# Port Line



## arram (Aug 7, 2013)

Gentleman.
A topic arose with friends last night about one of the Port Line ships that was awarded a medal during or straight after the war.
The ship was converted to a light Air Craft Carrier for the war then converted back to a merchant ship after the war.
I believe there was a humber of this type of ship and I have no idea what they were called.
I believe the medal was displayed in the officers mess.

Is there any one out there who can tell me the name of the ship please. 
arram.


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## R396040 (Sep 30, 2008)

Dont know the Port Line one Im afraid Arram. However did sail on one of these ships in the fifties and they were called merchant aircraft carriers. The original name of the one I was on was Empire Mc Dermott. She was La ***bre of Buries Markes when I sailed on her. There was a painting in the saloon of her in full wartime glory
Stuart


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## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

There were two Port Boats converted to Escort Carriers PORT VINDEX(HMS VINDEX) and PORT VICTOR(HMS NAIRANA)


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## arram (Aug 7, 2013)

Thank you for that gentleman that gives me something to go on. Out of those two Port Line ships it would be Port Vindex for sure. arram


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## sparkie2182 (May 12, 2007)

An account of the loss of Port Victor in WW2.

http://simonvance.com/the-sinking-of-the-mv-port-victor-1943/

The is a 24 minute verbal narrative by the grandson of her Master which is very interesting. 

I must have crossed lines with respect to Port Victor becoming a Nairana class flattop.


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## A.D.FROST (Sep 1, 2008)

*Port Victor*



sparkie2182 said:


> An account of the loss of Port Victor in WW2.
> 
> http://simonvance.com/the-sinking-of-the-mv-port-victor-1943/
> 
> ...


HMS NAIRRANA.bt.1941 J.Brown 
Ordered by Port Line as a conventional ship but taken over by the Admiralty and completed as a Escort Carrier.r/n HNMS KARL DOORMAN 1946.Sold Port Line 1949 converted r/nPORT VICTOR (IV) b/u Faslane 1971


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## Somerton (Oct 24, 2008)

I was AB on the Port Vindex in 1958/9. I understand that she was one of the ships that had taken repatriated POWs of the Japs back to Australia or New Zealand. I think I remember a plaque on the bulkhead oytside the Officiers Saloon with reference to this fact. She had been laid down as the Port Sydney,but when transferred back retained the name Vindex as a tribute to her war service. Hope you find this helpful.

Regards,

Alex C R666116.


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## arram (Aug 7, 2013)

Thanks for that Alex, getting all sorts of feedback from the original query.
The "Otaki" which is of course New Zealand Shipping Co, displays a medal. This was earned in WW1 and has been transferred to preceding ships of that name over the years. Have found this out on another section of this same web site.
Once again thank you very much for you input. arram


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## Ron Stringer (Mar 15, 2005)

Somerton said:


> She had been laid down as the Port Sydney,but when transferred back retained the name Vindex as a tribute to her war service.


According to a friend who serving an apprenticeship at the Wallsend shipyard during the war, the decision was made to convert her to a carrier while she was still on the stocks. He was unaware of her having any other name than "Vindex" but as a lowly apprentice it would be unlikely that he would have known about the early beginnings of the vessel. He was aware that to counterbalance the additional top-weight of the flight deck, they put 3,000 tons of ballast into the bottom of the holds before the launch. This total additional weight was not allowed for in the declivity and presented an increasingly precarious situation until she was successfully launched.

His only other contact with her was in 1943, when he was working on the upper deck of the merchant vessel "Pandorian" during a daylight attack on the yard by a low-flying German bomber. The Port/HMS "Vindex" was lying at Swan Hunter's fitting out berth with a number of other ships, including HMS "Anson", HMS "King George V" and HMS "Victorious". 

The "Pandorian" was lying outside HMS "Anson" and the whole thing was over so quickly that there was no time to take cover, let alone get ashore. He said that the bomber was flying little higher than the dockyard cranes, appeared without warning and "scattered a few bombs" in a single pass, before disappearing from sight. No direct hits were recorded and little damage was done. My friend said that he had "a very close view of the aircraft as it passed over."

He was a part-time member of the local Home Guard Anti-Aircraft Defence, doing one all-night guard duty per week, manning one of the many rocket guns sited at Northfield Gardens, South Shields. He and a fellow apprentice from the shipyard were at their posts on the night that Westoe was bombed, but although the nearby regular army anti-aircraft guns were heavily involved, the Home Guard ack-ack did not receive any orders to fire that night.

He didn't complete his apprenticeship at Wallsend but instead trained to become a Radio Officer, serving several years at sea towards the end of the war and subsequently, before working ashore as a radio company shore technician.


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## arram (Aug 7, 2013)

It realy is amazing the amount of interesting snippets of information that is available if one only asks. All this will be lost in years to come unless its written down which unfortunately never will be. 
Thank you all for replying. arram


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## John Turner (Aug 10, 2013)

*Light Aircraft Carrier conversions*

I believe that the Gallic and the Bardic were conversions. They were managed by Moller Line for Shaw Saville I seem to remember,


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## Leratty (Jun 3, 2012)

Arram, go to the Port Line site they would know you will give them something to think about.
Ron that is a fascinating recollection. I saw an old film clip of a similar incident over London during a raid. Not too sure if the aircraft had been hit earlier, anyway you see it come down in a almost central city location. The pilots who bailed out very very late parachute was snagged on a building & have to say his treatment as shown on that film clip was not to good. It was mostly the old women in the crowd who attempted to do him a mischief.


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