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Allied Warships

HMS Vindex (D 15)

Escort Carrier of the Nairana class

NavyThe Royal Navy
TypeEscort Carrier
ClassNairana 
PennantD 15 
Built bySwan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.) 
Ordered 
Laid down2 Jul, 1942 
Launched4 May, 1943 
Commissioned15 Nov, 1943 
End service 
Loss position
 
History

Aquired March 1942. Ex merchantile

Original penant was R 15, then changed to D 15.

After V.E. Day she went to the Far East and became known as the "Pacific Bus Service", transporting materiel and personnel to and fro around the oceans and across to Japan.

She returned to Rosyth in September 1946, and was sold back to the Port Line, her original owners, and was renamed Port Vindex and ran the Australia refridgerated cargo service until 1971 when she was broken up in Taiwan.

Commanding Officers:
Capt. Horace Temple Taylor Bayliss, RN
September 1943 - 26 December 1944

Cdr. John David Lewis Williams, DSC, RN
26 December 1944 - March 1946 


Noteable events involving Vindex include:

15 Mar, 1944
The German submarine U-653 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 53º46'N, 24º35'W, by depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex (Capt. H.T.T. Bayliss, RN), and by depth charges from the British sloops HMS Starling (Capt. F.J. Walker, CB, DSO and 2 Bars, RN) and HMS Wild Goose (Lt.Cdr. D.E.G. Wemyss, DSC and Bar, RN). (see map)

6 May, 1944
The German submarine U-765 was sunk in the North Atlantic, in position 52º30'N, 28º28'W, by depth charges from 2 Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) of the British escort carrier HMS Vindex (Capt. H.T.T. Bayliss, RN) and the British frigates HMS Bickerton (Cdr. D.G.F.W. MacIntyre, DSO and 2 Bars, RN), HMS Bligh (A/Lt.Cdr. J.W. Cooper, RNR (retired)) and HMS Aylmer (Lt. A.D.P. Campbell, RN). (see map)

22 Aug, 1944
the German submarine U-344 was sunk in the Barents Sea north-west of Bear Island, in position 74º54'N, 15º26'E, by depth charges from a British Swordfish aircraft from the escort carrier HMS Vindex (Sqdn. 825/X). (see map)

2 Sep, 1944
The German submarine U-394 was sunk in the Norwegian Sea some nautical miles south-east of Jan Mayen island, Norway, in position 69º47'N, 04º10'E, by rockets and depth charges from a Swordfish aircraft (Sqdn. 825) from the British escort carrier HMS Vindex (Capt. H.T.T. Bayliss, RN), and the British destroyers HMS Keppel (Cdr. I.J. Tyson, DSO, DSC, RNR) and HMS Whitehall (Lt.Cdr. P.J. Cowell, DSC, RN) and the British sloops HMS Mermaid (Lt.Cdr. J.P. Mosse, RN) and HMS Peacock (Lt.Cdr. R.B. Stannard, VC, DSO, RNR). (see map)


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