The USS Jamaica (CVE-43) (originally AVG-43 then later ACV-43), was an 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...

 of World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 that served in the British Royal Navy as HMS Shah (D21). Returned to the USA at War's end, she was converted into a merchant vessel and she was sold into civilian service in 1946 as Salta. She was ultimately scrapped in 1966.

Design and description

HMS Shah was a Ruler class escort carrier

Ruler class escort carrier

The Ruler class of escort aircraft carriers served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. All twenty-eight ships were built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation in the United States and supplied under Lend-Lease; They were the most numerous single class of aircraft carriers in...

 in the Royal Navy

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...

. The ships in this class were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all preceding American-built escort carriers. Their hulls were designed as merchant ships but they were laid down as escort carriers and were not later conversions. All had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of 492 inch, a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 69 inch and a draught of 25 in 6 in (7.77 m). Propulsion was provided a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving 9,350 brake horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (9 m/s).

Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side, two aircraft lifts 43 by 34 ft (13.1 by 10.4 ), one aircraft catapult

Aircraft catapult

An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...

 and nine arrestor wires

Arresting gear

Arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is the name used for mechanical systems designed to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBAR aircraft carriers. Similar systems...

. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 by 62 ft (79.2 by 18.9 ) hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised: two 4 inch

QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun

The QF 4 inch Mk XVI gun was the standard British Commonwealth naval anti-aircraft and dual-purpose gun of World War II.-Service:The Mk XVI superseded the earlier QF 4 inch Mk V naval gun on many Royal Naval ships during the late 1930s and early 1940s...

 Dual Purpose

Dual purpose gun

A dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.-Description:Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...

 guns in single mounts, sixteen 40 mm Bofors

Bofors 40 mm gun

The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...

 anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty 20 mm Oerlikon

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

 anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts.
Her operational complement of aircraft carried changed over time, typically being some combination of up to about 18 Grumman Avengers, Grumman Wildcats, Grumman Hellcats, and Supermarine Walrus

Supermarine Walrus

The Supermarine Walrus was a British single-engine amphibious biplane reconnaissance aircraft designed by R. J. Mitchell and operated by the Fleet Air Arm . It also served with the Royal Air Force , Royal Australian Air Force , Royal Canadian Air Force , Royal New Zealand Navy and Royal New...

, plus deck cargo.

Military service as the Shah

MC Hull 254 was laid down 13 November 1942 and launched as Jamaica under contract to the Maritime Commission by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding at Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

 on 21 April 1943 sponsored by Mrs. C. T. Simard. She was reclassified CVE-43 on 15 July 1943 and acquired by the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

.

She was transferred to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 under lend-lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

 commissioning on 27 September 1943, as one of a large group of escort carriers suitable for anti-submarine

Anti-submarine warfare

Anti-submarine warfare is a branch of naval warfare that uses surface warships, aircraft, or other submarines to find, track and deter, damage or destroy enemy submarines....

 work transferred to the Royal Navy

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...

 in the Pacific.

Jamaica was renamed Shah, with a RN pennant number of D21. Commanded by William John Yendell

William John Yendell

Rear Admiral William John Yendell CB was a British Royal Navy officer.He was head of the naval mission to Greece up to its invasion by Axis forces, and after evacuation served as a staff officer in Alexandria until 1943...

, her initial complement was 851 Naval Air Squadron

851 Naval Air Squadron

851 Naval Air Squadron was a Fleet Air Arm squadron of the Royal Navy, first formed in October 1943 at Squantum Naval Air Station in the USA as a MAC-ship escort squadron...

 with 12 Grumman Avenger IIs torpedo bombers and a flight of Wildcat

F4F Wildcat

The Grumman F4F Wildcat was an American carrier-based fighter aircraft that began service with both the United States Navy and the British Royal Navy in 1940...

 fighters.

After sea trials, she was modified in Canada for convoy defence, this being completed at the end of the year. She sailed from Vancouver for San Francisco to take on her complement of operational aircraft, 12 Grumman Avengers and a flight of Grumman Wildcats. However no flying was possible as her decks were also filled with Curtiss P-40

Curtiss P-40

The Curtiss P-40 Warhawk was an American single-engine, single-seat, all-metal fighter and ground attack aircraft that first flew in 1938. The P-40 design was a modification of the previous Curtiss P-36 Hawk which reduced development time and enabled a rapid entry into production and operational...

s to be ferried to Cochin. From San Francisco she sailed to Williamstown

Williamstown

Williamstown or Williamtown is the name of several places in the world:Australia*Williamtown, New South Wales**RAAF Base Williamtown, New South Wales*Williamstown, South Australia*Williamstown, Victoria**Williamstown railway line...

, Melbourne

Melbourne

Melbourne is the capital and most populous city in the state of Victoria, and the second most populous city in Australia. The Melbourne City Centre is the hub of the greater metropolitan area and the Census statistical division—of which "Melbourne" is the common name. As of June 2009, the greater...

, Australia. After resupplying she continued in this configuration to Cochin and Colombo

Colombo

Colombo is the largest city of Sri Lanka. It is located on the west coast of the island and adjacent to Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte, the capital of Sri Lanka. Colombo is often referred to as the capital of the country, since Sri Jayawardenapura Kotte is a satellite city of Colombo...

.

Her duties were chiefly convoy defence and trade protection against German U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean with a shore base at Trincomalee

Trincomalee

Trincomalee is a port city in Eastern Province, Sri Lanka and lies on the east coast of the island, about 113 miles south of Jaffna. It has a population of approximately 100,000 . The city is built on a peninsula, which divides the inner and outer harbours. Overlooking the Kottiyar Bay,...

. She took an active part in the war, heading the hunter-killer group which sank U-198

German submarine U-198

German submarine U-198, was a Type IXD2 U-boat which fought in World War II.She was built by the Deschimag AG Weser in Bremen. The boat was sunk on 12 August 1944 near the Seychelles, in position , by depth charges from the British frigate HMS Findhorn and the Indian Black Swan class sloop HMIS...

 in the Indian Ocean

Indian Ocean

The Indian Ocean is the third largest of the world's oceanic divisions, covering approximately 20% of the water on the Earth's surface. It is bounded on the north by the Indian Subcontinent and Arabian Peninsula ; on the west by eastern Africa; on the east by Indochina, the Sunda Islands, and...

, 12 August 1944. Alerted to the submarine's presence in the area, 851's Avengers located the U-boat and attempted to attack her, and directed the other ships in the group, HMS Begum

HMS Begum (D38)

The USS Bolinas was an escort aircraft carrier launched 11 November 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Tacoma, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. G. B. Sherwood, wife of Commander Sherwood; and commissioned 22 July 1943, Captain H. L...

, the River class frigate

River class frigate

The River class frigate was a class of 151 frigates launched between 1941 and 1944 for use as anti-submarine convoy escorts in the North Atlantic....

 HMS Findhorn and the Black Swan class sloop

Black Swan class sloop

The Black Swan class and Modified Black Swan class were two classes of sloop of the Royal Navy and Royal Indian Navy. Thirteen Black Swans were launched between 1939 and 1943, including four for the Royal Indian Navy; twenty-four Modified Black Swans were launched between 1942 and 1945, including...

 HMIS Godavari to a point where the U-boat was depth-charged resulting in it sinking.

The Shah was transferred to the East Indies Fleet and then refitted in Durban before taking part in the Burma campaign

Burma Campaign

The Burma Campaign in the South-East Asian Theatre of World War II was fought primarily between British Commonwealth, Chinese and United States forces against the forces of the Empire of Japan, Thailand, and the Indian National Army. British Commonwealth land forces were drawn primarily from...

 in 1945. Having suffered several aircraft losses on patrol and landing accidents, her complement was augmented around this time by a flight of Hellcats. During April and May 1945 she participated in Operation Bishop, launching patrols and strikes against Nicobar

Nicobar

Nicobar can refer to:* Nicobar Islands**Car Nicobar**Great Nicobar Island**Little Nicobar* Nicobar district-Animals:*Nicobar Shrew*Nicobar Treeshrew*Nicobar long-tailed macaque*Nicobar Flying Fox* Nicobar Pigeon* Nicobar Megapode...

 preparatory to the invasion of Rangoon.
Soon after, she was tasked with the search for the Japanese cruiser Haguro

Japanese cruiser Haguro

|-External reference links: -External links:**...

. Mechanical problems with the catapult resulted in most of 851's Avengers being sent to HMS Emperor

HMS Emperor (D98)

The USS Pybus was laid down 23 June 1942 as MC Hull No. 245 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Washington; originally classified AVG-34, she was reclassified as ACV-34 on 20 August 1942; launched 7 October 1942; commissioned 31 May 1943 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Wash.; reclassified as CVE-34 15...

 in exchange for Hellcats from 800 and 804 Squadron. A serious landing accident by one of those Hellcats effectively removed the Shah from operations on 11 May. Nonetheless 851's Avengers, flying from the Emperor, were able to locate and damage the Haguro, prior to her sinking by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in the "Operation Dukedom".

The Hellcats that survived the earlier landing accident were flown off the Shah and she briefly returned to Ceylon and Bombay for refitting and training. Collecting surviving Avengers from 851 and 845 Squadrons, plus Hellcats and a Walrus for support and recovery during landing operations, in August she sailed to join Operation Zipper

Operation Zipper

During the Second World War, Operation Zipper was a British plan to capture either Port Swettenham or Port Dickson, Malaya as staging areas for the recapture of Singapore. However, due to the end of the war in the Pacific, it was never fully executed. Some of the proposed landings on Penang went...

 on the Malay coast, only to be stood down en route when Japan capitulated.

Disembarking her aircraft at Trincomalee on 26 August, she then sailed to the Clyde naval base

HMNB Clyde

Her Majesty's Naval Base Clyde is one of three operating bases in the United Kingdom for the Royal Navy...

 via Aden and the Suez canal where she was prepared for return to the USA. Arriving in Norfolk

Norfolk

Norfolk is a low-lying county in the East of England. It has borders with Lincolnshire to the west, Cambridgeshire to the west and southwest and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the North Sea coast and to the north-west the county is bordered by The Wash. The county...

 on 16 October, she was formally handed over to the USA on 26 November 1945.

Merchant service as the Salta

She was sold into merchant service to Argentina on 20 June 1947 as the Salta, named after the Argentinian city

Salta

Salta is a city in northwestern Argentina and the capital city of the Salta Province. Along with its metropolitan area, it has a population of 464,678 inhabitants as of the , making it Argentina's eighth largest city.-Overview:...

. The Newport News shipyard did the conversion.

In 1963 she was the first ship on scene at the rescue of passengers and crew from the Greek liner Lakonia

TSMS Lakonia

The TSMS Lakonia, originally named MS Johan van Oldenbarnevelt, was an ocean liner and troop ship that operated for over 30 years, before burning on December 22, 1963 with high loss of life.-Construction:...

 when it caught fire in the Atlantic. At the time she was under the command of Captain José Barrere, on its way from Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Italy, to Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires

Buenos Aires is the capital and largest city of Argentina, and the second-largest metropolitan area in South America, after São Paulo. It is located on the western shore of the estuary of the Río de la Plata, on the southeastern coast of the South American continent...

. The Salta rescued 475 people and took aboard most of Lakonias lifeboats.

Salta was scrapped in Buenos Aires in 1966.

External links

• History and Photos at royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk
• Photo gallery at Navsource.org