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HMS Queen Emma

HMS Koningen Emma FL14445.jpg
HMS Queen Emma
History
Netherlands
Name: Koningin Emma
Namesake: Emma of the Netherlands
Owner: Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland
Ordered: December 1937
Builder: De Schelde, Vlissingen
Yard number: 209
Laid down: 7 May 1938
Launched: 14 January 1939
Completed: 19 May 1939
In service: 4 June 1939
Out of service: 1 September 1939
Fate: Requisitioned by the Ministry of War Transport, 15 May 1940
United Kingdom
Name: HMS Queen Emma
Acquired: 15 May 1940
Commissioned: 22 January 1941
Decommissioned: 29 April 1946
Honours and
awards:
  • Battle honours :
  • Norway
  • Dieppe
  • North Africa
  • Sicily
  • Atlantic
  • Mediterranean
  • Normandy
Fate: Returned to the Netherlands, 29 April 1946
Netherlands
Name: Koningin Emma
Acquired: 29 April 1946
In service: 5 March 1948
Out of service: 1968
Fate: Scrapped in Antwerp, 1968
General characteristics (as built)
Tonnage:
Length:
  • 380 ft (120 m) o/a
  • 351 ft (107 m) p/p
Beam: 47 ft (14 m)
Draught: 13 ft 6 in (4.11 m)
Decks: 5
Propulsion: 2 × Sulzer diesel engines, 12,500 shp (9,321 kW)
Speed: 24.5 knots (45.4 km/h; 28.2 mph)
Capacity: 1,800 passengers
Crew: 58
Armament:

HMS Queen Emma was a commando troop ship of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Built as a civilian passenger liner in 1939 by De Schelde at Vlissingen, she was named the MS Koningin Emma, after Queen Emma of the Netherlands, and operated by Stoomvaart Maatschappij Zeeland (SMZ) (The Zealand Steamship Company) between Flushing and Harwich, along with her sister ship, MS Prinses Beatrix. After fleeing to Britain after the German invasion in 1940, she was requisitioned by the British Ministry of War Transport, renamed HMS Queen Emma and converted to a troopship at Harland and Wolff's yard in Belfast. During the war her main role was transporting British Commandos, and she participated in the Lofoten Islands Raid and the Dieppe Raid. She had the advantage of a high speed that allowed hit and run operations. Later designated as a Landing Ship, Infantry (Medium) she took part in the landings in North Africa, Sicily and Normandy. She operated in the Indian Ocean, and in the Dutch East Indies after the end of the war. In 1946 Queen Emma was returned to her owners and continued to operate as ferry from the Hook of Holland until 1969, when she was scrapped in Antwerp, Belgium.


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