HMAS Albatross

I noticed the following post on the Albatross on another forum and whether or not she should of been converted to an escort carrier durring WW2. Would make an interesting alternative:

"How then might Albatross have been better used? What qualities did Albatross have that might have made her more valuable to the RN?

Albatross was, first and foremost, designed and built to Admiralty specifications. She had steam turbines, a top speed of at least 21 knots, had damage control systems, fire-fighting systems and had a spacious aircraft hangar. There is conflicting evidence as to whether she possessed an aircraft lift. Photos show a large hatch but there are references to a lift too. Certainly the two after-most cranes, port and starboard, could have accessed the hatch for lifting seaplanes in and out. Albatross had some 75 metres of flight deck, had an aircraft fuel storage and distribution system, had ammunition magazines and ammunition handling mechanisms and could accommodate some 450 personnel.

In the early days of the Battle of the Atlantic, the concept of providing convoys with ship-based air cover, particularly in the mid-ocean gap where land-based air-cover was not available, saw the desperate measure of Fairey Fulmars and battle-weary Hawker Hurricane Mk I or Sea Hurricane IA fighters, being catapulted off Fighter Catapult Ships and Catapult Merchant Ships, respectively, for once-only missions to chase away or preferably knock down the German Focke-Wulf Condor aircraft that shadowed convoys.

At the very least, Albatross could have been used as a Fighter Catapult Ship with one fighter at the ready on the catapult, some on deck and others stowed in the hangar. As such, she would have been a more capable vessel than HMS Pegasus (ex-Ark Royal), which was, coincidentally, an ex- seaplane carrier too - albeit of much older vintage having been originally converted from a collier.

Captain M.S. Slattery, Director of Air Materiel, proposed to fit suitable merchant ships with a flight deck, arrestor wires and safety barrier and six Hurricanes. The captured German MV Hanover, renamed Empire Hanover then HMS Audacity (commissioned June 1941, first convoy, September 1941, lost 21 December, 1941), provided the prototype with a flight deck of 112 metres (368 feet) X 18 metres (60 feet) on a displacement of 5,537 tons. There was no hangar and a total of six Grumman Martlet Mk I’s (Grumman F4F-3’s) were carried. The only slightly younger USS Long Island (ex- MV Mormanclad), also commissioned in June 1941, had a flight deck of 91 metres (300 feet) long, subsequently extended to 124 metres (410 feet). A squadron of 15 aircraft could be carried in an aft-hangar. Initially these were the unsuccessful Brewster Buffalo F2A-1, later replaced by Grumann Wildcats F4F-3.

Thirty-eight Escort Carriers for the RN followed from American shipyards and another five came from British shipyards.

But why wasn’t Albatross considered for conversion to an Escort Carrier? With so many attributes in a vessel that was just over ten years old and had seen very little use, the conversion of Albatross to an Escort Carrier would have been easier, quicker than the mercantile conversions and would have produced a better result.

Move anchor-handling equipment down one deck
Remove all flight-deck cranes
Remove all four 4.7” mounts
Remove all flight-deck obstructions
Remove all super-structure aft of flight deck to immediately below flight-deck level
Extend flight deck some 55 metres aft, with appropriate catwalks, access stairs etc. supported on light-weight stanchions over remaining superstructure
Fit arrester wires and emergency crash barrier
Build deck landing control position to port side, aft
Extend aircraft fuel-handling system
Extend deck fire-fighting system
Build bridge to starboard side
Divert funnel to starboard side (or port and starboard)
Fit quad 2 pdr. pom-pom at starboard forward of bridge
Fit single 20mm Oerlikon mounts to sponsons as appropriate
Fit Type 281 air warning radar to mast
Fit Type 271 surface warning radar to bridge
Fit HF/DF to bridge
Fit hinged radio aerials
Ballast hull to compensate for increased top weight and uneven fore-and-aft trim
Add a complement of twelve-plus aircraft – Swordfish or Martlets or a mix of both.

The addition of a flight deck, aft of the original flight deck, would have added considerable weight and top-hamper compared with the relatively small top-weight that would been removed. Following common American practice the flight deck might have been timber-planked, rather than steel in order to save weight. Irrespective of construction, its dimensions could have been 130.25 metres (427 feet 3 inches) by 21.11 metres (69 feet 3 inches) – both of which exceed the Audacity and the Long Island even when lengthened.

Had Albatross been so converted, the RN would then have had an aircraft carrier capable of performing more roles than the considerably slower, somewhat fragile Escort Carrier conversions.

For instance, Albatross could have:

· Operated as part of a task force providing anti-submarine or combat air patrol or night-fighter aircraft, thus freeing up fleet carriers for dedicated strike aircraft.

· Provided air cover in low-threat areas, like the West Indies, thus freeing up a larger fleet carrier.

· Formed the core of a submarine hunter-killer group such as the famed Captain F.J. Walker’s 2nd Escort Group that operated with Black Swan class sloops having similar speeds to Albatross.

· Provided added air cover and anti-submarine cover for covering forces or fast convoys like Operation Pedestal.

· Ferried aircraft to Malta like USS Wasp.

· Accompanied amphibious landings. Her superior wind-over-deck speed would have been an advantage in windless conditions such as experienced at Salerno.

· Been used as a training aircraft carrier.

There must have been some very good reason for a better use never being found for Albatross.

· Had too many years in reserve seen an unacceptable deterioration in the fabric of Albatross?

· Indeed, had it been built well enough?

· Was the hull shape perhaps too fine aft to support such extra top-hamper? Furious, Eagle and Hermes – to mention but a few – were similarly configured so perhaps this was not the problem.

· Was the hull capable of accepting the extra top-weight and still meet stability standards? Perhaps her relatively shallow draught was a deciding factor.

· Could the hull be satisfactorily re-ballasted to compensate for not only the extra weight but also its changed disposition?

These are all questions beyond my technical expertise. However, a very poor photograph of Hellenic Prince is very easily recognised as having been Albatross. No significant superstructure seems to have been added although there seems to be a continuous, side-to-side boat deck aft (with four lifeboats per side). The only alterations apparent to the old flight deck are the removal of the cranes and the addition of four lifeboats per side. Presumably the aircraft hangar space (two decks high) was converted into some sort of dormitory accommodation. Perhaps the lack of any additional accommodation aft of the hangar was due to potential instability problems. Perhaps the economic reality was that she performed her role adequately without the expense of more extensive alterations."

Shipbucket

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