HMS Largs
{{Short description|Ocean liner used as command ship in the Second World War}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=November 2016}}
{{Use British English|date=November 2016}}
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{{Infobox ship image | Ship image = Freefrench british captured hms CHARLES PLUMIER.jpg | Ship image size = 250px | Ship caption = HMS Largs at Greenock }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header = | Ship country = France | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|France|naval}} | Ship name = MV Charles Plumier | Ship owner = Compagnie Générale Transatlantique (The French Line) | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = Chantiers & Ateliers de Provence at Port de Bouc | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship completed = October 1938 | Ship commissioned = 1938 | Ship decommissioned = | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship captured = | Ship fate = Seized by Royal Navy November 1941 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship country = United Kingdom | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}} | Ship name = HMS Largs | Ship owner = | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship acquired = November 1941 | Ship commissioned = | Ship decommissioned = 1945 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Returned to France | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship country = France | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|France|naval}} | Ship name = | Ship owner = | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 1945 | Ship decommissioned = 1964 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Sold to Greek Cruise company | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship career | Hide header =title | Ship country = Greece | Ship flag = {{shipboxflag|Greece}} | Ship name = MV Pleias | Ship owner = | Ship namesake = | Ship ordered = | Ship builder = | Ship laid down = | Ship launched = | Ship acquired = | Ship commissioned = 1964 | Ship decommissioned = 1968 | Ship in service = | Ship out of service = | Ship struck = | Ship reinstated = | Ship honours = | Ship fate = Scrapped 1968 | Ship notes = }} {{Infobox ship characteristics | Hide header = | Header caption = | Ship class = Cargo-passenger ship | Ship displacement = |Ship tonnage=4,626 tons GRT | Ship length = 104,45 m | Ship beam = 15,8 m | Ship draught = deadweight 2386 tons | Ship draft = | Ship propulsion = 2 propellers, 2-stroke MAN-Diesel engines, 5200HP | Ship speed = 14,5 Knots | Ship range = | Ship complement = | Ship sensors = | Ship EW = | Ship armament = | Ship armour = | Ship armor = | Ship aircraft = | Ship aircraft facilities = | Ship notes = }} |
HMS Largs was a former Compagnie Generale Transatlantique (French Line){{Cite web |url=http://www.frenchlines.com/ship_en_93.php |title=French Lines cargo ship CHARLES-PLUMIER |access-date=5 January 2015 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20071024104711/http://www.frenchlines.com/ship_en_93.php |archive-date=24 October 2007 |url-status=dead }} fruit (banana) ship captured by the Royal Navy ship HMS Faulknor{{cite web|title=A 6944|url=http://www.iwm.org.uk/collections/item/object/205141019|publisher=www.iwm.org.uk|accessdate=15 December 2012}} five months after the Battle of France while docked at Gibraltar in November 1940 and commissioned as an "ocean boarding vessel". She subsequently became a Combined Operations Headquarters ship for almost every significant amphibious operation of World War II, including Operations Torch, Husky and Overlord and she would be manned by naval, army and air force crew.{{cite web|title=Normandy: Combined Operations|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/78/a2225378.shtml|publisher=www.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=15 December 2012}}
Royal Navy Transfer
She was built by France and named MV Charles Plumier in 1938. Following the creation of Vichy France and Free France she was transferred in 1941 to the Royal Navy, instead of being handed over to the Free French Navy, and renamed HMS Largs. She took part in many operations including Operation Torch, the invasion of North Africa, and Operation Overlord, during the invasion of Normandy.{{cite web|title=Memories of D-Day: Naval Memories|url=http://www.ddaymuseum.co.uk/d-day/memories-of-d-day-naval-memories|publisher=www.ddaymuseum.co.uk|accessdate=15 December 2012}} she was the headquarters ship for Sword Beach.{{cite web|title=HMS Largs|url=https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/46/a1979346.shtml|publisher=www.bbc.co.uk|accessdate=15 December 2012}}
Camouflage research
File:HMS Largs bulwark with Diffused Lighting Camouflage fittings.jpg fittings, 2 retracted (up), 2 deployed]]
{{further|Diffused lighting camouflage}}
HMS Largs was used in 1942 for secret trials of a Canadian invention, diffused lighting camouflage. This used dimmable lamps for counter-illumination, camouflage by bringing the brightness of the ship's superstructure to the same as the night sky. The system of 60 lamps reduced the distance at which a ship could be seen from a surfaced submarine by 25% using binoculars, or by 33% using the naked eye. It worked best on clear moonless nights, at best preventing Largs from being seen until it closed to {{convert|2250|yard|metre}} when counter-illuminated, compared to {{convert|5250|yard|metre}} unlighted, a 57% reduction in range. However, with the development of marine radar, the system was not put into service.{{cite web | url=http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/navres/NMQ_MNQ/researches_recherches/diffusedLighting_camouflageLumineux/index-eng.asp |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20130522231113/http://www.navy.forces.gc.ca/navres/NMQ_MNQ/researches_recherches/diffusedLighting_camouflageLumineux/index-eng.asp |archivedate=22 May 2013 | work=Naval Museum of Quebec | publisher=Royal Canadian Navy | title=Diffused Lighting and its use in the Chaleur Bay | accessdate=3 February 2013}}{{cite book |last1=Admiralty |title=Trial Report D.L. 126: DL Trials on HMS Largs in Clyde Approaches ADM/116/5026 Diffused Lighting |date=1942 |publisher=Admiralty |location=The National Archives, Kew}}
Pacific & Post WWII
In 1945 she was transferred to the Pacific War and used in actions off Thailand and Malaya. After the end of the war she was handed back to France, and served for nineteen years. She was sold off to a private company from Greece in 1964 as a cruise ship, and given the name MV Pleias. She was scrapped in 1968.
References
{{Reflist}}
Bibliography
- {{cite journal |last1=Holtham |first1=Tony |title=HMS Warren Part Two – HMS Largs: A Lockdown Project |journal=Marine News Supplement: Warships |date=February 2022 |volume=76 |issue=2 |pages=S134–S141 |issn=0966-6958}}
External links
- [https://www.bbc.co.uk/history/ww2peopleswar/stories/02/a4022902.shtml BBC WW2 People's War: Happy Landings- the travels of HMS Largs]
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Category:World War II merchant ships of France
Category:Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy
Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United Kingdom