HMS Ben-my-Chree

HMS Ben-my-Chree
History
United Kingdom
NameBen-my-Chree
NamesakeManx ben ma chree, "woman of my heart"
OperatorIsle of Man Steam Packet Co.
Port of registryIsle of Man Douglas, Isle of Man
RouteEngland–Isle of Man
BuilderVickers, Barrow-in-Furness
Laid down1907
Launched23 March 1908
Completed8 August 1908
FateChartered by the Royal Navy, 1 January 1915
United Kingdom
NameHMS Ben-my-Chree
Acquired1 January 1915
Commissioned23 March 1915
Fate
General characteristics (as passenger ship)
TypePacket
Tonnage2,651 GRT
Length390 ft (118.9 m) (o/a)
Beam46 ft (14.0 m)
Depth18 ft 6 in (5.64 m)
Decks5
Installed power4 × cylindrical boilers
Propulsion
Speed24.2 kn (44.8 km/h; 27.8 mph)
Capacity2,549
Crew119
General characteristics (in RN service)
TypeSeaplane carrier
Displacement3,888 long tons (3,950 t)
Length387 ft (118.0 m) (o/a)
Draught16 ft (4.9 m)
Installed power14,500 shp (10,800 kW)
Speed24.5 kn (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Crew250
Armament
Aircraft carried4–6 × seaplanes

HMS Ben-my-Chree (Manx: "Woman of My Heart"[1]) was a British packet steamer which served as a seaplane carrier in the Royal Navy during World War I. She was originally built in 1907 by Vickers for the Isle of Man Steam Packet Company and was intended for use on the EnglandIsle of Man route. Ben-my-Chree was the third vessel to bear her name. To this day, she holds the crossing speed record from Liverpool to Douglas, Isle of Man for a steamship at under three hours.[2]

She was chartered by the Royal Navy at the beginning of 1915 and participated in several abortive attacks on Germany in May. The ship was transferred to the Dardanelles in June to support the Gallipoli campaign, and one of her aircraft made the first ship-launched aerial torpedo attack on a ship in August.[3] After Gallipoli was evacuated at the end of the year, Ben-my-Chree became the flagship of the East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron which operated in the Eastern Mediterranean, performing reconnaissance missions and attacking Ottoman facilities and troops.

She was sunk by Ottoman artillery fire while anchored at the recently occupied island of Kastellorizo in early 1917, with five members of her crew being injured. The ship was salvaged in 1920 and broken up in 1923. Ben-my-Chree was the only aviation vessel of either side sunk by enemy action during the war.[4]

  1. ^ Dotan, p. 133
  2. ^ Caruana, et al., p. 297
  3. ^ Caruana, et al., p. 298
  4. ^ Layman, p. 44