View source for HMS Campania (D48)

{{Short description|1944 Nairana-class escort carrier of the Royal Navy}}
{{other ships|HMS Campania}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=September 2017}}
{{Use British English|date=September 2017}}
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{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=HMS Campania.jpg
|Ship caption=HMS ''Campania''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship country=United Kingdom
|Ship flag={{shipboxflag|United Kingdom|naval}}
|Ship name= ''Campania''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Harland and Wolff]]<ref name=Tom>{{cite book|last1=McCluskie|first1=Tom|title=The Rise and Fall of Harland and Wolff|date=2013|publisher=The History Press|location=Stroud|isbn=9780752488615|page=149}}</ref>
|Ship yard number=1091<ref name=Tom/>
|Ship laid down= 12 August 1941
|Ship launched= 17 June 1943
|Ship completed=7 March 1944<ref name=Tom/>
|Ship commissioned=9 February 1944
|Ship decommissioned=30 December 1945
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
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|Ship commissioned=1952
|Ship decommissioned=December 1952
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck=
|Ship honours=
|Ship identification=[[Pennant number]]: D48
|Ship fate= Scrapped 1955
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship notes=
|Ship badge=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Nairana|escort carrier}}
|Ship displacement=*13,000&nbsp;tons standard,
*15,970&nbsp;tons loaded
|Ship length= {{convert|540|ft|abbr=on|m}}
|Ship beam= {{convert|70|ft|abbr=on|m}}
|Ship draught= {{convert|22.8|ft|abbr=on|m}}
|Ship propulsion= Two shafted diesel engines, 13,250&nbsp;shp
|Ship speed= {{convert|18|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range= {{convert|17000|nmi|km}} at {{convert|17|kn|km/h}}
|Ship complement=639
|Ship sensors=
|Ship EW=
|Ship armament=*2 × [[QF 4 inch Mk XVI naval gun|4 inch]] guns
*16 × [[QF 2-pounder naval gun|2-pounder]]guns (4×4)
*16 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|20 mm]] guns (8×2)
|Ship armour=
|Ship aircraft=18
|Ship notes=
}}
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'''HMS ''Campania''''' was an [[escort aircraft carrier]] of the [[Royal Navy]] that saw service during the [[World War II|Second World War]]. After the war, the ship was used as a floating exhibition hall for the 1951 [[Festival of Britain]] and as the command ship for the 1952 [[Operation Hurricane]], the test of the prototype British atomic bomb.
She was built at [[Harland & Wolff]] shipyards in [[Belfast]], [[Northern Ireland]]. When construction started in 1941 she was intended as a  refrigerated cargo ship for transporting [[lamb and mutton]] from [[New Zealand]], but was requisitioned by the British Government during construction and completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service in early 1944.
The ship was of a similar, but not identical design to the other ships of the {{sclass|Nairana|escort carrier|4}}.
==Second World War==
[[File:HMS Campania (D48) at anchor 1944.jpg|thumb|left|''Campania'' in June 1944.]]
''Campania'' operated escorting convoys and doing anti-submarine work in the [[Battle of the Atlantic|Atlantic]] and [[Arctic convoys of World War II|Arctic]] theatres. In December 1944, her [[Fairey Swordfish|Swordfish]] aircraft from a detachment of [[813 Naval Air Squadron|813 Squadron]] sank the [[German submarine U-365]] while the ''Campania'' was escorting the Arctic convoy RA 62.
The ship survived the war, and unlike other Royal Navy escort carriers, was not immediately scrapped or sold. She was briefly used as an aircraft transport before being decommissioned and placed in reserve in December 1945.
==Festival of Britain==
[[File:Campania in Festival Dress.jpg|thumb|left|''Campania'' in Festival Dress at Plymouth Docks.]] In 1951, she was the [[Festival of Britain]]'s exhibition ship, touring the country's ports with a civilian crew as the Festival Ship ''Campania'' to supplement the main exhibition in London and two thousand local events.
The Festival Office's resident designer, James Holland, considered that the vessel would "not convert easily into a showboat", but with the massive demand for shipping to help rebuild Europe after the war, he and his colleagues felt lucky to have any ship at all. One of the graphic designers who worked on the displays was [[Pauline Baines]]<ref>{{cite news |last1=Lubell |first1=Stephen |title=Principled to the end, book artist Pauline dies aged 103 |publisher=Camden New Journal |date=22 October 2020}}</ref>
Repainted white, the ship was decorated with skeleton masts and bunting. Officially named the Sea Travelling Exhibition, the exhibits were intended to reflect the main London Exhibition. Like the Festival's Land Travelling Exhibition,  they were divided into three sections, the "Land of Britain", "Discovery" and "The People at Home". Between 4 May 1951 and 6 October, the ship visited Southampton, Dundee, Newcastle, Hull, Plymouth, Bristol, Cardiff, Belfast, Birkenhead and Glasgow, staying at each port for 10–14 days.
==Operation Hurricane==
With the festival over, the ship was refitted in Birkenhead for a very different role, as the command ship for [[Operation Hurricane]], the test of the first British atomic bomb on the [[Monte Bello Islands]] off western Australia. The refit saw the exhibition replaced by workshops, laboratories, offices and cabins, plus a desalination plant since the Monte Bello Islands did not have any indigenous fresh water source to supply the 1500 personnel who would take part in the test.
Four other ships were directly involved in the test, the landing ships [[HMS Narvik|''Narvik'']], [[HMS Zeebrugge|''Zeebrugge'']], [[HMS Tracker (LST)|''Tracker'']] and the frigate, [[HMS Plym (K271)|''Plym'']]. ''Tracker'' was designated as the health ship and extensively equipped with decontamination facilities, whilst the weapon was to be detonated aboard ''Plym''. The flotilla  was under the overall command of Rear Admiral [[Arthur David Torlesse]].
Heavily laden with crated equipment and deck cargo, including three [[Westland Dragonfly]] helicopters and two [[Supermarine Sea Otter|Sea Otter]] aircraft and deck cargo, the re-commissioned ''Campania'' departed from Portsmouth for the islands on 2 June 1952. Eighty-five scientists were also on board as passengers, around half directly involved in British nuclear programme and the remainder from other parts of the British civil service.
The vessel arrived at the Monte Bello Islands on 8 August after calling into Gibraltar, Cape Town, Mauritius and Fremantle and the next two months were spent preparing for the test, which took place on 3 October. ''Campania'' was not found to be particularly suitable as the main base for the test, partly because it was hot and cramped, and partly because there were insufficient boats for ferrying them between the ship and the shore and the eight [[pinnace (ship's boat)|pinnace]]s intended to perform about a third of the work could not moor close to the ship at night because the water was too choppy. Most of the scientists and engineers soon moved to tented accommodation ashore.
The ship was decommissioned for the final time in December 1952 following her return to the United Kingdom, and sold and scrapped in [[Blyth, Northumberland|Blyth]] in 1955.
==Citations==
{{Reflist}}
==References==
*{{cite web | title=Royal Navy Research Archive | url=http://www.royalnavyresearcharchive.org.uk/ESCORT/CAMPANIA.htm}}
*{{cite web | title=uboat.net | url=http://uboat.net/allies/warships/ship/3296.html}}
*{{cite web | title=Festival of Britain to go online | work=BBC News | url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/technology/1310113.stm | date=3 May 2001 | accessdate=7 June 2017}}
*{{cite book| title=Test of Greatness, Britain's struggle for the atom bomb | publisher=John Murray | author=Brian Cathcart | year=1994 | isbn = 0-7195-5225-7}}
*{{cite book |title = The Autobiography of a Nation: The 1951 Festival of Britain | author = Becky Conekin | pages= 127 | year = 2003 | publisher = Manchester University Press | isbn = 0-7190-6060-5}}
{{Nairana class escort carrier}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Campania (D48)}}
[[Category:Nairana-class escort carriers]]
[[Category:Aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy]]
[[Category:Ships built in Belfast]]
[[Category:1943 ships]]
[[Category:World War II aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Cold War aircraft carriers of the United Kingdom]]
[[Category:Ships built by Harland and Wolff]]