NS0304909 |
93k |
ACV-49 was assigned the name St. Andrews, 23 August
1942, for a bay on the gulf coast of Florida named by the Spanish to honor Saint Andrew, one of Christ's
12 Apostles and the brother of St. Peter (NS0304909, courtesy of of Google
Maps.)
Transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease, 7 December 1943, and commissioned the same day
as HMS Queen (D19) in the Royal Navy. A Queen is the female ruler of an independent
state. (NS0304907, courtesy of Tommy Trampp.) |
NavSource |
NS0303706 |
180k |
Operation Judgement, May 4, 1945, an attack on the U-boat base at
Kilbotn, near Harstad, Norway. This proved to be the last offensive operation by the Home Fleet, as
the war in Europe ended just a few days later.
The main targets of the attack are, in fact, hidden behind water columns and smoke in the center
of the photo. They were the depot ship Black Watch and the Type VIIC submarine U-711
— they were both sunk. The ship visible in the center of the pic is in all probability the motor
vessel Senja, also sunk in this attack but raised and repaired after the war. U-711
was the last U-boat sunk by the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. Note, on the lower left corner, part of the
wing of an attacking aircraft; the ship visible just above and forward of the wing tip is the old Norwegian
coastal defense ship Harald Hårfrage (commissioned in 1897), then in German hands and
converted into a floating anti-aircraft battery — she was not considered a worthy target.
Operation Judgement was a repetition of Operation Newmarket (April 1945), intended
to destroy the depot and store ships used to support the U-boat attacks on the convoys to North Russia,
but cancelled because weather prevented aircraft from taking off. In May, however, the weather was
perfect (as can be deduced from the photo) and the attack was carried out by Avenger torpedo-bombers
and Wildcat fighters from Squadrons 846 (HMS Trumpeter, Capt. K.
S. Colquhoun), 853 (HMS Queen, Capt. K. J. D'Arcy), and 882 (HMS Searcher,
Capt. J. W. Grant).
John Pine explains: "I discovered this picture amongst family papers. It was in a big brown envelope
addressed to "C in C H F" (Admiral [Sir Henry R.] Moore). My father was in charge of his staff. On
the back of the photograph is typed 'Photographic Section H.M.S. Trumpeter'." |
John Pine |
NS0304905 |
166k |
HMS Queen (D19), ex-St. Andrews (CVE-49), tied
up to a mooring buoy at Scapa Flow, Orkney Islands, Scotland, May 1945. Photo taken by an unknown
Royal Navy official photographer. Imperial War Museums. Photo
No:A 29177. |
Robert Hurst
Larger copy submitted by Mike Green |
