700-027 HMS ESPERANCE BAY BRITISH ARMED MERCHANT CRUISER 1942 R.

HMS Esperance Bay was a British passenger transport vessel, converted into an Armed Merchant Cruiser, which was launched in 1921 and commissioned in the Royal Navy in late 1939. The displacement of the vessel did not exceed 14,300 tons, and the maximum speed - 15 knots. It was armed with 7 152 mm guns and 2 76 mm guns. HMS Esperance Bay, or rather RMS Esperance Bay, was originally called Hobson's Bay, but it was changed in 1936. The vessel was constructed at the Vickers shipyard in Barrow-in-Furness for one of the British shipping lines. The vessel was requisitioned in December 1939 by the Royal Navy. HMS Esperance Bay was quickly rebuilt and armed. From December 1939 to April 1940, she operated in the South Atlantic, and from May to October 1940, she served with the Halifax Escort Force. However, from November 1940 to August 1941, it operated in the Central Atlantic. It is worth adding that in May 1941 she indirectly participated in the tracking and sinking of the battleship Bismarck. From November 1941, she served primarily as an armed transport ship, intended especially for the transport of the army. The unit survived World War II and was not scrapped until 1955.