| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Repair Ship |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | F 28 |
| Built by | Swan Hunter and Wigham Richardson Ltd. (Wallsend-on-Tyne, U.K.) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 6 Feb 1924 |
| Commissioned | 1944 |
| End service | |
| History | On 30 August 1939 the passenger ship Aurania of the Cunard White Star Ltd, Liverpool was requisitioned by the Admiralty and converted to an armed merchant cruiser. On 24 March 1942 she was sold to the Admiralty because of the damage sustaned in the attack by U-123, laid up for some time, but finally converted into a repair ship finished in 1944 and commissioned as HMS Artifex. In January 1961 she was scrapped at La Spezia, Italy. |
Commands listed for HMS Artifex (F 28)
Please note that we're still working on this section
and that we only list Commanding Officers for the duration of the Second World War.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | A/Capt.(Retd.) Charles Cecil Flemming, RN | 14 Apr 1944 | 21 Aug 1945 |
| 2 | A/Capt.(Retd.) Lewis Bernard Alexander Majendie, DSC, RN | 21 Aug 1945 |
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Notable events involving Artifex include:
26 Jan 1945
Ships belonging to the Fleet Train of the British Pacific Fleet departed Trincomalee for Fremantle. These were the destroyer deport ship Tyne (Capt. S. Boucher, RN), repairs ships HMS Resource (Capt.(Retd.) D.B. O’Connell, RN), Artifex (A/Capt.(Retd.) C.C. Flemming, RN) and the target ship HMS Lewes (T/Lt. M.H. Grylls, SANF(V)). The tanker Battle Rock (American, 10448 GRT, built 1944) was also in company with these ships.
Escort was provided by the heavy cruiser London and the minesweepers HMAS Cairns (T/Lt. N.G. Weber, RANR(S)), HMAS Cessnock (Lt. A.G. Chapman, RANR(S)), HMAS Gawler (Lt.Cdr. J.H.P. Dixon, RANR(S)), HMAS Geraldton (Cdr. J.K. Walton, RAN), HMAS Ipswich (T/Lt. R.H. Creasey, RANR(S)), HMAS Tamworth (T/Lt. D.B. Lloyd-Jones, RANR(S)) and HMAS Wollongong (T/Lt. J. Hare, RANR(S)).
They arrived at Fremantle on 9 February 1945. (1)
Sources
- ADM 199/1457
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.