Harland and Wolff built Pretoria Castle in Belfast, launching her in 1938 and completing her in April 1939.[2] The Admiralty requisitioned her for the Royal Navy in October 1939, and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser with eight 6-inch (152 mm) and two 3-inch (76 mm) guns, entering service in November 1939. In this role she served mainly in the South Atlantic.
In July 1942 the Admiralty bought her outright for conversion to an escort carrier by Swan Hunter on Tyneside. For her new role her armament included ten Oerlikon 20 mm cannon.[3] She was commissioned in her new role in July 1943. She operated as a trials and training carrier, seeing no active combat service.
In 1945 she twice became part of aviation history, firstly when British test pilotCaptainEric "Winkle" Brown landed a BellAiracobra Mk. 1 on her flight deck - the first carrier landing made using an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage, due to a declared emergency during initial trials for rubber deck landings planned for future carriers, and then by hosting the first ever landings and take-offs by a glider, performed by John Sproule in a Slingsby T.20 as part of research into "round-down" turbulence. On 11 August 1946, while moored on the Clyde, a Gloster Meteor was used for deck handling trials which later led to flight trials on other carriers.[4]
After the war the ship was sold back to the Union-Castle Line in 1946 and converted back to a passenger liner, restored to its route between England and South Africa but renamed Warwick Castle. She was sold and scrapped in Barcelona in July 1962.
Notesedit
^ abMcCluskie, Tom (2013). The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff. Stroud: The History Press. p. 146. ISBN978-0752488615.
^Lloyd's Register of Shipping(PDF). London: Lloyd's Register. 1939. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
^"HMS Pretoria Castle Gun 10 X BR 20mm 70cal Mark V VC Power Twin". NavHist. Flixco Pty Limited. Retrieved 8 October 2020.
^Mason, Geoffrey B. "HMS Pretoria Castle (F 61) – Escort Aircraft Carrier". Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2. Naval History. Retrieved 27 February 2016.
Referencesedit
Osborne, Richard; Spong, Harry & Grover, Tom (2007). Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878–1945. Windsor, UK: World Warship Society. ISBN978-0-9543310-8-5.
Media related to HMS Pretoria Castle (F61) at Wikimedia Commons
Drury, Tony. "A history of HMS Pretoria Castle". Royal Navy Research Archive.
Helgason, Guðmundur. "HMS Pretoria Castle (F 61)". uboat.net.
"UK/Union Castle". The Late, Great Ocean Liners. Archived from the original on 17 March 2006.
April 28, 2024
pretoria, castle, other, ships, with, same, name, pretoria, castle, this, article, needs, additional, citations, verification, please, help, improve, this, article, adding, citations, reliable, sources, unsourced, material, challenged, removed, find, sources, . For other ships with the same name see Pretoria Castle This article needs additional citations for verification Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources Unsourced material may be challenged and removed Find sources HMS Pretoria Castle F61 news newspapers books scholar JSTOR October 2020 Learn how and when to remove this template message HMS Pretoria Castle F61 was a Union Castle ocean liner that in the Second World War was converted into a Royal Navy armed merchant cruiser and then converted again into an escort carrier After the war she was converted back into a passenger liner and renamed Warwick Castle HMS Pretoria CastleHistory NamePretoria Castle Port of registryLondon BuilderHarland amp Wolff Yard number1006 1 Launched12 October 1938 Completed18 April 1939 1 IdentificationUK official number 167220 Call sign GRRJ FateRequisitioned for Royal Navy October 1939 United Kingdom NameHMS Pretoria Castle Commissioned28 November 1939 DecommissionedAugust 1942 RefitConverted from armed merchant cruiser to escort carrier IdentificationPennant number F61 Commissioned29 July 1943 Decommissioned26 January 1946 FateSold back to the Union Castle Line 1946 NameRMMV Warwick Castle Port of registryLondon Acquired1946 FateScrapped July 1962 General characteristics TypeOcean liner Tonnage17 392 GRT Displacement23 450 tons Length594 ft 181 1 m Beam76 ft 23 2 m Draught29 ft 8 8 m Installed power16 000 bhp 12 000 kW 3 284 NHP PropulsionDiesel engines twin screw Speed18 knots 33 km h 21 mph Aircraft carried21 Contents 1 History 2 Notes 3 References 4 Further reading 5 External linksHistory edit nbsp Flight training aboard the Pretoria Castle Harland and Wolff built Pretoria Castle in Belfast launching her in 1938 and completing her in April 1939 2 The Admiralty requisitioned her for the Royal Navy in October 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser with eight 6 inch 152 mm and two 3 inch 76 mm guns entering service in November 1939 In this role she served mainly in the South Atlantic In July 1942 the Admiralty bought her outright for conversion to an escort carrier by Swan Hunter on Tyneside For her new role her armament included ten Oerlikon 20 mm cannon 3 She was commissioned in her new role in July 1943 She operated as a trials and training carrier seeing no active combat service In 1945 she twice became part of aviation history firstly when British test pilot Captain Eric Winkle Brown landed a Bell Airacobra Mk 1 on her flight deck the first carrier landing made using an aircraft with a tricycle undercarriage due to a declared emergency during initial trials for rubber deck landings planned for future carriers and then by hosting the first ever landings and take offs by a glider performed by John Sproule in a Slingsby T 20 as part of research into round down turbulence On 11 August 1946 while moored on the Clyde a Gloster Meteor was used for deck handling trials which later led to flight trials on other carriers 4 After the war the ship was sold back to the Union Castle Line in 1946 and converted back to a passenger liner restored to its route between England and South Africa but renamed Warwick Castle She was sold and scrapped in Barcelona in July 1962 Notes edit a b McCluskie Tom 2013 The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff Stroud The History Press p 146 ISBN 978 0752488615 Lloyd s Register of Shipping PDF London Lloyd s Register 1939 Retrieved 8 October 2020 HMS Pretoria Castle Gun 10 X BR 20mm 70cal Mark V VC Power Twin NavHist Flixco Pty Limited Retrieved 8 October 2020 Mason Geoffrey B HMS Pretoria Castle F 61 Escort Aircraft Carrier Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 Naval History Retrieved 27 February 2016 References editOsborne Richard Spong Harry amp Grover Tom 2007 Armed Merchant Cruisers 1878 1945 Windsor UK World Warship Society ISBN 978 0 9543310 8 5 Further reading editBrown Eric Wings of the Weird and Wonderful clarification needed Brown Eric 2007 Wings on My Sleeve London Weidenfeld amp Nicolson ISBN 978 1407244518 page needed External links edit nbsp Media related to HMS Pretoria Castle F61 at Wikimedia Commons Drury Tony A history of HMS Pretoria Castle Royal Navy Research Archive Helgason Gudmundur HMS Pretoria Castle F 61 uboat net UK Union Castle The Late Great Ocean Liners Archived from the original on 17 March 2006 Retrieved from https en wikipedia org w index php title HMS Pretoria Castle F61 amp oldid 1183422593, wikipedia, wiki, book, books, library,
