700-034 HMS EMPIRE MACKENDRICK ESCORT AIRCRAFT CARRIER

HMS (MV) Empire MacKendrick was a British transport ship, converted into a Merchant Aircraft Carrier (MAC for short) under which the keel was laid in April 1943 and launched in September of the same year. The total length of the ship at the time of launching was 132.2 m, width 17.3 m, and the maximum speed did not exceed 13 knots. The ship's armament included: a single 100 mm cannon, 2 40 mm anti-aircraft guns and 4 AA cannons. cal. 20 m. The aviation team consisted of a maximum of 4 Fairey Swordfish planes. HMS (MV) Empire MacKendrick was built in a shipyard Burntisland Shipbuilding Company in Scotland, as an escort aircraft carrier, classified in Great Britain under the name " Merchant Aircraft Carrier ”. Interestingly, despite the fact that the unit had on-board weapons and was able to carry out air operations to a limited extent, it still retained transport capabilities, and was formally subject to civilian superiors, hence the use of the abbreviation "HMS" before the name raises some controversy. During World War II, the unit operated mainly in the Atlantic and luckily survived until the end of hostilities. After 1945, it was converted into a grain ship. As an interesting fact, it was blocked in the Suez Canal while flying the Bulgarian flag during the Six-Day War in 1967. It was not sold for scrap until 1975.