MV Macoma
Encyclopedia
MV Macoma was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell
oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier
(MAC ship). The group is collectively known as the Rapana Class.
Macoma was launched on 31 December 1935 at Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Mij, Amsterdam as an oil tanker and entered service the following year. She was converted to a MAC ship from late 1943 to April 1944, and commisisoned 1 April 1944.
As a MAC ship, she had no aircraft hangar, and continued to carry normal cargoes, although operating under Royal Navy control. Only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel. In the case of the Macoma, these were provided by the Royal Netherlands Navy
including the Dutch Fleet Air Arm 860 and 861 squadrons.
The Macoma and her sister MV Gadila
were the first aircraft carrying vessels to be operated under the flag of the Netherlands.
After the war, MV Macoma was reconverted and returned to merchant service as an oil tanker and served in that role until scrapped in Hong Kong in 1959.
Royal Dutch Shell
Royal Dutch Shell plc , commonly known as Shell, is a global oil and gas company headquartered in The Hague, Netherlands and with its registered office in London, United Kingdom. It is the fifth-largest company in the world according to a composite measure by Forbes magazine and one of the six...
oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier
Merchant aircraft carrier
Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys...
(MAC ship). The group is collectively known as the Rapana Class.
Macoma was launched on 31 December 1935 at Nederlandse Scheepsbouw Mij, Amsterdam as an oil tanker and entered service the following year. She was converted to a MAC ship from late 1943 to April 1944, and commisisoned 1 April 1944.
As a MAC ship, she had no aircraft hangar, and continued to carry normal cargoes, although operating under Royal Navy control. Only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel. In the case of the Macoma, these were provided by the Royal Netherlands Navy
Royal Netherlands Navy
The Koninklijke Marine is the navy of the Netherlands. In the mid-17th century the Dutch Navy was the most powerful navy in the world and it played an active role in the wars of the Dutch Republic and later those of the Batavian Republic and the Kingdom of the Netherlands...
including the Dutch Fleet Air Arm 860 and 861 squadrons.
The Macoma and her sister MV Gadila
MV Gadila
MV Gadila was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class....
were the first aircraft carrying vessels to be operated under the flag of the Netherlands.
After the war, MV Macoma was reconverted and returned to merchant service as an oil tanker and served in that role until scrapped in Hong Kong in 1959.