Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

CORDOVA   (CVE-39)  /  HMS KHEDIVE (D62)



Battle Honours

Aegean 1944 — South France 1944 — East Indies 1945 — Burma 1945
CLASS - BOGUE
Displacement 7,800 Tons, Dimensions, 495' 8" (oa) x 69' 6" x 26' (Max)
Armament 2 x 5"/51 4 x 40mm, 10 x 20mm, 28 Aircraft.
Machinery, 8,500 SHP; Allis-Chambers, Geared Turbines, 1 screw
Speed, 17.5 Knots, Crew 890.
Fate: 1948: Converted to a cargo ship, renamed Rempang (Dutch flag). 1968: Daphne. 1976: Scrapped at Gandía, Spain.

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Name
Cordova Bay
NS0303913
133k

ACV-39 was named Cordova for a bay in Alaska. Cordova Bay is in the Alexander Archipelago, southeast Alaska, and opens into Dixon Entrance (NS0303913, map courtesy of Google Maps). (The current Orca Bay, in Prince William Sound, Alaska, was also known in English as Cordova Bay, but was renamed in the early 20th century to avoid confusion with the bay in Dixon Entrance.)

Transferred to the Royal Navy on 25 August 1943, she became HMS Khedive. Khedive was the title given to a ruler of Egypt from 1867 to 1914, governing as a viceroy of the sultan of Turkey. The unofficial Coat of Arms is believed to have been suggested by the ship's officers. It features a large key (whose meaning is not clear) and a spiked crown, presumably an approximation of the crown of the Khedive of Egypt. (Image and partial text courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers.)

NavSource
Khedive
NS0303914
18k
HMS Khedive (D62)
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303901
68k

HMS Khedive. Date and place unknown.

Haze Gray & Underway
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303909
58k

Undated photo of HMS Khedive (D62) underway at Greenock, Scotland, Captain H.J. Haynes RN in command.

Source: Imperial War Museum Admiralty Official Collection by Beadell, S.J. (Lt), Photo No. © IWM(A 22596).

Mike Green
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS-03-cve34-c04
17k

HMS Khedive at anchor, Greece, 1944.

(Thanks to Tony Drury for the identification).

Photo from the album of George Chisholm.
Submitted by his son, John
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303906
122k

A picture of the escort carrier HMS Khedive (D62, ex-U.S. Cordova, CVE-39), which shows Supermarine Seafire F.Mk.III (LR856) of No.899 Squadron after nosing over and destroying its propeller[, 1944?]. This is one of those pictures which have given the Seafire a bad name. Photo FAAM Yeovilton.

Photo and text from Supermarine Seafire, by Kev Darling.

Robert Hurst
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303907
106k

British officers from HMS Khedive (D62, ex-U.S. Cordova, CVE-39) entertain King Farouk of Egypt, with a Seafire providing a backdrop, while anchored at Alexandria[, 1944]. Note the battledress worn by Lt. Cdr. George Baldwin, second row, second from right, and the captain, front row, right, with wings, an unusual distinction for such a senior officer at this stage. Imperial War Museum. Photo No.A28114.

Photo and text from The Fleet Air Arm Handbook, by David Wragg.

Robert Hurst
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303904
57k

Escort carrier HMS Khedive (D62) underway in British coastal waters, 19 March 1944. Photo by unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Imperial War Museum. Photo # FL 14356.

Robert Hurst
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303910
56k

HMS Khedive (D62) anchored at Greenock, Scotland on 27 March 1944.

Source: Imperial War Museums Admiralty Official Collection, by Beadell, S.J. (Lt), Photo No. © IWM (A 22497).

Mike Green
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303908
124k

A Royal Navy Vought Corsair Mk.II on an outrigger aboard the escort carrier HMS Khedive (D62) in the Indian Ocean in 1945. Khedive did not operate the Corsair, but the Grumman Hellcat. Photo taken by unknown Royal Navy official photographer.

Photo No. A 29037 from the collection of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303916
49k

A Supermarine Walrus amphibious aircraft takes off from HMS Khedive (D62), in the Far East, to rescue the crew of a ditched bomber spotted in their dinghy 30 miles away. The white patches on the wings of the aircraft are recognition panels designed to prevent friendly fire incidents. Royal Navy official photographer.

Photo No. A 29251 from the collection of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303902
59k

HMS Khedive just inside the breakwater entrance of the Grand Harbour in Malta. In the background of this photo lies Fort St. Michael (although somewhat obscured by the carrier's emission) whilst the breakwater arm on this side of Fort St. Michael is quite recognisable. This picture was possibly taken in late 1945. (Thanks to Noel Paris, who provided additional info).

Robert Hurst
Jeremy Arter Collection
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912
113k

Jeremy explains: "My father was Chaplain aboard HMS Khedive from 1944, after training at Torpoint and HMS Raleigh from Nov 1943."

"Like many of his generation, he hardly spoke about his war. I know that he joined the ship before it left for the Clyde and that he experienced being under air attack. Whether or not he took these photos, I do not know — so have no idea how they may have been taken — official / unofficial."

---

"Another wrecked Hellcat."

Jeremy Arter
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912a
91k

"Both Naval Chaplains, the Arter brothers — James on right of picture — meet during wartime in Trincomalee, Ceylon."

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912e
135k

Aboard HMS Khedive (D62).

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912b
94k

"Deck hockey."

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912c
101k

"Family archives."

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912d
142k

"Gift from Jap POW in Changi jail where Dad did duty as Chaplain."

Jeremy Arter
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912f
19k

"Mention in Despatches, Petty Officer Leslie Henry Ernest Kimpton, FAA/FX 81337, Yeovil, for courage and skill while serving in H.M.S. Khedive in an air strike on the airfields at Medan and Binjai, Sumatra, on June 30, 1945."

"Acting Lieutenant-Commander Rodney Harold Power Carver, D.S.C., Royal Navy, Yeovil."

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912g
282k

Left to right, the battleship HMS Queen Elizabeth, the escort carrier HMS Emperor, and the French battleship Richelieu during Operation Sunfish in the East Indies, April 1945.

(See NS0303404 for a cropped copy of this photo.)

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912h
383k

Hellcat "K6J," 808 Squadron, launching from HMS Khedive (D62), 1945.

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912i
283k

Hellcats "K6Y" and "K6Z" (?), 808 Squadron, prepared for launch from HMS Khedive (D62), 1945.

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912j
416k

British escort carrier (possibly HMS Begum) and escorting destroyers, seen from Khedive.

Jeremy Arter
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912k
272k

HMS Khedive (D62) in the Far East. Planes on deck.

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912l
446k

Rev James Arter conducts a burial at sea aboard HMS Khedive (D62), circa 1945.

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912m
412k

"A most useful escort." French battleship Richelieu (see also NS0303912g).

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912o
365k

HMS Khedive (D62) under attack, possibly during Operation Sunfish, April 1945 (see "A History of HMS Khedive," by Tony Drury, for details.)

Jeremy Arter
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912p
407k
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912n
257k

At 1045, 5 May 1945, during Operation Dracula (air and amphibious attack on Rangoon), destroyer Virago (R75) collided with HMS Khedive (D62) while disengaging on completion of refueling in heavy seas. Only minor damage was done to both ships.

CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303912q
386k

This photo was possibly taken in August 1945, after a Hellcat of 808 Squadron hit its tail on the rounddown, then broke through the barrier and damaged the tail of another Hellcat, parked forward.

Commercial Service
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303903
77k

Ex-HMS Khedive as Rempang (Dutch flag) in the Weser River, Bremen, Germany, April 1964.

Photo by Gerhard Mueller‑Debus
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303905
150k

Newspaper picture showing the Dutch vessel Rempang, ex-Cordova, ex-HMS Khedive, working cargo in Bremen, Germany, in August 1965.

Gerhard Mueller‑Debus
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive / Rempang
NS0303915
60k

SS Rempang, ex-Cordova, ex-HMS Khedive, date and location unknown.

Tommy Trampp
CVE-39 Cordova / HMS Khedive
NS0303911
29k

Sold to Panama and renamed Daphne.

Tommy Trampp

Read the CORDOVA (CVE-39) / HMS KHEDIVE (D62) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Main
Photo Index
Escort Carrier
Photo Index Page

Comments, Suggestions or Image submissions, E-mail Carrier Information
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster

This page was created by Paul Yarnall and is maintained by Fabio Peña
All pages copyright NavSource Naval History

Last update: 27 April 2022