SS Michael E

SS Michael E was a 7,628 GRT cargo ship that was built in 1941. She was the first British Catapult Aircraft Merchant ship: a merchant ship fitted with a rocket catapult to launch a single Hawker Hurricane fighter to defend a convoy against long-range German bombers. She was sunk on her maiden voyage by a German submarine.

Description

Michael E was built by William Hamilton & Co Ltd, Port Glasgow. Launched in 1941, she was completed in May of that year. She was the United Kingdom's first CAM ship, armed with an aircraft catapult on her bow to launch a Hawker Sea Hurricane.

The ship was 421.1 feet (128.4 m) long between perpendiculars (434.5 feet (132.4 m) overall), with a beam of 60.4 feet (18.4 m). She had a depth of 35.8 feet (10.9 m) and a draught of 23 feet 2 ¹⁄₄ inches (7.07 m). She was 7,628 GRT and 5,508 NRT.

She had six corrugated furnaces feeding two 225 lb_f/in² single-ended boilers with a combined heating surface of 5,940 square feet (552 m²). The boilers fed a 443 NHP triple-expansion steam engine that had cylinders of 24 inches (61 cm), 39 inches (99 cm) and 68 inches (170 cm) diameter by 48 inches (120 cm) stroke. The engine was built by David Rowan & Co Ltd, Glasgow.