 Riviera at anchor in 1914–1915 with her early canvas hangars
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Riviera |
| Owner | South East and Chatham Railway |
| Port of registry | London (1911–1914) |
| Builder | William Denny and Brothers, Dumbarton, Scotland |
| Launched | 1 April 1911 |
| Completed | 1911 |
| Fate | Leased to Royal Navy, 11 August 1914 |
 United Kingdom | |
| Acquired |
|
| Commissioned | 6 September 1914 |
| Fate | Sold back to owners, 31 May 1919 |
| United Kingdom | |
| Owner | South East and Chatham Railway/Southern Railway |
| Acquired | 31 May 1919 |
| Fate | Sold, 1932 |
| United Kingdom | |
| Owner | Burns & Laird Lines |
| Port of registry | Glasgow |
| Acquired | 1932 |
| Renamed | Laird's Isle |
| Fate | Leased by the Royal Navy, 28 August 1939 |
| United Kingdom | |
| Acquired | 28 August 1939 |
| Reclassified | Landing Ship, Infantry (LSI (H)), 1944 |
| Fate |
|
| General characteristics (as of 1918) | |
| Type | Seaplane carrier |
| Tonnage | 1,675 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Displacement | 2,550 long tons (2,590 t) (deep load) |
| Length | 323 ft (98.5 m) |
| Beam | 41 ft (12.5 m) |
| Draught | 13 ft 8 in (4.2 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | 3 shafts; 3 steam turbines |
| Speed | 20.5 knots (38.0 km/h; 23.6 mph) |
| Range | 1,250 nmi (2,320 km; 1,440 mi) at 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement | 197 |
| Armament | |
| Aircraft carried | 4 × seaplanes |
HMS Riviera was a seaplane tender which served in the Royal Navy (RN) during the First and Second World Wars. Converted from the cross-Channel packet ship SS Riviera, she was initially fitted with temporary hangars for three seaplanes for aerial reconnaissance and bombing missions in the North Sea. She participated in the unsuccessful Cuxhaven Raid in late 1914 before she began a more thorough conversion in 1915 that increased her capacity to four aircraft. Riviera and her aircraft then spent several years spotting for British warships bombarding the Belgian coast and making unsuccessful attacks on targets in Germany. She was transferred to the Mediterranean in 1918 and returned to her owners the following year.
Sold in 1932 and renamed RMTS Laird's Isle for service in the Irish Sea, she was requisitioned again in 1939 by the Admiralty for service as an armed boarding vessel to enforce the British blockade of Germany. HMS Laird's Isle became a training ship in 1940 and was then converted in 1944 into a troop transport for amphibious landings. She was returned to her owners after the war and resumed her service in the Irish Sea until she was sold for scrap in 1957.