Canadian
Pacific
Passenger Liner requisitioned on 28th August
1939 and hired for use as
an Armed Merchant Cruiser. The ship was to
have been named METAPEDIA but was
later renamed MONTCLARE. She was ordered
from John Brown at Clydebank and
launched on 18th December 1921. Her
machinery was provided by Harland and Wolff
and on completion she was deployed for
cross-Atlantic passenger trade. Details
of her tonnage and machinery as well as her
armament during naval service are
given in the General Description information
for Armed Merchant Cruisers, This
ship was converted for deployment as an
Armed Merchant Cruiser and retained her
mercantile name which had not previously
been borne by an RN ship. She carried
out trade protection duties until 1943 when
she was purchased outright by the
Admiralty and selected for further use as a
Depot Ship for destroyers. The ship
then underwent an extensive conversion for
her new role and was allocated for
service in the Pacific..
On return to UK after the end
of hostilities she was again converted to
suit the support of submarines and
served in the Clyde until 1955 when she was
placed in Reserve until being sold
in 1957 for demolition.
B
a t t l e
H o n o u r s
None
are recorded in the Official List
H
e r a l d i c
D a t a
Badge:
On a Field White a rose
red, seeded gold.
M
o t t o
Mare
Ditat Rosa Decorate:
'The sea enriches the
rose decorates'
S
u m m a r
y o f
W a r S e r
v i c e
(for more
ship information,
go
to
Naval History Homepage
and
type name in Site Search
1
9 3 9
August
28th
Requisitioned by the Admiralty at
Liverpool and hired for naval use.
(Note:
Retained her mercantile name and
renamed HMS MONTCLARE in accordance
with
international convention.
September Taken
in hand at Barrow in Furness
for conversion to suit use as an Armed
Merchant Cruiser.
(Note: As
an interim measure ship was fitted with WW1
vintage 6in guns
and two 3in AA guns.
All
fittings of a flammable nature were removed
and in order to improve buoyancy
some
Hold
space and compartments not required were
filled with empty steel drums wooden
barrels and
timber
October
Conversion in continuation.
15th
Formally Commissioned for war
service with naval personnel.
(Note:
Allocated for service based at
Freetown for defence of convoys to and
from West Africa.
A
proportion of the ships company were
merchant navy personnel under a T124
Agreement with the
Admiralty.
Guns
crews and communications personnel were
RN
ratings.
T124
personnel were given naval rank.)
Worked up and took
passage to Scapa Flow
Sailed
to
Freetown to join South Atlantic Command.
30th After
arrival deployment at
Freetown cancelled due to lack of fresh
water facilities adequate
for
the escort of convoy to UK and immediate
return to Freetown.
November
Joined escort for Convoy SL7 to UK.
December
On arrival reallocated for Northern
Patrol duties.
(Note: For
details see ARMED MERCHANT CRUISERS by K Poolman
and ENGAGE THE
ENEMY MORE CLOSELY by C
Bamett.
Deployed for patrol in
North Atlantic.
1
9 4 0
January
Deployed
in Denmark Strait for
interception of blockade runners and
commerce raiders.
Weather conditions deteriorated
significantly
after first week.
Returned
to Clyde on relief.
February
Withdrawn for completion of conversion.
to
(Note: 6in guns
were replaced by newer 5.5in mountings and
both 3in AA replaced
April
by three
4in guns.
Rudimentary
fire control equipment was fitted for main
armament
Carried
out post conversion trials and shakedown
Embarked
ammunition and
worked up for operational service
May
Deployed
for trade defence and escort
of convoys.
to
December
1
9 4 1
Atlantic trade
defence and convoy escort in continuation.
Deployed
in West Indies
and Atlantic.
1
9 4 2
Atlantic
trade defence and
convoy escort in continuation.
1
9 4 3
January Trade
defence and convoy
escort in continuation
to
(Note: Despite the
incessant U-Boat Group attacks on Atlantic
April
traffic over
90% of convoys arrived at its destination
without
loss. See
HITLER'S U-BOAT WAR by C Blair).
May
Future deployment of
Armed Merchant Cruisers under review.
to
The need for this
type of auxiliary warship was diminishing
and more
July
new
construction was becoming available for
convoy defence.
See above
references.
August
Withdrawn
from service as an Armed Merchant Cruiser. Paid
Off.
to
(Note: U-Boat
operations had been severely restricted in
order to
December
improve their
defensive armament and to introduce
SCHNORKEL
Breathing
equipment
See
U-BOAT WAR IN THE ATLANTIC (HMSO),
SEEK AND
STRIKE by W Hackmann.and
HITLER’S U-BOAT
WAR by C Blair.
Selected
for conversion to suit use as a
Destroyer Depot Ship.
Taken
in hand for extensive conversion, by Harland
and
Wolff at Belfast
See
General Information.
1
9 4 4
January
Under
conversion at Belfast
to
Nominated
for service
in British Pacific Fleet.
October
Commissioned
for service.
November
Post
refit trials
to
Allocated for duty
at Forward Base as part of British Pacific
Fleet Train
December
Prepared
for foreign
service and completed to full
complement
(Note: British
Pacific Fleet was formed in November from
ships serving in the East Indies
Fleets and others
nominated or suitable ships on passage
from UK.)
1
9 4 5
January
On
completion took passage to Manus in
Admiralty Islands to support of
destroyers of
to
British Pacific
Fleet in Task Force 57
April
(Note:
British Pacific Fleet Train was identified
as Task Force 112 and
some of the
ships
allocated
were already deployed in the Pacific
The
Flagship HMS LOTHIAN arrived at Manus on 2nd
March and had proved to
be totally
unsuited for this task. See THE FORGOTTEN
FLEET
by J Winton.
and WAR WITH
JAPAN (HMSO).
May
Arrived
at Manus for support of destroyers in BPF.
29th
Rear Admiral DB
Fisher, Flag Officer Fleet Train and staff
joined ship from HMS LOTHIAN.
Repair staff
officers and ratings together with equipment
also transferred.
31st
Took passage
from Manus to Brisbane.
(Note:
Ships of BPF were returning to Australian
ports for maintenance and leave after
taking
part in Operation
ICEBERG II in Sakishima
Gunto islands.
above reference.)
June Passage
to Brisbane.
Deployed at Brisbane.
24th
Sailed from Brisbane
with Flag Officer Fleet Train embarked for
passage to Manus..
(Note: In
addition to duty as Destroyer Depot Ship the
ship wore the Flag of Flag Officer
(Destroyers)
BPF Rear Admiral JH Edelsten
and
provided Base W/T communication
facilities for
RA(D)).
30th
Arrived at Manus for support duties.
(Note:
Ships of BPF now re-designated Task
Force 37 and part
of us Navy 3rd Fleet sailed
from Sydney on
28th June to return to operations off Japan
after Replenishment at
Forward Base.)
July
4th
Provided support
for ships of BPF on arrival at Manus.
5th
Remained
at Manes during BPF operations
to provide repair and support to ships
to
returning
from operations.
31st
(For details of BPF
involvement in operations off Japan see WAR
WITH JAPAN (HMSO),
THE
FORGOTTEN FLEET BY J Winton and TASK FORCE
57 by P Smith.)
August
Deployed
at Manus.
12th
British
Pacific Fleet ships of Task Force
37 left operational area leaving a Token
Force of RN
ships as part of
US Task Force 38 and designated Task Group
38.5.
19th
Provided
support to BPF ships on return
to Manus from operational area off Japan.
to
31st
September
Deployed
at Manus.
4th
Fleet
Train sailed from Manus for Hong
Kong to provide support for ships deployed
for
the
re-occupation
of the Colony and to
restore services.
October
Deployed at Hong Kong for support
of destroyers of BPF.
November
On release from BPF took passage to
return to UK
to
December
1
9 4 6
January
Paid off at Portsmouth and
reduced to Reserve status
February
Nominated for conversion to suit
use as a Submarine Depot Ship.
to
Taken in hand for
conversion to suit new role
December
1
9 4 7
Under
conversion.
Re-commissioned for
service as Depot Ship in Clyde to support
3rd Submarine Flotilla.
Post refit trials
and completed storing for service.
Shakedown and
passage to Clyde.
Deployed in Clyde
for repair and support of submarines.
1
9 4 8 t o 1 9 5 4
Clyde deployment
with 3rd Submarine Squadron.
(Note: Flotillas
were redesigned as Squadrons in 1953.)
Nominated for
reduction to Reserve status and withdrawn
from duty in Clyde.
1
9 5 5
January
Prepared for tow to enter
Reserve at Portsmouth
February
Passage to Portsmouth in tow of
tugs.
6th
During passage in Force 12 Gale
conditions, medical assistance provided by
helicopter to
deal with
injured man on tug.
March
Completed reduction to
Reserve and laid up at Portsmouth.
F
i n a
l S t a g
e
HMS
MONTCLARE
was placed on the Disposal List in 1957 and
sold to BISCO for
breaking up by TW Ward at Inverkeithing. The
ship was taken in tow from
Portsmouth on 29th January 1958 and arrived
at the Breakers yard in the Forth
on 3rd February for demolition.