HMS Nairana was a passenger ferry that was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a seaplane carrier in 1917. She was built for the Australian shipping line Huddart Parker, but construction was suspended after the outbreak of the First World War. She saw service during the war with the Grand Fleet, and in 1918–19 supported the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. The ship was returned to her former owners in 1921 and refitted in her original planned configuration, and spent the next 27 years ferrying passengers and cargo between Tasmania and Melbourne. In 1948, she was laid up in 1948, wrecked in a storm three years later and scrapped in situ in 1953–54.
About HMS Nairana (1917) in brief
HMS Nairana was a passenger ferry that was requisitioned by the Royal Navy as a seaplane carrier in 1917. She was built for the Australian shipping line Huddart Parker, but construction was suspended after the outbreak of the First World War. Following resumption of work, the ship was launched in 1915, and converted to operate wheeled aircraft from her forward flying-off deck, as well as floatplanes that were lowered into the water. She saw service during the war with the Grand Fleet, and in 1918–19 supported the British intervention in the Russian Civil War. The ship was returned to her former owners in 1921 and refitted in her original planned configuration, and spent the next 27 years ferrying passengers and cargo between Tasmania and Melbourne. In 1948, she was laid up in 1948, wrecked in a storm three years later and scrapped in situ in 1953–54. She is the only Bass Strait ferry not requisitioning for military service in the Second World War, and so became the sole passenger ship with service to Tasmania during the conflict. Her 40-calibre 3-reiber 12-pounder quick-firing 12-inch cwt quick-fire guns fired 5-pound projectiles at a muzzle velocity of 2,359 ft.
They fired anti-aircraft guns as low-angle anti-craft guns, and the other two were mounted on the rear of the hangar as anti-airship anti- Aircraft guns. She has been named after a local woman of the same name, who was a member of the Australian House of Representatives from 1913-1934. Her name is now used as a tribute to the woman who was the inspiration for the film “Nairana”, which was based on a design by the British shipbuilder William Denny and Brothers. She had a crew of 26 officers, 42 crewmen and 25 stokers, and had an overall length of 328 feet, a beam of 45 feet 6 inches, and a draught of 14 feet 7 inches. She had tonnages of 3,547 gross register tons, 1,118 long tons DWT, 2,014 net register tons and 3,311 tons Builder’s Old Measurement. On her sea trials, she made 7,shp and reached 20. 32 knots. She carried 448 long tons of coal which gave her a range of 1,060 nautical miles a speed of 19.5 knots.
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