Skip to main content

What were CAM-ships?

Hurricane on catapult of CAM-ship
(Picture I)
https://pimeakronikka.blogspot.fi/p/what-were-cam-ships.html

Kimmo Huosionmaa

In some books, what is written by Alistair MacLean are mentioned the ship type, called CAM-ships. Many people don't even know about those ships, what are used before the escort-aircraft carriers took their place. Casablanca-class escort carriers took those ships place during World War II after the USA took part in the war after Pearl Harbor incident.

But we can only admire those brave men, who served with CAM-ships Hurricane I fighters. The CAM-ship was the merchant ship, what was equipped with the holder, what could send Hurricane I fighter to airborne and shoot down Focke-Wulf Fw-200 "Condors", what were used to find targets for German submarines and that long-range maritime patrol aircraft were so important for Germans, that the loss of Hurricane was accepted.

Hurricane lifts-off from CAM-ship
(Picture II)


So CAM-ships were equipped with the racks, where the Hurricane fighter could send to airborne and the objective for those missions was shoot down those Condors. Fw-200 were the only aircraft in German air force, what could patrol at long distances, and send the information of the convoys to the headquarters of German U-boats. Of course, U-boats could locate convoys, by using hydrophones.


But that would mean, that U-boat must send the messages by using the radio. And that could be fatal because the location of those submarines could be tracked, and they would target the attack by floatplanes. That's why FW-200 was so important. And that's why Hurricanes wait on the deck of CAM-ships for their mission. They were sent to airborne by using 45 solid fuel rockets and after shooting down "Condor", they were land to water, where the pilots were rescued. Hurricane I was chosen to those missions because it would have no effect against Luftwaffes fighters.

FW-200 Condor
(Picture III)


When escort carriers were combined to convoy systems, the pilots of those aircraft, what was sent to air from CAM-ships started to land to those aircraft carriers. In that time Hurricanes replaced by Hellcats or sometimes Seafires, what was actually Spitfire with stopping hook. Those aircraft operated from escort carriers, but sometimes I have thought that maybe in some later operations they were used from CAM-ships.


But in fact, all mentioned planes, what were used with CAM-ships were Hurricanes, what used during all World War II, and their mission was to be trapped for German long-range aircraft. The last victory, what is in the list of victories, what aircraft, what were send from CAM-ships were in 28. July. 1943 (Wikipedia, CAM ships), and maybe they were used after that case. Those ships missions were mainly transferred to escort carriers, what operated with Avenger-torpedo bombers, what were used to find and kill U-boats.


Those hunter-killer units were very effective, and in modern life, some British military men have given an idea, that Royal Navy's destroyers or merchant ships would be equipped with "Harrier" VTOL-fighters, what could use for surprise attacks against Russian "Bear"-class maritime recon airplanes. Those big aircraft looks targets for Russian cruise missile submarines and surface combat units. TU-95 is very big aircraft, what is used in similar missions as FW-200, and if some Harrier would attack against that plane, that would be the end of its missions.


Big maritime reconnaissance aircraft are very expensive, and their mission is vital for targeting convoys, and that's why they are attractive targets for that kind of attacks. of course, those Tupolevs could have fighter escorts in their maritime reconnaissance missions, what could make them difficult targets for Harriers. But in theory, Harrier could be effective aircraft for those missions, if the target patrols alone. But fighter escort can make shooting down those Tupolevs quite difficult.  VTOL-aircraft can operate from any platform. They can also land to those ships, so that means that they would not lose in those operations.

Sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CAM_ship

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Merchant_aircraft_carrier

http://www.theworldwars.net/weapons/pictures/air/de/photos/photo_de_fw200_2.jpg


Picture I

https://defenceoftherealm.files.wordpress.com/2014/07/cam-ship_hurricaneoncatapult.jpg

Picture II

http://www.hornby.com/wp/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/ImageL.jpg

Picture III

http://www.theworldwars.net/weapons/pictures/air/de/photos/photo_de_fw200_2.jpg

https://pimeakronikka.blogspot.fi/p/what-were-cam-ships.html

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Schrödinger's cat: and the limits of that idea.

"In quantum mechanics, Schrödinger's cat is a thought experiment concerning quantum superposition". (Wikipedia, Schrödinger's cat). But the same thing can use as model for many other thought experiments.  Sooner or later, or at least in the ultimate end of the universe, the Schrödinger's cat will turn into wave movement. The information that this cat involved exists but the cat does not exist in its material form. The information doesn't ever vanish. It just turns its shape.  We are all trapped in the universe and time. The universe is the space that is entirety to us. There are no confirmed other universities. But the multiverse is a logical continuum for the expanding galactic megastructures.  The problem with natural things is this. They are black and white. They exist or do not exist. Could there be something, that exists and not exists at the same time?  Scrödinger's cat is thinking experiment about case their cat is not dead or not alive. But in this...
Post a Comment
Read more

The string theory offers a new way to calculate Pi.

"Scientists discovered a new series for pi through string theory research, echoing a 15th-century formula by Madhava. By combining Euler-Beta Functions and Feynman Diagrams, they modeled particle interactions efficiently. Credit: SciTechDaily.com" (ScitechDaily, String Theory Unravels New Pi Formula: A Quantum Leap in Mathematics) People normally think that. The pi is the ratio of the circumference circle's circumference to the circle's diameter. The Pi is a mathematical constant 3.14159..., the endless decimal number. The Pi is interesting because developers can use that decimal number to make the encryption algorithms stronger.  The idea is that the encryptions program hides the message's original ASCII numbers by multiplicating those numbers with some decimal number. Or the system can add some numbers to those ASCII numbers.  "Aninda Sinha (left) and Arnab Saha (right). Credit: Manu Y" (ScitechDaily, String Theory Unravels New Pi Formula: A Quantum Le...
Post a Comment
Read more

There are always more than three actors in the real world.

"An international research team is advancing precision timekeeping by developing a nuclear clock using thorium isotopes and innovative laser methods, potentially transforming our understanding of physical constants and dark matter. (Artist’s concept.) Credit: SciTechDaily.com" (ScitechDaily, Unveiling the Thorium Nuclear Clock and Its Time-Twisting Secrets) From Three-body problem... There are no pure three-body systems in nature. There are always more than three components in the system. For making real three-body systems we must separate those three bodies from the environment. Otherwise, there are stable effects. But nobody can predict some effects like distant supernova explosions or sun eruptions.  And one of those things that affect all bodies is time. When radioactive materials decay. That affects the stability and symmetry of the object.  Energy levels affect the existence of things like neutrons. The thorium atom clocks are next-generation tools for time measurement....
Post a Comment
Read more