Ocean boarding vessel
Encyclopedia
Ocean boarding vessels (OBVs) were merchant ships taken over by the Royal Navy
for the purpose of enforcing wartime blockade
s by intercepting and boarding foreign vessels.
Royal Navy
The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...
for the purpose of enforcing wartime blockade
Blockade
A blockade is an effort to cut off food, supplies, war material or communications from a particular area by force, either in part or totally. A blockade should not be confused with an embargo or sanctions, which are legal barriers to trade, and is distinct from a siege in that a blockade is usually...
s by intercepting and boarding foreign vessels.
Ships
| Ship | Date launched/ completed | Date requisitioned/ commissioned | History |
|---|---|---|---|
| HMS Ariguani | 1926 | converted to "Catapult Armed Ship". Used for convoy escort | |
| HMS Empire Audacity | 29 Mar 1939 | 11 Nov 1940 | Former German ship Hannover captured 7/8 March 1940; converted to escort aircraft carrier Escort aircraft carrier The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the... 1941; sunk by U-751, 21 December 1941 |
| HMS Camito | June 1915 | 26 Sep 1940 | Torpedoed and sunk 6 May 1941 |
| HMS Corinthian | Rescued survivors of SS Duchess of Atholl Oct 1942 | ||
| HMS Crispin | 1935 | Aug 1940 | Sunk 4 Feb 1941 after torpedo attack previous day |
| HMS Hilary HMS Hilary (1931) HMS Hilary, was a former passenger liner launched in 1931, as SS Hilary, which was requisitioned by the Royal Navy during the Second World War and used as an ocean boarding vessel in the North Atlantic. It was later converted back to a merchantman but subsequently recommissioned back into the Royal... |
17 Apr 1931 | 21 Jan 1941 | Former SS Hilary; restored as a merchantman 15 April 1942; recommissioned as an infantry landing and headquarters ship Landing Ship, Infantry Landing Ship, Infantry was a British term for a type of ship used to transport infantry in amphibious warfare during the Second World War... 1943; returned to civilian service after the war in 1945; scrapped 1959. |
| 1925 | 11 August 1940 | Bombed and sunk on 7 September 1940. Salvaged and converted to cargo ship Empire Explorer, never saw service as an ocean boarding vessel. Torpedoed and sunk in July 1942. | |
| 1937 | 11 August 1940 | Bombed and sunk on 7 September 1940. Salvaged and converted to cargo ship Empire Chivalry, never saw service as an ocean boarding vessel. Sold postwar and renamed Planter. Scrapped 1958. | |
| HMS Lady Somers | 1929 | Requisitioned by Admiralty in 1940. Sunk by Italian submarine Morosini in N Atlantic, 15 July 1941. | |
| HMS Largs HMS Largs HMS Largs was a former French ship captured by the Royal Navy five months after the Battle of France while docked at Gibraltar in November 1940 and commissioned as an "Ocean Boarding Vessel"... |
1938 | 1941 | French ship MV Charles Plumier in 1938; seized by Royal Navy; returned to France 1945; sold to a Greek company and renamed MV Pleias 1964; scrapped 1968 |
| HMS Malvernian | 1937 | abandoned after being bombed, North Atlantic, July 19, 1941 | |
| HMS Manistee | 1920 | 1940 | sailed with Arctic convoy OB 288 and sunk 24 February 1941, no survivors |
| HMS Marsdale | Participated in locating German supply ships after the Bismarck had been sunk | ||
| HMS Maplin | 1932 | Formerly Erin. Converted to Fighter catapult ship 1940. | |
| HMS Patia | 1922 | converted to Fighter catapult ship Fighter catapult ship Fighter catapult ships also known as Catapult Armed Ships were an attempt by the Royal Navy to provide air cover at sea. Five ships were acquired and commissioned as Naval vessels early in the Second World War and these were used to accompany convoys.... in 1940. Sank after attacked by German aircraft 1941 |
|
| HMS Registan | 1930 | 13 Sep 1940 | Bombed off Cape Cornwall Cape Cornwall Cape Cornwall is a small headland in Cornwall, UK. It is four miles north of Land's End near the town of St Just. A cape is the point of land where two bodies of water meet and until the first Ordnance Survey, 200 years ago, it was thought that Cape Cornwall was the most westerly point in... 27 May 1941; repaired and returned to merchant use Nov 1941; sunk 29 Sep, 1942 |