Fleet tender

Fleet tenders were British merchant ships that were fitted with a wooden superstructure to resemble battleships or aircraft carriers during the Second World War. They were built to fool German reconnaissance planes, and known as fleet tenders to conceal their purpose.

Three ships were converted in 1939^[1] and another, HMS Centurion, in 1941. The three converted in 1939 were 7,900-tons merchant ships:

SS Pakeha, fleet tender A, as HMS Revenge
ASS Waimana, fleet tender B, as HMS Resolution
SS Mamari, fleet tender C, as carrier HMS Hermes

These three ships never left the home waters of the United Kingdom, and became obsolete in 1941. SS Mamari was wrecked off The Wash and then attacked by German torpedo boats. SS Pakeha and SS Waimana were converted back to merchants and returned to cargo use, but as the Empire Pakeha and Empire Waimana under the Ministry of War Transport^[2]

HMS Centurion was a First World War-era battleship, disarmed under the Washington Naval Treaty. In May 1941 she was fitted with a dummy after-funnel, mainmast and main armament, to resemble the modern HMS Anson.^[3] She left home waters to sail around the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay, and in June 1942 acted as a decoy in a convoy to Malta (operation Vigorous). HMS Centurion was used as a blockship off the Normandy coast as part of the Gooseberry shelter for Omaha Beach.

HMS Centurion in 1918

HMS Anson in 1945

HMS Centurion masquerading as HMS Anson

Notes

↑ Donald A. Bertke; Gordon Smith; Don Kindell (1 March 2011). WORLD WAR TWO SEA WAR. Lulu.com. pp. 210–. ISBN 978-0-578-02941-2. Entry for 21 November 1939
↑ http://www.mariners-l.co.uk/EmpireU.html#empw
↑ "HMS CENTURION REFIT TO ACT AS THE DOUBLE FOR HMS ANSON MAY 1941 HER AFT FUNNEL AND GUN TURRETS ARE DUMMIES (A 9983)". Imperial War Museum. Retrieved 4 May 2016.

References

Now It Can Be Told! - How the Navy's Phantom Fleet Hoaxed the Hun, The War Illustrated, September 14, 1945.

Naval ships and warships in the Late Modern period

Naval ship classes in service submarine auxiliary Operational zones Blue-water navy Brown-water navy Green-water navy Gun placement Broadside Central battery/casemate Turretes

Aircraft carriers	Aircraft cruiser Amphibious assault ship Anti-submarine warfare carrier Balloon carrier CAM ship Escort carrier Fighter catapult ship Fleet carrier Helicopter carrier Light aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Seaplane tender Submarine aircraft carrier Supercarrier

Battleships	Coastal defence ship Dreadnought Fast battleship Pre-dreadnought battleship Super-dreadnought (Standard-type battleship) Treaty battleship

Cruisers	Armored cruiser Battlecruiser Flight deck cruiser Heavy cruiser Pocket battleship Light cruiser Merchant raider Protected cruiser Strike cruiser Torpedo cruiser Unprotected cruiser

Escort	Aviso Convoy rescue ship Destroyer Destroyer escort Destroyer leader Escort destroyer Frigate Guided missile destroyer Kaibōkan Sloop

Transport	Amphibious transport dock Amphibious warfare ship Attack transport Dock landing ship Landing craft Landing craft carrier Landing Craft Support Landing Ship Heavy Landing ship, infantry Landing Ship Medium Landing Ship, Tank Landing Ship Vehicle Troopship

Patrol craft	Armed boarding steamer Armed yacht Coastal Motor Boat Corvette Gunboat Harbour Defence Motor Launch Motor Launch Naval drifter Naval trawler Ocean boarding vessel Patrol boat Q-ship Steam Gun Boat Submarine chaser Torpedo boat

Fast attack craft	E-boat MAS MGB Missile boat MTB MTM MTSM PT boat Shin'yō

Mine warfare	Danlayer Destroyer minesweeper Mine countermeasures vessel Mine planter Minehunter Minelayer Minesweeper

Command and support	Amenities ship Ammunition ship Auxiliary repair dock Auxiliary ship Collier Combat stores ship Command ship Crane vessel Depot ship Destroyer tender Dispatch boat Fast combat support ship General stores issue ship Hospital ship Naval tugboat Net laying ship Repair ship Replenishment oiler Submarine tender

Submarines	Attack submarine Ballistic missile submarine Coastal submarine Cruise missile submarine Cruiser submarine Deep-submergence vehicle DSRV Fleet submarine Midget submarine U-boat

Miscellaneous	Arsenal ship Barracks ship Breastwork monitor Capital ship Flagship Guard ship Littoral combat ship Monitor River monitor Training ship

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