HMS Audacity

HMS Audacity, after her conversion to an escort carrier
History
United Kingdom
Name:	Hannover (1939–40) Sinbad (1940) Empire Audacity (1940–41) HMS Empire Audacity (1941) HMS Audacity (1941)
Owner:	Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen (1939–40) Ministry of War Transport (1940–41) Royal Navy (1941)
Operator:	Norddeutscher Lloyd, Bremen (1939–40) Cunard White Star Line (1940–41) Royal Navy (1941)
Port of registry:	Bremen (1939–40) Kingston, Jamaica (1940) London (1940–41) Royal Navy (1941)
Builder:	Bremer Vulkan, Vegesack
Launched:	29 March 1939
Commissioned:	20 June 1941
Identification:	Code Letters DOVB (1939–40) Code Letters GLZX (1940-41) Pennant number D10 (1941)
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1941
Captured:	7 March 1940
Fate:	Torpedoed by U-751, 21 December 1941. 73 crew killed.
General characteristics
Type:	Escort carrier
Tonnage:	5,537 GRT
Displacement:	12,000 long tons (12,000 t)
Length:	441 ft 9 in (134.65 m) (Hannover) 467 ft 3 in (142.42 m) (HMS Audacity)
Beam:	56 ft 3 in (17.15 m)
Draught:	23 ft 1 in (7.04 m) (Hannover) 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) (HMS Audacity)
Installed power:	5,200 hp (3,900 kW)
Propulsion:	1 × 7-cylinder MAN diesel engine 1 × screw
Speed:	15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph)
Complement:	As HMS Audacity: 480
Sensors and processing systems:	Type 79B air warning radar
Armament:	As HMS Audacity: 1 × 4 inches (102 mm) gun 1 × 6-pounder (57 mm (2.24 in)) gun 4 × QF 2-pounder anti-aircraft guns 4 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft
Aircraft carried:	Operational Use: 6 Storage: 8
Aviation facilities:	None; aircraft stored on flight deck

HMS Audacity was a British escort carrier of the Second World War and the first of her kind. She was originally the German merchant ship Hannover, which the Royal Navy captured in the West Indies in March 1940 and renamed Sinbad, then Empire Audacity. She was converted and commissioned as HMS Empire Audacity, then as HMS Audacity. She was torpedoed by a German U-boat in late 1941.

Hannover was a 5,537 GRT cargo liner built by Bremer Vulkan Schiff- und Maschinenbau, Vegesack and launched on 29 March 1939. She was owned by Norddeutscher Lloyd and plied between Germany and the West Indies on the banana run.Hannover′s port of registry was Bremen. When World War II began, Hannover sought refuge in Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. In March 1940, under Kapitän Wahnschaff, Hannover attempted to return to Germany as a blockade runner. She was sighted between Hispaniola and Puerto Rico on the night of 7/8 March by the light cruiser Dunedin and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine. Hannover was ordered to stop, but ignored the order and tried to reach the neutral waters of the Dominican Republic. When Dunedin and Assiniboine intercepted Hannover, Captain Wahnschaff ordered the seacocks opened and the ship set on fire. A boarding party from Dunedin closed the sea cocks and Hannover was taken under tow. However, it took four days for the salvage crew to put out the fire.Hannover was then towed to Jamaica, arriving on 11 March.Acting Lieutenant A. W. Hughes of Dunedin was mentioned in despatches for his part in securing Hannover. Damage was mainly confined to her electrical system.