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| HMS Nabob British aircraft carrier, royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk |
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| HMS Nabob British aircraft carrier, uboat.net |
Above image: HMS Nabob, a 'Ruler' class escort carrier, was torpedoed on August 22, 1944, by the German submarine U-354 during Operation Goodwood. Causing a 32-square foot hole on the starboard side near the engine room, leading to severe flooding, a 7-degree list, and loss of electrical power, rendering the ship immobile. Nabob had 14 Avengers and 4 Wildcats on board, none of which were damaged.. Captain Lay ordered preparations to abandon ship, and the frigate HMS Kempthorne evacuated 210 men, including 10 injured. Shortly after, at 17:23, U-354 struck HMS Bickerton with a second torpedo, causing extensive damage and killing 38 crew members. Major convoy vessels, including HMS Duke of York and Indefatigable, took evasive action and dispersed.
Despite the severe damage, effective damage control efforts by Nabob’s crew ensured many lives were saved, and the ship later returned to port for repairs, 1070 miles away at a steady ten knot sunder her own steam, her stern low down in the water; of course with a skeleton crew. The incident brought to light the constant threat of German U-boats and the critical need for vigilant anti-submarine measures during WWII naval operations This photo is from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 4700-01..................
Have you ever heard of a warship and aircraft carrier called HMS Nabob which had a complement of 643 officers. This American ship was leased to the UK during the WWII. It is strange that the ship carried the Indian name " Nabob"(Urdu/Hindi). Indian Nawabs were rich and led a luxurious life centuries ago . Paradoxically, the word Nabob refers to the corrupt East India company officers who made quick money in India by moonlighting. Upon return to England, they lived like an aristocrat with ill-gotten money earned in India . Good examples are Robert Clive, founder of the British Empire and Elihu Yale (Gov. of Madras settlement, S. India), benefactor of Yale College (now university), CT, USA. That why was this escort aircraft carrier under the British Royal navy named Nabob, is a riddle!!
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| British Nabob slideserve.com |
The warship Nabob after the war was misused in 1856 to carry immigrants with the full knowledge of the captain. It was forbidden to misuse the warship for any other purpose except to transport sailors and the captain's behavior was a controversial one. .
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| HMS Nabob -Bogue escort Class aircraft carrier reddit.com |
The war ship Nabob (an aircraft carrier), with a tonnage of 841, departed under the Command of Cap. Morris from Liverpool on September 1st, 1856, and arrived at Port Adelaide, South Australia on December 23rd, 1856. This journey, which took 115 days, was the ship's 17th voyage carrying government passengers to South Australia in that year. There were four births and six deaths among the 325 immigrants during the passage.
Upon arrival, the ship was noted to be in clean and excellent condition. However, the main deck's space was significantly reduced due to round houses, limiting the exercise area for the married and single men. Despite this, there was ample space on the poop deck for the exercise of married and single women. The immigrants expressed deep gratitude towards the surgeon-superintendent, Charles Kitching, senior, and the ship's officers, although they had severe complaints about Captain Morris. The complaints involved coarse and abusive language directed at the male immigrants.
An investigation by the Immigration Board confirmed the use of inappropriate language by Captain Morris, who defended his actions by stating he had difficulty preventing the male immigrants from mingling with the sailors, which was strictly forbidden. Despite the captain's coarse behavior, he was noted to have successfully maintained separation between sailors and emigrants better than on any of Kitching's previous voyages. Kitching, a respected surgeon-superintendent with experience from five voyages, vouched for the general material well-being of the passengers under the master's care.
Additionally, 106 of the passengers were nominated emigrants traveling under the nominee and remittance regulations. The Nabob, was a Ruler-class escort aircraft carrier which served in the Royal Navy during 1943 and 1944.. It was laid down on 20 October 1942 at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp yard in Tacoma, Washington stat, USA and was launched on 9 March 1943. Edisto was completed and transferred under Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom on 7 September 1943 prior to her commissioning as HMS Nabob into the Royal Navy at Tacoma. Soon it underwent some modification at Vancouver Shipyard, BC, Canada. She was registered in Liverpool by Magee & Co., Never entering US service, the ship was condemned in 1864.
source: https://www.theshipslist.com/ships/australia/nabob1856.shtml
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HMS_Nabob_(D77)
https://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/NABOB.htm
