.jpg) HMSShah in January 1944, en route fromAlameda toCochin viaWilliamstown, Australia. In addition to her usual complement of aircraft, she ferried Wildcats andCurtiss P-40s on her deck. | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USSJamaica |
| Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 13 November 1942 |
| Launched | 21 April 1943 |
| Fate | Transferred toRoyal Navy 27 September 1943 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMSShah |
| Namesake | Shah of Persia |
| Commissioned | 27 September 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 7 February 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number D21 |
| Honours and awards | Burma 1945 |
| Fate | Returned to US ownership. Sold as merchant shipSalta; sold for scrap 1966 |
| Badge | On a Field Blue, a Shah's crown Gold. |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | |
| Displacement | 7,800 tons |
| Length | 495 ft 7 in (151.05 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6,300 kW) |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 890 officers andratings |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 12–24 |
USSJamaica (CVE-43) (originallyAVG-43 then laterACV-43), was anescort carrier ofWorld War II that served in the BritishRoyal Navy asHMSShah (D21). Returned to the United States at war's end, she was converted into a merchant vessel and she was sold into civilian service in 1946 asSalta. She was ultimatelyscrapped in 1966.
HMSShah was aRuler-classescort carrier in theRoyal Navy. The ships in this class were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all preceding American-built escort carriers. Their hulls were designed asmerchant ships but they werelaid down as escort carriers and were not later conversions. All had acomplement of 646 officers andratings and anoverall length of 492 feet 3 inches (150.0 m), abeam of 69 feet 6 inches (21.2 m) and adraught of 25 ft 6 in (7.8 m).[1] Propulsion was provided asteam turbine, two boilers connected to oneshaft giving 9,350brake horsepower (6,970 kW), which could propel the ship at 16.5knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[2]
Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on thestarboard side, two aircraft lifts 43 by 34 feet (13.1 m × 10.4 m), oneaircraft catapult and ninearrestor wires.[1] Aircraft could be housed in the 260 by 62 feet (79.2 m × 18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck.[1] Armament comprised: two4 inchdual-purpose guns in single mounts, sixteen40 mm Boforsanti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon in single mounts.[1]Her operational complement of aircraft carried changed over time, typically being some combination of up to about 18Grumman Avengers,Grumman Wildcats,Grumman Hellcats, andSupermarine Walrus, plus deck cargo.[3]
MC Hull 254 was laid down 13 November 1942 andlaunched asJamaica under contract to theMaritime Commission bySeattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding[4] atTacoma, Washington, on 21 April 1943 sponsored by Mrs. C. T. Simard. She was reclassified CVE-43 on 15 July 1943 and acquired by theUnited States Navy.
She was transferred to theUnited Kingdom underlend-lease,commissioning on 27 September 1943, as one of a large group of escort carriers suitable foranti-submarine work transferred to the Royal Navy in the Pacific.
Jamaica was renamedShah, with a RNpennant number of D21. Commanded byWilliam John Yendell,[5] her initial air complement was851 Naval Air Squadron with 12 Grumman Avenger IItorpedo bombers and a flight of Grumman Wildcatfighters.[3]
Aftersea trials, she was modified in Canada forconvoy defence, this being completed at the end of the year. She sailed fromVancouver forSan Francisco to take on her complement of operational aircraft, 12 Grumman Avengers and a flight of Grumman Wildcats. However, no flying was possible as her decks were also filled withCurtiss P-40s to be ferried toCochin. From San Francisco she sailed toWilliamstown,Melbourne, Australia. After resupplying she continued in this configuration to Cochin andColombo.
Her duties were chiefly convoy defence and trade protection against GermanU-boats operating in theIndian Ocean with a shore base atTrincomalee. She took an active part in the war, heading the hunter-killer group which sankU-198 in the Indian Ocean on 12 August 1944. Alerted to the submarine's presence in the area, 851's Avengers located the U-boat and attempted to attack her, and directed the other ships in the group,HMS Begum, theRiver-classfrigateHMS Findhorn and theBlack Swan-classsloopHMIS Godavari to a point where the U-boat wasdepth charged resulting in it sinking.
Shah was transferred to theEast Indies Fleet and then refitted inDurban before taking part in theBurma campaign in 1945. Having suffered several aircraft losses on patrol and landing accidents, her complement was augmented around this time by a flight of Grumman Hellcats. During April and May 1945 she participated inOperation Bishop, launching patrols and strikes againstNicobar preparatory to the invasion ofRangoon.[3]Soon after, she was tasked with the search for the Japanese cruiserHaguro. Mechanical problems with thecatapult resulted in most of 851's Avengers being sent toHMS Emperor in exchange for Hellcats from 800 and 804 Squadron. A serious landing accident by one of those Hellcats effectively removedShah from operations on 11 May. Nonetheless 851's Avengers, flying fromEmperor, were able to locate and damageHaguro, prior to her sinking by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla inOperation Dukedom.
The Hellcats that survived the earlier landing accident were flown offShah and she briefly returned toCeylon andBombay for refitting and training. Collecting surviving Avengers from 851 and 845 Squadrons, plus Hellcats and a Walrus for support and recovery during landing operations, in August she sailed to joinOperation Zipper on the Malay coast, only to be stood down en route whenJapan capitulated.
Disembarking her aircraft at Trincomalee on 26 August, she then sailed tothe Clyde naval base viaAden and theSuez Canal where she was prepared for return to the United States. Arriving atNorfolk on 16 October, she was formally handed over to the United States on 26 November 1945.[3]
She was sold into merchant service to Argentina on 20 June 1947 asSalta, named after theArgentinian city. TheNewport News shipyard performed the conversion.
In 1963 she was the first ship on scene at the rescue of passengers and crew from the Greek linerLakonia when it caught fire in the Atlantic. At the time she was under the command ofCaptain José Barrere, on its way fromGenoa, Italy, toBuenos Aires.Salta rescued 475 people and took aboard most ofLakonia'slifeboats.Salta wasscrapped in Buenos Aires in 1966.
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
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