Kamikazes of the North

The Ocean Quest crew has been hot on the tail of a long-lost wreck: the Empire Ocean. Interesting anomalies on our magnetometer, inconclusive but intriguing side scan imagery, and local folklore put the wreck just north of Ferryland...in 240 feet of water! A dive of such a depth requires intense planning, which Ocean Quest is undertaking. In the meantime, Bill Flaherty, skipper of the MV Ocean Quest, has had his nose in the archives digging up what he can about this remarkable ship. Here's just a small part of his research.

Kamikazes of the North

By Bill Flaherty

After the fall of France in June 1940, long-range German Focke-Wulf Fw200 reconnaissance aircraft were within easy range of the merchant shipping around the English channel and the British Isles. The Admiralty authorized the construction and conversion of British merchant ships into Catapult Armed Merchant (CAM) ships. These ships were equipped with a single rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Sea Hurricane, dubbed a “Hurricat” or “Catafighter.” The ship was not fitted for aircraft recovery, so. unless close to land, the pilot would bail out or ditch at sea at the end of the flight and the plane would be lost. (1)

Just imagine what was going through the mind of one of these Kamikaze pilots as they were being strapped in to the cockpit of their fighter!

Will I launch successfully?
Will I catch up to the enemy aircraft and bring it down?
Will I prevail, or will the enemy win this battle?
If I survive and eject, will I clear from my fighter?
I land in the cold waters of the Atlantic, will a ship stop and pick me up? (2)

Some statistical information on the successes of the CAM:

175 voyages made
12 CAMs were sunk
8 catapult launches were made
6 enemy aircraft were shot down by CAM launched fighters
1 Royal Air Force pilot died in action (2)

Of the 35 CAM ships sailing on the Atlantic during the Battle of the Atlantic one was actually lost off the Southern Shore of Newfoundland. The SS Empire Ocean was ran ashore, by U-597, on 4 August 1942 near Cape Race. She was towed off the cliffs, astern, by HMCS Agassiz and taken in tow by the salvage/rescue tug Foundation Franklin.

As she was being towed astern towards Aquaforte Harbour the weather changed and made it necessary for the Foundation Franklin to alter course towards Ferryland. Unfortunately just as she was entering the safety of Ferryland the tow was lost and the SS Empire Ocean went down. Two military personnel went down with her, they were under orders not to leave the ship. (3) During the 1960's two divers unsuccessfully tried to enter the ship to remove the ships safe, It was believed that it contained gold. Due to the depth of the wreck, 65 metres, the divers suffered the bends and never returned (4)

See reference (5) for complete ship’s specifications.

References:

Retrieved from “http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAM ship”
AHOY-Mac’s Web Log, “http://ahoy.tk-jk.net/macslog/TheDevelopmentoftheCatapu.html"
Mowat, Farley, 1958, Grey Seas Under, McClelland and Stewart-Bantam Ltd, Toronto, p 265-267, ISBN 0-7704=1689-6
Robillard, Marcel, 2002, One Hundred Years of Remorse, Les Pubplications Modus Vivends Inc., Laval, QC, p 157-158, ISBN 2-89523-099-4
Mitchell, WH. and Sawyer, LA., 1990, The Empire Ships, London, New York, Hamburg, Hong Kong, Lloyd’s of London Press Ltd., p 63, ISBN 1-85044-275-4