SS Michael E
{{Short description|World War II British CAM ship}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2017}}
| {{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image |Ship image= |Ship caption= }} {{Infobox ship career |Hide header= |Ship country= United Kingdom |Ship flag= {{shipboxflag|UK|civil}} |Ship name= Michael E |Ship owner= Bury Hill Shipping Co Ltd{{sfn|Slader|1988|p=143}} |Ship operator= Counties Ship Management Co Ltd, London{{cite book |url= https://plimsoll.southampton.gov.uk/shipdata/pdfs/40/40a1093.pdf |year=1940 |title=Lloyd's Register, Steamships and Motor Ships |location=London |publisher=Lloyd's Register |access-date=30 March 2013}} |Ship ordered= |Ship builder= William Hamilton & Co, Port Glasgow |Ship yard number= |Ship laid down= |Ship launched= |Ship acquired= |Ship in service= |Ship registry={{flagicon|UK|civil}} London |Ship identification=*UK official number 168165
|Ship out of service= |Ship fate=Torpedoed and sunk, 2 June 1941 |Ship notes= }} {{Infobox ship characteristics |Hide header= |Header caption= |Ship class= |Ship type= Cargo ship |Ship displacement= |Ship length=*{{convert|421.1|ft|abbr=on}} p/p
|Ship beam= {{convert|60.4|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship height= |Ship depth= {{convert|35.8|ft|abbr=on}} |Ship draught= {{convert|23|ft|2+1/4|in|2|abbr=on}} |Ship power= 443 NHP |Ship propulsion= triple-expansion steam engine; screw |Ship speed= |Ship capacity= |Ship crew= 46 Merchant Navy personnel, 12 RAF personnel, four DEMS gunners |Ship armament= |Ship aircraft= 1 Hawker Sea Hurricane |Ship aircraft facilities= aircraft catapult |Ship notes= sister ships: {{SS|Kingston Hill | 2}}, {{SS|Lulworth Hill | 2}}, {{SS|Marietta E | 2}}, {{SS|Primrose Hill | 2}}
}} |
SS Michael E was a {{GRT|7,628}} cargo ship that was built in 1941. She was the first British catapult aircraft merchant ship (CAM ship): a merchant ship fitted with a rocket catapult to launch a single Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft to defend a convoy against long-range German bombers. She was sunk on her maiden voyage by a German submarine.
Description
Michael E was built by William Hamilton & Co Ltd, Port Glasgow. Launched in 1941, she was completed in May of that year. She was the United Kingdom's first CAM ship, armed with an aircraft catapult on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane.
The ship was {{convert|421.1|ft}} long between perpendiculars ({{convert|434.5|ft}} overall), with a beam of {{convert|60.4|ft}}. She had a depth of {{convert|35.8|ft}} and a draught of {{convert|23|ft|2+1/4|in|2}}. She was measured at {{GRT|7628|disp=long}} and {{NRT|5508|disp=long}}.
She had six corrugated furnaces feeding two {{cvt|225|lb/in2}} single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of {{convert|5940|sqft|0}}. The boilers fed a 443 nominal horsepower triple-expansion steam engine that had cylinders of {{convert|24|in|cm}}, {{convert|39|in|cm}} and {{convert|68|in|cm}} diameter by {{convert|48|in|cm}} stroke. The engine was built by David Rowan & Co Ltd, Glasgow.
History
Michael E was owned by the Bury Hill Shipping Co Ltd. a company owned by the Nicholas Eustathiou shipping concerns. She was placed under the management of Counties Ship Management Ltd of London, an offshoot of the Rethymnis & Kulukundis shipbroking company.{{cite web |url=http://www.lof-news.co.uk/CountiesHistory/Counties1.htm |title=Counties Ship Management 1934–2007 |last=Fenton |first=Roy |year=2006 |work=LOF-News |page=1 |access-date=30 June 2010}} She was named after Michael Eustathiou, a member of the Nicholas Eustathiou family that had a major shareholding in her. Her Code Letters were BCKB, her UK Official Number was 163168 and she was registered in London.
Michael E was a sister ship of {{SS|Kingston Hill||2}}, {{SS|Lulworth Hill||2}}, {{SS|Marietta E||2}} and {{SS|Primrose Hill||2}}, which also were managed by CSM and owned by companies associated with R&K.
{{location map|North Atlantic
|lat= 48.50
|long= -29.00
|caption=Approximate position of Michael E{{'}}s wreck
|relief= yes
}}
Sinking
On 28 May 1941 Michael E sailed in ballast on her maiden voyage from Belfast, Northern Ireland bound for Halifax, Nova Scotia with convoy OB 327. The convoy was dispersed on 1 June and at 20:43 hours on 2 June Michael E was in the North Atlantic several hundred miles southwest of Cape Clear when {{GS|U-108|1940|2}} fired two torpedoes at her. One missed but the other struck her in the stern killing a crew member and two DEMS gunners, and at 22:21 hours she sank by the stern. On 3 June the Dutch cargo ship {{SS|Alcinous||2}} rescued Michael E{{'}}s master, 44 crew, two gunners and 12 Royal Air Force personnel.
Replacement ship
In September 1941 William Hamilton & Co completed a second CAM ship of the same class for CSM. She was launched as {{SS|Primrose Hill||2}} and effectively replaced Michael E. Primrose Hill survived until October 1942 when a German-operated submarine sank her by torpedo and shellfire.
References
{{reflist}}
Sources & further reading
- {{cite book |last1=Sedgwick |first1=Stanley |last2=Kinnaird |first2=Mark |last3=O'Donoghue |first3=K.J. |title=London & Overseas Freighters, 1948–92: A Short History |orig-year=1992 |year=1993 |location=Kendal |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn=0-905617-68-1 }}
- {{cite book |last1=Sedgwick |first1=Stanley |last2=Sprake |first2=R.F. |title=London & Overseas Freighters Limited 1949–1977 |year=1977 |location=Kendal |publisher=World Ship Society |isbn= 0905617037 }}
- {{cite book |last=Slader |first=John |title=The Red Duster at War |year=1988 |publisher=William Kimber & Co Ltd |location=London |isbn=0-7183-0679-1 |pages=143–144 }}
{{coord|48.50|N|29.0|W|display=title}}
{{CAM ships}}
{{Maiden voyage sinkings}}
{{June 1941 shipwrecks}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Michael E}}
Category:Ships built on the River Clyde
Category:Maritime incidents in June 1941
Category:Ships of Counties Ship Management
Category:Ships sunk by German submarines in World War II
Category:Steamships of the United Kingdom