She was captained by Edward LeBlanc and had quite an ordeal when it came time to paint the ship gray. By the end of the war, Lady Rodney had safely transported nearly 60,000 troops and 66,000 passengers. She remained the only Lady Boat not sunk during the war, even though she did have a few narrow escapes when spotted by U-boats. Now, when the Lady Rodney sailed, she was accompanied by an RCN corvette. With four of the five Lady Boats sunk, the RCN saw there was a need for escorts. In April 1943, the Lady Nelson was converted into Canada’s first hospital ship she was commissioned on April 22, 1943, carrying 515 beds and completing 30 unscathed voyages by February 1946, bringing home 25,000 wounded men. She sank in a shallow harbor and was eventually refloated and repaired. Two months later, in March 1942 the Lady Nelson was torpedoed by U-161, alongside the coast of Castries, St. The Lady Hawkins, under the command of Captain Huntley Osborne Giffen, was the next one to meet her unfortunate fate, when she was sunk off the coast of Cape Hatteras, North Carolina., on 19 January 1942. Less than a year later though, she was sunk in the Bay of Biscay, on 16 July 1941. She became the first Canadian merchant ship to go to war, and she assisted in enforcing the blockade against occupied Europe. In October 1940, the Lady Somers was requested by the Canadian government, who converted her to an auxiliary armed cruiser. They also had 4,179 square feet available for general cargo, with an additional 554 square feet for refrigerated cargo. They could each carry 130 first-class passengers, 32 second-class, 56 third-class, and 120 deck passengers. Three of the five ships, Lady Nelson, Lady Hawkins, and Lady Drake were the three eastern-route ships. The Lady Liners were built for Canada-West Indies service, and consisted of two different lines: an eastern-route one and a western-route one.
They were owned by Canadian National Steamships Co. The Lady Rodney survived.Īll five boats were named for the wives of Elizabethan British admirals that had a connection to the West Indies. The Lady Nelson was sunk at St Lucia in 1942, later repaired and converted into a hospital ship. Four were sunk, including Lady Hawkins, Lady Somers, Lady Drake. There were five Lady class ships that were built as luxury liners, but went into serve during the Second World. John's, Newfoundland with personnel of the RCAF Women's Division, c19 July 1942.
Lady Rodney in grey paint converted from a luxury liner to a troopship, in the harbour at St. Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. (Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No.
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