HMS Bonaventure (F139)
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HMS ''Bonaventure'' was a
submarine depot ship A submarine tender, in British English a submarine depot ship, is a type of depot ship that supplies and supports submarines. Development Submarines are small compared to most oceangoing vessels, and generally cannot carry large amounts of food ...
of the
Royal Navy The Royal Navy (RN) is the naval warfare force of the United Kingdom. It is a component of His Majesty's Naval Service, and its officers hold their commissions from the King of the United Kingdom, King. Although warships were used by Kingdom ...
. She was initially built for civilian service with the
Clan Line The Clan Line was a passenger and cargo shipping company that operated in one incarnation or another from the late nineteenth century and into the twentieth century. History Foundation and early years The company that would become the Clan Lin ...
, but on the outbreak of the
Second World War World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
she was requisitioned by the Navy and after being launched, was converted for military service.


Career


Construction and commissioning

The ship was
laid down Laying the keel or laying down is the formal recognition of the start of a ship's construction. It is often marked with a ceremony attended by dignitaries from the shipbuilding company and the ultimate owners of the ship. Keel laying is one ...
at the yards of the
Greenock & Grangemouth Dockyard Company The Greenock Dockyard Company was a Scottish shipbuilding and ship repair firm located at Greenock, on the River Clyde. History The company was established by J E Scott of Greenock, with the yard at Cartsdyke being taken over in 1879 by Russell a ...
, of
Greenock Greenock (; ; , ) is a town in Inverclyde, Scotland, located in the west central Lowlands of Scotland. The town is the administrative centre of Inverclyde Council. It is a former burgh within the historic county of Renfrewshire, and forms ...
,
Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...
as a Clan Line . She was provisionally allocated the name ''Clan Campbell''. With the outbreak of war,
Admiralty Admiralty most often refers to: *Admiralty, Hong Kong * Admiralty (United Kingdom), military department in command of the Royal Navy from 1707 to 1964 *The rank of admiral *Admiralty law Admiralty can also refer to: Buildings * Admiralty, Tra ...
requisitioned her for the Royal Navy, and after her
launch Launch or launched may refer to: Involving vehicles * Launch (boat), one of several different sorts of boat ** Motor launch (naval), a small military vessel used by the Royal Navy * Air launch, the practice of dropping an aircraft, rocket, or ...
on 27 October 1942, she was converted at the yards of
Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Scotts Shipbuilding and Engineering Company Limited, often referred to simply as Scotts, was a Scottish shipbuilding company based in Greenock on the River Clyde. In its time in Greenock, Scotts built over 1,250 ships. History John Scott f ...
to become a submarine depot ship for the
midget submarine A midget submarine is any submarine under 150 tons, typically operated by a crew of one or two but sometimes up to six or nine, with little or no on-board living accommodation. They normally work with mother ships, from which they are launched an ...
s. After the conversion was completed she was commissioned into the Navy on 26 January 1943.


Early wartime service

After completing work-up trials, ''Bonaventure'' sailed to
Loch Striven Loch Striven () is a sea loch in Argyll and Bute, Scotland. The loch meets the Firth of Clyde and the Kyles of Bute just north of the Isle of Bute, and forms a narrow inlet about long extending north into the Cowal Peninsula. The hamlet of ...
on the west bank of the Clyde to become the main training base and depot ship for the X craft midget submarines. In August and September 1943, training and trials were carried out for the midget submarines , , , , and . They were to be used to carry out the attack on the in Altenfjord,
Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...
, codenamed
Operation Source Operation Source was a series of attacks to neutralise the heavy German warships – ''Tirpitz'', ''Scharnhorst'', and ''Lützow'' – based in northern Norway, using X-class midget submarines. The attacks took place in September 1943 at K ...
. During the operation, the submarines , , , , and each towed a midget submarine to Norwegian waters. Despite a number of the X craft being lost, the operation was a success and ''Tirpitz'' was put out of action for six months. In October ''Bonaventure'' sailed to
Govan Govan ( ; Cumbric: ''Gwovan''; Scots language, Scots: ''Gouan''; Scottish Gaelic: ''Baile a' Ghobhainn'') is a district, parish, and former burgh now part of southwest Glasgow, Scotland. It is situated west of Glasgow city centre, on the sout ...
to be refitted at the yards of
Alexander Stephen and Sons Alexander Stephen and Sons Limited, often referred to simply as Alex Stephens or just Stephens, was a Scottish shipbuilder, shipbuilding company based in Linthouse, Glasgow, on the River Clyde and, initially, on the east coast of Scotland. Hist ...
. The refit took until 2 January 1944 and included fitting new
radar Radar is a system that uses radio waves to determine the distance ('' ranging''), direction ( azimuth and elevation angles), and radial velocity of objects relative to the site. It is a radiodetermination method used to detect and track ...
equipment. Some work was not completed before ''Bonaventure'' was recommissioned on 22 January to serve with the
British Pacific Fleet The British Pacific Fleet (BPF) was a Royal Navy formation that saw action against Japan during the Second World War. It was formed from aircraft carriers, other surface warships, submarines and supply vessels of the RN and British Commonwealth ...
. She again deployed at Loch Striven in preparation. She remained deployed there until March, when she returned to Govan to complete the outstanding dockyard work. The refit lasted until August, when after post-refit trials, she returned to Loch Striven in September. October to November was spent training on the loch. During this period, the modified s, which had been under construction since January 1944, became available. Several were embarked aboard ''Bonaventure'' for use against targets in the
Far East The Far East is the geographical region that encompasses the easternmost portion of the Asian continent, including North Asia, North, East Asia, East and Southeast Asia. South Asia is sometimes also included in the definition of the term. In mod ...
. In December she was nominated for deployment as the depot ship for the 14th Submarine Flotilla in the south west Pacific.


Pacific theatre

''Bonaventure''s departure was initially delayed, and in January she embarked six XE type submarines. She left the United Kingdom on 21 February, sailing for
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...
via the
Panama Canal The Panama Canal () is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Caribbean Sea with the Pacific Ocean. It cuts across the narrowest point of the Isthmus of Panama, and is a Channel (geography), conduit for maritime trade between th ...
. After going through the canal, she crossed the Pacific, arriving at
Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...
on 7 March. The attitude of the
United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...
was discouraging, and the use of midget submarines was not looked on with much enthusiasm. ''Bonaventure'' arrived at
Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...
on 27 April and received approval to move nearer to the operational area and to approach the local US Navy authorities. She subsequently sailed to
Townsville, Queensland The City of Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 201,313 as of 2024, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland and Northern Australia (specifically, the parts of Australia north of ...
in May, where a visit was made by a senior officer of the 14th Flotilla to the US Navy Base at
Subic Bay Subic Bay is a bay on the west coast of the island of Luzon in the Philippines, about northwest of Manila Bay. An extension of the South China Sea, its shores were formerly the site of a major United States Navy facility, U.S. Naval Base Subi ...
. The Americans remained skeptical and suggested that ''Bonaventure'' be converted to perform a wider support role. On 31 May the proposal was made to use midget submarines to cut Japanese underwater telegraph cables. ''Bonaventure'' was transferred to
Hervey Bay, Queensland Hervey Bay () is a city on the coast of the Fraser Coast Region of Queensland, Australia. The city is situated approximately or 3½ hours' highway drive north of the state capital, Brisbane. It is located on the bay of the same name open to t ...
in June, and then to an area south of Townsville, to prepare for the cable cutting operations. She carried out extensive training and experiments off the coast of Mon Repos using a disused telegraph cable between Australia and
New Caledonia New Caledonia ( ; ) is a group of islands in the southwest Pacific Ocean, southwest of Vanuatu and east of Australia. Located from Metropolitan France, it forms a Overseas France#Sui generis collectivity, ''sui generis'' collectivity of t ...
. During these exercises, two divers (Lt Bruce Enzer and Lt Bruce Carey) died after suffering oxygen poisoning. After the operational targets had been selected, ''Bonaventure'' sailed to
Labuan Labuan (), officially the Federal Territory of Labuan (), is an island federal territory of Malaysia. It includes and six smaller islands off the coast of the state of Sabah in East Malaysia. Labuan's capital is Victoria, which is best kno ...
,
Borneo Borneo () is the List of islands by area, third-largest island in the world, with an area of , and population of 23,053,723 (2020 national censuses). Situated at the geographic centre of Maritime Southeast Asia, it is one of the Greater Sunda ...
. Throughout July she prepared for three operations.
Operation Struggle The XE-class submarines were a series of twelve midget submarines that were built for the Royal Navy during 1944; four more to a slightly different design were built 1954-5 as the Stickleback-class submarine, ''Stickleback'' class. They were ...
aimed to place
limpet mines A limpet mine is a type of naval mine attached to a target by magnets. It is so named because of its superficial similarity to the shape of the limpet, a type of sea snail that clings tightly to rocks or other hard surfaces. A swimmer or diver m ...
on the Japanese
cruiser A cruiser is a type of warship. Modern cruisers are generally the largest ships in a fleet after aircraft carriers and amphibious assault ships, and can usually perform several operational roles from search-and-destroy to ocean escort to sea ...
s and , based at
Singapore Singapore, officially the Republic of Singapore, is an island country and city-state in Southeast Asia. The country's territory comprises one main island, 63 satellite islands and islets, and one outlying islet. It is about one degree ...
with the 10th Fleet. Operation Foil aimed to cut telegraph cables off
Lamma Island Lamma Island, also known as Y Island, Pok Liu Chau or simply Pok Liu, is the third largest List of islands and peninsulas of Hong Kong, island in Hong Kong. Administratively, it is part of the Islands District, Hong Kong, Islands District. Lam ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong)., Legally Hong Kong, China in international treaties and organizations. is a special administrative region of China. With 7.5 million residents in a territory, Hong Kong is the fourth most densely populated region in the wor ...
, and Operation Sabre was intended to cut telegraph cables at Cap St Jacques, off
Saigon Ho Chi Minh City (HCMC) ('','' TP.HCM; ), commonly known as Saigon (; ), is the most populous city in Vietnam with a population of around 14 million in 2025. The city's geography is defined by rivers and canals, of which the largest is Saigo ...
. These cables were vital to Japanese signal security as radio signals could be deciphered by US code breakers. The operations began on 26 July. HMS ''Stygian'' towed and towed for Operation Struggle. ''Takao'' was badly damaged, sinking to the seabed, but the attack on ''Myōkō'' failed. For Operation Sabre, towed , which succeeded in cutting two cables and bringing sections back to ''Bonaventure''. Operation Foil was undertaken with , based at Subic Bay, as the depot ship. towed , but the tow failed part way through the voyage. ''XE5'' was able to reach the target under her own power and succeeded in severing the cable. The submarines returned in tow to ''Bonaventure'' on 3, 4 and 5 August. ''Bonaventure''s last activity before the end of the war was to sail to
Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...
from Labuan on 20 August.


Postwar

''Bonaventure'' returned to the UK, and remained in Royal Navy service for a further three years. She was placed on the disposal list in 1948, and sold back to the Clan Line on 23 March 1948. She was converted back to mercantile use, and re-entered service as ''Clan Davidson''. She was sold in 1963 and arrived at Hong Kong for scrapping on 25 December 1963.


Citations


References

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External links


HMS Bonaventure's wartime career




{{DEFAULTSORT:Bonaventure (F139) 1942 ships Auxiliary ships of the Royal Navy Cameron-class steamships Royal Navy Submarine Depot Ships Ships built on the River Clyde Ships of the Clan Line