User:TheBestEditorInEngland/SS Hobsons Bay

For other ships with the same name, see Esperance Bay.

TSS Hobsons Bay
History
Australia
Name	Hobsons Bay
Namesake	Hobsons Bay, Australia
Owner	Commonwealth Government Line (1922-1923) Australian Commonwealth Line (1923-1928)
Operator	Commonwealth Government Line (1922-1923) Australian Commonwealth Line (1923-1928)
Port of registry	Melbourne, Australia
Builder	Vickers Limited at Barrow-in-Furness, England
Cost	£1,300,000
Yard number	574
Laid down	4 October 1921
Completed	January 1922
Maiden voyage	28 February 1922, London, England — Brisbane, Australia
Identification	UK official number: 151802 Call sign KLJT
Fate	Sold to the White Star Line, May 1928
History
United Kingdom
Name	Hobsons Bay (-1936) Esperance Bay (1936-39)
Namesake	Hobsons Bay, Australia & Esperance Bay, Australia
Owner	White Star Line (1928-Apr 33) Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line (Apr 1933-1939)
Operator	White Star Line (1928-Apr 33) Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line (Apr 1933-1939)
Port of registry	London, England
Builder	Vickers Limited at Barrow-in-Furness, England
Acquired	May 1928
Identification	UK official number: 151802 Call sign KLJT
Fate	Requisitioned by the British Admiralty for service with the Royal Navy after conversion into an armed merchant cruiser, 13 September 1939
History
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Esperance Bay (F67)
Namesake	Esperance Bay, Australia
Owner	Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line
Operator	Royal Navy
Acquired	13 September 1939
Commissioned	28 November 1939, armed merchant cruiser conversion completed
Out of service	12 November 1941
Identification	Pennant number: F67 UK Official Number 151802 Call sign KLJT
Fate	Handed over to the Ministry of War Transport and Converted into a troopship, 12 November 1941
History
United Kingdom
Name	Esperance Bay
Namesake	Esperance Bay, Australia
Owner	Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line
Operator	Ministry of War Transport (1941-45) Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line (1941-1955)
Acquired	12 November 1941
Identification	UK official number: 151802 Call sign KLJT
Fate	Scrapped, 6 July 1955 arrived at Faslane, Scotland
General characteristics (as built unless otherwise stated)
Class and type	Ocean liner (1921-1939) Armed merchant cruiser (1939-41) Troopship (1939-45) Ocean liner (1945-1955)
Tonnage	13,837 GRT (1921-1931) 14,204 GRT (1931-1955)
Length	161.7 m (530 ft 6 in)
Beam	20.8 m (68 ft 3 in)
Height	12.16 m (39 ft 11 in)
Draught	10.12 m (33 ft 2 in)
Decks	4
Propulsion	4 steam turbines double reduction geared to 2 screw shafts
Speed	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Capacity	840 people (680 passengers and 160 crew members)
Armament	(1939-41): 7 x breech loading 6-inch (152mm) Mk. VII naval guns 2 x quick firing 3-inch (76 mm) Mk. V AA guns

TSS Hobsons Bay was a twin-screw steamer ocean liner built by Vickers Limited in Barrow-in-Furness, England, in 1922. TSS Esperance Bay HMS Esperance Bay (F67)

http://www.ivanlea.net/sub_pages/hobsonsbay.htm

https://shipstamps.co.uk/forum/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=6946

http://worldwartwodaily.filminspector.com/2016/07/july-14-1940-bastillemourning-day.html

https://www.naval-history.net/xDKCas1940-07JUL.htm

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kanalkampf#13%E2%80%9318_July

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Convoy_HX_47#Background

http://www.convoyweb.org.uk/hx/index.html

https://www.naval-history.net/xDKWW2-4007-20JUL01.htm

https://boltonremembers.org/name/close-3/

https://www.militaryimages.net/media/walter-josiah-witcher.141609/

Add flags to ports of registry

Design

Ships deck plan in January 1937 of Esperance Bay (previously named Hobsons Bay) and three of her other sister ships also owned by the Aberdeen and Commonwealth Line

Career

Career in the Second World War — 1939—1945

Armed merchant cruiser as HMS Esperance Bay (F67) — 1939—1941

A British merchant seaman's watch, quarter, and station bill. He has signed a T124x agreement to serve on Royal Navy ships during the war and has been tested in his stations on HMS Esperance Bay including cleaning and manning the 6-inch naval gun designated No.5 (out of 7).

When Britain declared war on Germany on 3 September 1939 and officially joined what would become the Second World War, Esperance Bay was in Australian waters. On 13 September she was requisitioned by the British Admiralty and arrived at Brisbane, Australia, where her conversion into an armed merchant cruiser for the Royal Navy began. She was fitted with 3 breech loading 6-inch (152mm) mark VII naval guns which were low angle guns and to be used against surfaced enemy submarines, raiding parties, or other ships. She left Brisbane via the Cape Peninsula in South Africa for the UK where her conversion would be completed; she was fitted with an additional 4 breech loading 6-inch (152mm) mark VII naval guns and 2 quick firing 3-inch (76mm) mark V anti-aircraft guns which were dually capable of acting as both low angle but also high angle guns, the latter to be used against enemy aircraft. On 28 November, she was commissioned as an armed merchant cruiser into the Royal Navy keeping her pre-war name but styled HMS as HMS Esperance Bay and acquired the pennant number F67.

On 13 July 1940, Esperance Bay departed alone at 23:07 from Portsmouth, UK, bound for Halifax, Canada, carrying a cargo of gold bullion worth £10,000,000 (or roughly £563,500,000 in 2020) as part of Operation Fish, the evacuation of British wealth from the UK to Canada during the Second World War. The next day at about 12:50, she was intercepted and bombed by 6 or more German Heinkel He 111 and Junkers Ju 86 bombers while roughly 100 miles west (49-30N, 6-40W) of Land's End in Cornwall. The attack lasted 55 minutes in which about 40 to 50 bombs were dropped at Esperance Bay with her aft being badly damaged and 7 of her crew killed including Lieutenant Commander Harold Close along with 6 other ratings, but she managed to reach Devonport, Plymouth, steering by her engines without the loss of her precious cargo.

Gallery

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