HMS Slinger (1917)
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History | |
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Name: | HMS Slinger |
Builder: | Lobnitz and Company, Limited |
Launched: | 1917 |
Acquired: | 1917 |
Commissioned: | 1917 |
Fate: | Sold 16 October 1919 |
History | |
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Name: | SS Niki |
Operator: | Boyazides L, Brother & Company |
Acquired: | 1920 |
In service: | 1920 |
Fate: | Sold 1934 |
History | |
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Name: | SS Niki |
Operator: | Valsamakis & Company |
Acquired: | 1934 |
In service: | 1934 |
Fate: | Sold 1937 |
History | |
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Name: | SS Niki |
Operator: | Nomikos Petros |
Acquired: | 1937 |
In service: | 1937 |
Fate: | Sold 1937 |
History | |
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Name: | SS Lingfield |
Operator: | Finchley Steamship Company |
Acquired: | 1937 |
In service: | 1937 |
Fate: | Sunk in collision 17 October 1941 |
General characteristics (as HMS Slinger) | |
Tonnage: | 875 gross tons |
General characteristics (As commercial cargo ship)[1] | |
Tonnage: | 1,002 gross tons |
Length: | 195 feet 4 inches (59.54 meters) |
Beam: | 35 feet 5 inches (10.80 meters) |
Draught: | 14 feet 5 inches (4.39 meters) |
Propulsion: | one 3-cylinder triple expansion steam engine, one shaft, 1,030 ihp (768 Kw) |
Speed: | 10 knots |
HMS Slinger was an experimental catapult ship operated by the Royal Navy during the First World War. After Royal Navy service from 1917 to 1919, she operated as a commercial cargo ship under the names SS Niki and SS Lingfield from 1920 until she sank in 1941.
Royal Navy service
Constructed as a hopper barge, HMS Slinger was purchased from her builder, Lobnitz and Company, Limited of Renfrew, Scotland, prior to completion. Intending to use her as a test bed for the shipborne launching of aircraft, the Royal Navy fitted her with a 60-foot (18.25-meter) compressed air catapult. HMS Slinger operated Fairey F.127 and Short 310 seaplanes during 1918.
![](../I/m/HMS_Slinger_seaplane.jpg)
Slinger was sold on October 16, 1919.
Later career
After her sale, the ship was converted into a merchant cargo ship. She entered commercial service under the Greek flag with Boyazides L, Brother & Company in 1920 as SS Niki. Niki was sold to Valsamakis & Company in 1934 and to Nomikos Petros in 1937, remaining under Greek ownersip and registry throughout.[1] On 28 July 1920, Niki arrived leaking at Liverpool and was beached at Tranmere. Cheshire.[2] She was refloated, repaired, and returned to service.
Niki was sold to Valsamakis & Company in 1934 and to Nomikos Petros in 1937, remaining under Greek ownersip and registry throughout.[1] Later in 1937, Niki was sold to the Finchley Steamship Company and, under British registry, was renamed SS Lingfield. Lingfield continued to operate as a commercial cargo ship until 17 October 1941, when she collided with another vessel in the North Sea off the coast of Norfolk, England, and sank.[1]
Notes
References
- Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), ISBN 0-7110-0380-7