MV Empire MacCallum explained

MV Empire MacCallum was a grain ship converted to a merchant aircraft carrier or MAC ship.

History

MV Empire MacCallum was built at Lithgows shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport. As a MAC ship, only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel,^[1] She was operated by Hain Steam Ship Co Ltd of St Ives.^[2] On 7 July 1944, a Fairey Swordfish aircraft mistakenly sank the Free French submarine in the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Newfoundland.^[3] Among the aircraft that served on Empire MacCallum was Fairey Swordfish Mk II LS326 where it became part of 'K' flight. The aircraft had previously been on . In November 2010, it was airworthy with the Royal Navy Historic Flight.^[4]

After the war, the ship was converted to a grain carrier, and eventually scrapped at Osaka in 1960.^[2]

See also

• List of aircraft carriers

External links

• Web site: MV Empire MacCallum . Fleet Air Arm Archive . https://web.archive.org/web/20090706053510/http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/Ships/Empire_MacCallum.html . 6 July 2009.

Notes and References

1. Book: Warships of World War II . H.T. Lenton . J. J. Colledge . 1973 . 0-7110-0403-X . Ian Allan . 296.
2. Web site: List and history of the Empire ships - M . 2007-03-18 . Mariners.
3. Web site: Q 184 La Perle 2 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140810081457/http://sous-marin.france.pagesperso-orange.fr/Q184.htm . dead . 10 August 2014 . SM Français . fr.
   - Book: Polmar, Norman . Aircraft Carriers . 1, 1909-1945 : a history of carrier aviation and its influence on world events . 2006 . Potomac Books . 9781574886634 . 276 . 2nd.
   - Web site: Seekrieg 1944, Juli . 5 September 2015 . Rohwer . Jürgen . Jürgen Rohwer . Gerhard . Hümmelchen . Württembergische Landesbibliothek Stuttgart . de.
4. Howard . Lee . Return of the Stringbag . Aeroplane . Kelsey Publishing . December 2010 . 47–48, 53–55 .