HMS Nairana (1917)

37°50′27″S 144°55′13″E / 37.8407°S 144.9204°E / -37.8407; 144.9204

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History
Australia
NameNairana
NamesakeTasmanian word for wedge-tailed eagle
OwnerHuddart Parker
Ordered22 January 1914
BuilderWilliam Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland
Cost£129,830
Laid down1914
Launched21 June 1915
FatePurchased by Royal Navy, 27 February 1917
United Kingdom
NameHMS Nairana
Cost£138,118
Acquired27 February 1917
Commissioned25 August 1917
FateSold to original owner, January 1921
OwnerHuddart Parker
Acquired1921
Identification
  • United Kingdom official number 143476
  • Code letters THPM
FateTransferred to Tasmanian Steamers, January 1922
OwnerTasmanian Steamers
Port of registryMelbourne
AcquiredJanuary 1922
Out of serviceFebruary 1948
Identification
  • United Kingdom official number 143476
  • Code letters THPM (1922-34)
  • Code letters VJGY (1934-54)
FateWrecked 18 February 1951 and scrapped 1953–54
General characteristics
TypeSeaplane carrier
Displacement3,070 long tons (3,119 t)
Length
  • 315.8 feet (96.3 m) p/p
  • 352 ft (107.3 m) o/a
Beam45.6 ft (13.9 m)
Draught13 ft 2 in (4.0 m) (mean)
Installed power
Propulsion2 × shafts, 2 × geared steam turbines
Speed19.5 knots (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Range1,060 nmi (1,960 km; 1,220 mi) at 19.5 kn (36.1 km/h; 22.4 mph)
Complement278
Armament4 × 76 mm (3.0 in) 12 cwt guns
Aircraft carried7–8
Aviation facilities1 × flying-off deck forward

HMS Nairana (/nˈrɑːnə/) was a passenger ferry that was requisitioned by the Royal Navy (RN) as a seaplane carrier in 1917. She was laid down in Scotland in 1914 as TSS Nairana for the Australian shipping line Huddart Parker, but construction was suspended after the outbreak of the First World War. Following resumption of work, the ship was launched in 1915, and converted to operate wheeled aircraft from her forward flying-off deck, as well as floatplanes that were lowered into the water. She saw service during the war with the Grand Fleet, and in 1918–19 supported the British intervention in the Russian Civil War.

Nairana was returned to her former owners in 1921 and refitted in her original planned configuration, and spent the next 27 years ferrying passengers and cargo between Tasmania and Melbourne. She was twice struck by rogue waves in Bass Strait, and nearly capsized on both occasions. Nairana was the only Bass Strait ferry not requisitioned for military service in the Second World War, and so became the sole passenger ship with service to Tasmania during the conflict. She was laid up in 1948, wrecked in a storm three years later and scrapped in situ in 1953–54.