HMS Prince Charles (1941) facts for kids
Quick facts for kids History |
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|---|---|
 Belgium |
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| Name | Prince Charles |
| Owner | Regie voor Maritiem Transport |
| Builder | Cockerill (Hoboken, Belgium) |
| Launched | 12 April 1930 |
 United Kingdom |
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| Name | HMS Prince Charles |
| Commissioned | 21 September 1941 |
| Decommissioned | 1945 |
| Belgium |
|
| Name | Prince Charles |
| Owner | Regie voor Maritiem Transport |
| In service | 1945 |
| Out of service | 21 December 1960 |
| Fate | Sold for scrap and broken up at Willebroek |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 3,088 GRT |
| Length | 360 ft (110 m) |
| Propulsion | 6 boilers, 2 shafts, geared steam turbines, producing 15,400 shp (11.5 MW) |
| Speed | 24 kn (44 km/h) |
| Complement |
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| Armament | 2 × 12 pdr AA guns (single), 2 × 2 pdr AA (single), 6 × 20 mm guns (single) |
| Notes | Carried 8 × LCA's/LCS(M)s or LCP(L)s |
HMS Prince Charles was a special ship used by the British Royal Navy during World War II. It started as a Belgian ferry boat named Prince Charles. The navy took it over to carry soldiers and their landing boats to beaches during battles. After the war, it went back to being a ferry.
Contents
Ship's Story
Life as a Ferry
The ship Prince Charles was first ordered by the Belgian government in 1929. It was one of four fast ferries built for crossing the English Channel. The ship was finished in 1930 and named after Prince Charles of Belgium. After World War II, Prince Charles continued its job as a ferry. It was eventually taken apart for scrap metal in December 1960.
During World War II, the British Royal Navy needed many ships. They took over Prince Charles and turned it into a Landing Ship, Infantry. This type of ship was designed to carry soldiers and their small landing boats (like LCAs) close to enemy beaches.
Operation Archery
In December 1941, Prince Charles was part of a group of ships for an attack called Operation Archery. Before the mission, the ship had some problems, including water flooding its front sections. Another ship, Chiddingfold, helped pump out the water. Because of these issues and bad weather, the mission was delayed by one day. Luckily, Prince Charles was fixed in time, and the ships set sail.
The Dieppe Raid
In 1942, Prince Charles was involved in a difficult landing operation known as the Dieppe Raid. It worked alongside its sister ships, Prince Leopold, Prince Albert, and Princess Astrid. All these ships had served on the same ferry route between Ostend and Dover before the war.
D-Day Landings
Prince Charles also played a part in the famous D-Day landings in June 1944. It carried 300 American soldiers, known as US Rangers, to Omaha Beach in France. After dropping off the troops, the ship helped by carrying wounded soldiers back to the United Kingdom. During these landings, Prince Charles lost three of its own small landing craft.
