Completed in 1936, HMS ''Royal Ulsterman'' was a 3,250 ton

passenger ship A passenger ship is a merchant ship whose primary function is to carry passengers on the sea. The category does not include cargo vessels which have accommodations for limited numbers of passengers, such as the ubiquitous twelve-passenger freig ...

which, along with her sister-ship, , sailed the

Glasgow Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

-Belfast run for Burns and Laird Lines Ltd. During 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 ...

, ''Royal Ulsterman'' served as a commissioned

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 ...

troop transport, taking part in nearly all of the major Allied amphibious operations of the European war, including the

Dunkirk evacuation The Dunkirk evacuation, codenamed Operation Dynamo and also known as the Miracle of Dunkirk, or just Dunkirk, was the evacuation of more than 338,000 Allied soldiers during the Second World War from the beaches and harbour of Dunkirk, in the ...

;

Operation Neptune Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

(the amphibious part of the

D-Day landings The Normandy landings were the landing operations and associated airborne operations on 6 June 1944 of the Allied invasion of Normandy in Operation Overlord during the Second World War. Codenamed Operation Neptune and often referred to as ...

); and the liberation of the

Channel Islands The Channel Islands are an archipelago in the English Channel, off the French coast of Normandy. They are divided into two Crown Dependencies: the Jersey, Bailiwick of Jersey, which is the largest of the islands; and the Bailiwick of Guernsey, ...

Wartime Service

Operations off Norway

Commissioned HMS, ''Royal Ulsterman'' landed elements of the British Expeditionary Force for operations in Norway in 1940. Subsequently, the ship delivered armaments to

Harstad Harstad may refer to: Places *Harstad (town) Harstad (; ) is a List of towns and cities in Norway, city in Harstad Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The city is also the administrative centre of Harstad Municipality. The city has a populati ...

, high above the

Arctic Circle The Arctic Circle is one of the two polar circles, and the northernmost of the five major circle of latitude, circles of latitude as shown on maps of Earth at about 66° 34' N. Its southern counterpart is the Antarctic Circle. The Arctic Circl ...

Evacuation of the BEF from France

On 18 June, ''Royal Ulsterman'' embarked some 2,800 troops and three civilian women at St. Nazaire, transporting them to Falmouth in Cornwall. By the end of August, she had also moved French personnel to

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

, carried civilian refugees from the Mediterranean region to Glasgow, and landed some 700 troops at

Iceland Iceland is a Nordic countries, Nordic island country between the Atlantic Ocean, North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge between North America and Europe. It is culturally and politically linked with Europe and is the regi ...

. Over the next year, ''Ulsterman'' would make regular trips between the British Isles and Iceland. During one of these runs, ''Ulsterman'', carried the three survivors of (the British battlecruiser sunk by the German battleship ''Bismarck''), back to the UK. On 29 August 1941, off the west coast of Scotland, ''Ulsterman'' was holed in a collision with the

destroyer In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast, maneuverable, long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy, or carrier battle group and defend them against a wide range of general threats. They were conceived i ...

HMS ''St. Mary's'', requiring repairs on the Mersey until late September.

Operation Ironclad

''Ulsterman'' took part in Operation Ironclad (the battle of Madagascar), landing elements at Diego Suarez on 5 May 1942.

Operation Torch

''Ulsterman'' took part in

Operation Torch Operation Torch (8–16 November 1942) was an Allies of World War II, Allied invasion of French North Africa during the Second World War. Torch was a compromise operation that met the British objective of securing victory in North Africa whil ...

(the Allied invasion of North Africa), landing

United States Army Rangers The United States Army Rangers are U.S. Army personnel who have served in any unit which has held the official designation of "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the Ranger School, even if they have never served in a ...

of the 1st Battalion on the Algerian coast on 8 November 1942. On 14 November, while ferrying troops from Oran to Algiers, the ship was attacked, unsuccessfully, by five

Luftwaffe The Luftwaffe () was the aerial warfare, aerial-warfare branch of the before and during World War II. German Empire, Germany's military air arms during World War I, the of the Imperial German Army, Imperial Army and the of the Imperial Ge ...

aircraft.

Operations Husky and Avalanche

On 10 July 1943, ''Royal Ulsterman'' disembarked troops of the British 8th Army in

Sicily Sicily (Italian language, Italian and ), officially the Sicilian Region (), is an island in the central Mediterranean Sea, south of the Italian Peninsula in continental Europe and is one of the 20 regions of Italy, regions of Italy. With 4. ...

for

Operation Husky Operation or Operations may refer to: Arts, entertainment and media * ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity * Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory * ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...

. She subsequently took part in

Operation Avalanche Operation Avalanche was the codename for the Allied landings near the port of Salerno, executed on 9 September 1943, part of the Allied invasion of Italy during World War II. The Italians withdrew from the war the day before the invasion, but ...

, landing troops on 9 September 1943 at

Salerno Salerno (, ; ; ) is an ancient city and ''comune'' (municipality) in Campania, southwestern Italy, and is the capital of the namesake province, being the second largest city in the region by number of inhabitants, after Naples. It is located ...

on the Italian mainland.

Operation Neptune

After a two-month-long refit at

Southampton Southampton is a port City status in the United Kingdom, city and unitary authority in Hampshire, England. It is located approximately southwest of London, west of Portsmouth, and southeast of Salisbury. Southampton had a population of 253, ...

in March and April 1944, ''Royal Ulsterman'' took part in Operation Neptune, the amphibious operation that launched

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful liberation of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The ope ...

, the Allied invasion of Normandy on 6 June 1944. The ship disembarked troops of the 9th brigade of the

3rd Canadian Infantry Division The 3rd Canadian Division is a formation of the Canadian Army responsible for the command and mobilization of all army units in the provinces of Manitoba, Saskatchewan, Alberta and British Columbia, as well as Northwestern Ontario including the ...

Juno Beach Juno and or Juno Beach was one of five beaches of the Allies (World War II), Allied invasion of German occupation of France during World War II, German-occupied France in the Normandy landings on 6 June 1944 during the World War II, Second Wo ...

Liberation of the Channel Islands

Seized by the Germans in 1940, the Channel Islands were the only part of the British Isles to be occupied by the enemy during the Second World War. Not until after Germany's surrender were the islands liberated. ''Royal Ulsterman'' landed British troops on

Jersey Jersey ( ; ), officially the Bailiwick of Jersey, is an autonomous and self-governing island territory of the British Islands. Although as a British Crown Dependency it is not a sovereign state, it has its own distinguishing civil and gov ...

on 11 May 1945 and provided additional reinforcements on 18 May.

Postwar history

''Royal Ulsterman'' returned to Belfast in November 1945 and was paid off on 20 December. After reconditioning, she resumed work on the Glasgow-Belfast run for Burns and Laird. She served in this capacity until 1967. Serving with Mediterranean Link Lines of Famagusta (renamed ''Sounion''), she sank at the pier in Beirut on 3 March 1973 after a sabotage operation, and was subsequently scrapped.MV Sounion (+1973)
/ref>

References

Bibliography

* Lenton, H.T. & Colledge, J. J. Warships of World War II, Ian Allan, London, 1973.

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Royal Ulsterman Royal Navy ship names World War II naval ships of the United Kingdom Ships sunk by mines Troop ships of the Royal Navy 1936 ships Maritime incidents in Lebanon Ship bombings Ships built in Belfast Ships built by Harland and Wolff Maritime incidents in 1973