The rating who
closed the hatch acted properly, instantly obeying an order. The captain was
probably commended for saving the ship. Every 11 November, I remember
Charlie and I eventually fall asleep, watching him and his three buddies
endlessly climb the ladder and especially, the sailor who closed the hatch.
Webmaster's note: Charlie's last
name is not known, nor are the names of his 3 friends - but those 3 friends are listed below
with the 21 ratings who died that day.
Commanding Officers
Capt
Horatio Nelson Lay, OBE, RCN - 15 Oct 1943 - 30 Sep 1944
In memory of those who made the ultimate sacrifice
Lest We Forget

BEACH, John A.
LAF (O), RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

CHIZY, Harold
I.
SBA, RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug
1944 |

CONNOLLY,
Charles W.
L/Ck (S), RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug
1944 |

CRAWFORD, Andrew
LSA, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

CURRIE,
George H.
SA, RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug
1944 |

FROHOCK, John
AM (A) 2c, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944
|

GOUDIE, Owen R.
LAM (O), RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

JONES,
John C,
L/Stwd, RCNR
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

LEWIS, Joseph
AB, RCN
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

LYNER, George R.
AM (E) 1c, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

MacDONALD,
Duncan A.
AB, RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

MacKENNEY,
Arnold V.
SA, RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug 2944 |

MELROSE, David
AB, RCNR
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

RATTLEY, Philip A.
Act/EA 4c, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

ROTHWELL, Peter T.
Ty/Act/AM 4c, RN
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

STAINES,
Frederick C.
SA, RCNVR
MPK - 22 Aug
1944 |

STANTON, Cyril
A.W.
AM (E) 2c, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944 |

STEPHENS, Gordon H.
LRM (AW), RN
MPK - 22
Aug 1944 |

TUCCI, Albert
AB, RCNVR
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |

WHITEHOUSE, Eric
RPO, RCN
killed - 22 Aug 1944 |
|
|

WILKES, Harry
Steward, RN
MPK - 22 Aug 1944
|
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In memory of those who have crossed the bar
They shall not be
forgotten
(s) - Survived
the torpedoing of HMS Nabob

Balch,
Kenneth J. (s)
|

Boyer,
George W. (s) |

Brock
(Boychuk),
Nicholas |

Callander,
Alexander M. |

Collins,
David A. |

Dillon,
Charles J.
|

Ewing,
George J.
|

Forster,
Dennis T. (s)
|

Harding,
Norman L.
|

Harris,
William
|

Hart, E.C.
Mike
|

Hewitt,
Wilbert H.
|

Hinchcliffe,
Cecil I. (s)
|
Jackson,
Ronald (s)
|

Jolleys,
John W.
|

Kalichack,
Anthony
|

Koops,
William
|

Kurney,
William J.
|

Lappenbush,
Wyvil F. (s)
|

Lay,
Horatio N. (s)
|
Lewis,
William S. (s)
|

Love,
Leonard E. (s)
|
Madonna,
Athony R. (s)
|

McLean,
Elvin R. (s)
|

Morgan,
Richard T.
|

Mossop,
Hudson
|

O'Neil, James
F. (s)
|

Paone,
Luigi A.
|

Pearson,
David M.
|

Platt,
Joseph V.
|

Potvin,
Jean-Paul
|

Reid,
Ronald D. (s)
|

Roberts,
James H.
|

Rousseau, John
(Jean) (s)
|

Schiller,
Lawrence (s)
|

Seely,
Norman W.
|

Shouldice, Lorne S. (s)
|

Smith, Stan
|

Stevens,
Harold
|

Storrie,
John H. (s)
|

Tait,
John
|

Vetters,
William
|

Warawa,
Walter W. (s)
|

Warrilow,
Percy (s)
|

White,
William G.
|
Williams,
Ronald J. (s)
|
|
|
|
|
Former Crew Members
(s) - Survived
the torpedoing of HMS Nabob
Bellamy, Morris (s)
Block, Ronald (s)
Clements, James, Writer (s)
Collins, Al, Pay-Lt (s)
Cookman, Al (s)
Cooper, Cecil Ross, V60196 -
Delaney, Bernard
|
Duncan, Jack (s)
Forbes, Gordon, AB (s)
Gordon, Robert, G., Navigator's Yeoman (s)
Hill, William, Reverend - Commissioning crew. (s)
Hobson, Nick (s)
Hutchins, Victor Royen, Ck - 1944 (s)
|
Mainwaring, John (s)
McDonald, Glen, NavO (s)
Meredith, George (s)
Powers, Robert W., Stoker
Schiller, Lawrence, LS (s)
Zielke, H.L., Stoker (s)
|
Photos
and Documents

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HMS NABOB
DND / RCN Photo
|

|
HMS Nabob
From the collection of John C. Jones
Courtesy of Bruce Jones
|

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HMS Nabob
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love |

|
HMS Nabob
From the collection of John C. Jones
Courtesy of Bruce Jones |

(1)
Aircraft landing of HMS Nabob (2) Aircraft taking off from HMS
Nabob - RMS Queen Mary below aircraft (3) Aircraft taking off
from HMS Nabob - Firth of Forth railway bridge and unknown escort carrier in background
Photos 1 & 2 from the collection of Leonard Love
/ Courtesy of Nicky Love
Photo 3 from the collection of John C. Jones /
Courtesy of Bruce Jones
|

|
Deisel depart crew of HMCS Nabob
Front row, George Meredith and Leonard Love
(2nd and 3rd from left respectively)
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love |

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HMS NABOB after being torpedoed
DND / RCN Photo |
HMS Nabob - Torpedoed!


(1)
HMS Nabob, down by the stern after being hit by a torpedo from U-354. Note
the crew all on the port side of the flight deck to help with the
ship's trim (2) Frigate HMS Bickerton - struck by a GNAT
torpedo from U-354 that was meant to finish off HMS Nabob. After her
crew was removed, HMS Bickerton was sunk by a torpedo from HMS
Vigilant. (3) HMS Kempthorne astern of HMS Nabob


(3)
Life rafts and floats on the flight deck of HMS Nabob. HMS
Trumpeter astern of HMS Nabob (4) HMCS Algonquin alongside HMS
Nabob (5 & 6) Back at Scapa Flow, the Commanding Officer
addresses the crew (7) Crew of HMS Nabob formed up on the
flight deck - possible a service for those lost.
DND/RCN photos (with the exception of photos 1
and 2)
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love
|

|
Capt Horatio Lay inspects the shoring to the
bulkheads after HMS Nabob was torpedoed
Click
here to view what's written on the back of the photo
From the collection of Lorne
Roy Shouldice
Courtesy of Jeff Shouldice |

|
Newspaper article on the torpedoing of HMS
Nabob
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love |

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Newspaper article on the torpedoing of HMS
Nabob
From the collection of John C. Jones
Courtesy of Bruce Jones
|

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Leonard Love, George Meredith and others
carrying one of their shipmates who was killed when HMS Nabob was
torpedoed
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love |
Buried with full Naval Honours
Service for the twenty one members of the crew of the escort carrier Nabob who lost their
lives when their ship was torpedoed during an attack on the Tirpitz
(1)
The
firing party from HMS Cocharane arriving at Douglas Bank Cemetery at Rosyth
Photos
1, 3 & 5 Source: IWM
Admiralty Official Collection
Photos
2 & 3 from the collection of John C. Jones / Courtesy of Bruce
Jones
|

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Crew Members of Nabob Among Men Decorated
Hamilton Spectator 15 Jan 1945
Courtesy of Mary Kienapple |

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HMS Nabob jacket patch
From the collection of Harold Stevens
Courtesy of Rob Stevens |

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Merchant Vessel Nabob - former HMS Nabob
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love
|

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Newspaper article on the visit of the merchant vessel
Nabob (formerly HMS Nabob) to Vancouver, BC, summer 1962
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love
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Poem - Ode to Nabob
From the collection of John C. Jones
Courtesy of Bruce Jones
|
22 Aug 1944 - 50 Years later

(1)
Newspaper article on the 50th Anniversary of the torpedoing of HMS
Nabob - 1994 (2) Souvenir of the crew reunion on the 50th Anniversary
of the torpedoing of HMS Nabob (3) Reunion group photo
(4 & 5) Letter from BC Premier Bill Van Der Zalm to Leonard Love
and the attendees of the Nabob reunion
22 Aug 1944 - 60 Years later

Newspaper articles on the 60th Anniversary of
the torpedoing of HMS Nabob - 2004
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love |

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Flyer from the RCNA on a book about HMS Nabob
From the collection of Leonard Love
Courtesy of Nicky Love
|

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Nicholas Boychuk on HMS Nabob
From the collection of Nicholas
(Boychuk) Brock, Sto 1c, RCNVR
Courtesy of rob Boychuk
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