MV ''Miralda'' was one of nine Anglo Saxon

Royal Dutch/Shell Shell plc is a British multinational oil and gas company, headquartered in London, England. Shell is a public limited company with a primary listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and secondary listings on Euronext Amsterdam and the New Yor ...

oil tankers An oil tanker, also known as a petroleum tanker, is a ship designed for the bulk transport of oil or its products. There are two basic types of oil tankers: crude tankers and product tankers. Crude tankers move large quantities of unrefined cr ...

converted to become a

Merchant Aircraft Carrier A merchant aircraft carrier (also known as a MAC ship, the Admiralty (United Kingdom), Admiralty's official 'short name') was a limited-purpose aircraft carrier operated under British and Dutch civilian registry during World War II. MAC ships ...

(MAC ship). The group is collectively known as the ''Rapana'' class. ''Macoma'' was launched in July 1936 at Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Mij, Amsterdam as an oil tanker. Her conversion to a MAC ship was completed in January 1944. As a MAC ship, she had no aircraft hangar, and continued to carry normal cargoes, although operating under

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 ...

control. Only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel. The British Ship Adoption Society, a Maritime Charity, was formed in the early part 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 ...

, with a large number of schools taking part in the scheme, amassing comforts for a particular ship and in return the children would receive letters of thanks and news from various ports around the world to which it would sail. the M.V Miralda was adopted by Styal Cottage Homes, a home colony and school for orphaned and destitute children of Manchester.James Stanhope-Brown, ''Styal of Its Own, 1894-1964'', BOOKS FOR DILLONS ONLY, 1990 After the war, ''Miralda'' was reconverted and returned to merchant service as an oil tanker and served in that role until scrapped in Hong Kong in 1960. She was renamed ''Marisa'' in 1950.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Miralda Oil tankers Rapana-class merchant aircraft carriers 1936 ships Ships built in Amsterdam Merchant ships of the Netherlands World War II merchant ships of the United Kingdom