700-025 HMS SPRINGBANK ANTI-AIRCRAFT SHIP

HMS Springbank was a British cargo ship, rebuilt into an auxiliary anti-aircraft ship. Auxiliary Anti-Aircraft Ship ), which was launched in 1926 and commissioned in the Royal Navy in October 1939. The ship was 128.1 m long and 16.4 m wide. The unit was armed with 4 twin 102mm cannons and 2 quadruple 40mm cannons. The unit could (from 1941) launch one Fairey Fulmar plane from a catapult. HMS Springbank was built at the Harland and Wolf shipyard in Golvan, Scotland for the British shipping line Bank Line. The unit, shortly after the start of World War II, was incorporated into the Royal Navy, rebuilt and armed. From March 1941, it could also operate a single Fulmar aircraft. In the course of its service (1939-1942), HMS Springbank performed mainly convoy tasks in its home waters and the North Atlantic. The unit was sunk as a result of an attack by a German submarine while covering the HG73 convoy sailing from Gibraltar to Liverpool in September 1941. Almost the entire crew was saved from sinking.