HMS Botlea before being commissioned and under her former name of African Prince
True name: HMS Botlea
Previous name: Glennevis African Prince Pentridge Hill
Subsequent name:
Official Number: 167659
Class: Special Service Freighter - Q ship
Pennant No: X15 - F113
Laid down:
Builder: Ayrshire Dockyard Company, Irvine, Scotland
Launched: 1917
Into Service: 1939
Out of service: March 1941
Fate: Scuttled 30 December 1945
Items of historic interest involving this ship: -
Background Data: In 1939 Winston Churchill gave authority for a number of merchantmen to be requisitioned for service as Q-ships, although for security purposes they were referred to as Special Service Freighters. A fleet of 9 small mainly coal-burning vessels were acquired , 6 for deep-sea work and 3 for coastal work. All were commissioned as HM ships under their original names but were given RFA cover names and on entering harbour and while in harbour they wore the Blue Ensign, behaved as RFA’s and adopted the RFA commercial practices. None of them was really suitable for their intended roles and met with a complete lack of success. Their Q-ship service officially ended on 2 March 1941
1917 launched by Ayrshire Dockyard Co Ltd, Irvine as Yard Nr 445 named GLENNEVIS for African Steam Ship Co Ltd ( J. Gardiner & Co, Managers ) Glasgow .
May 1917 completed for the Rio Cape Line ( Furness, Withy & Co, Managers) London
1922 renamed AFRICAN PRINCE by her owners
15 October 1922 berthed at New York having sailed from Dundee
5 November 1925 sailed Bahia for New Orleans
3 January 1927 sailed Newport News
8 November 1927 berthed Santos from Rio de Janerio
1930 laid up Rothesay Bay during the Depression
14 November 1935 arrived at Greenock from Rothesay Bay
28 January 1936 sailed East London for Durban
31 January 1936 sailed Durban for Lorenzo Marques
1 February 1936 arrived at Lorenzo Marques from Durban
5 February 1936 sailed Lorenzo Marques for Madagascar
13 February 1936 sailed Majunga for Diego Suarez
19 February 1936 sailed Tamatave for Reunion
26 March 1936 sailed Rangoon
18 April 1936 sailed Port Said
6 May 1936 sailed from the Keil Canal to Gdynia
11 May 1936 arrived at Gdynia from Rangoon
20 May 1936 sailed Gdynia for the Tyne
1939 Bought by the Board of Trade and placed under the civil management of Sir William Readen Smith & Sons Ltd Managers
1936 purchased by Dorset Steamship Co Ltd, London and renamed PENTRIDGE HILL
1939 acquired by the Board of Trade (later MoS and MoWT) and renamed BOTLEA under management of Sir William Reardon Smith & Sons Ltd, Cardiff
14 September1939 Lieutenant Commander Thomas Bennett Bruton Royal Naval Reserve appointed in command.
16 September 1939 commissioned as HMS Botlea
14 December 1939 conversion completed. Cover name RFA LAMBRIDGE. Complement 84 under the command of Commander. T.B. Brunton Royal Navy. Armed with 7 x single 4-inch guns, 4 x Lewis machine guns, 4 x single 21-inch torpedo tubes and 100 depth charges
22 December 1939 sailed Chatham for Sheerness then to the Solent area for work-up
3 January 1940 sailed from the Solent area on her first cruise and operated in the North Atlantic for the remainder of that year
8 January 1940 stopped off Dakar by HMS Neptune while in the Lambridge disguise - she was not detected as a 'Q' ship
19 February 1940 Able Seaman John Page C/J 22317 discharged dead. Drowned. Remembered with pride on the Chatham Naval Memorial
March 1940 at Gibraltar
April 1940 at Bermuda
January 1941 at Simonstown, South Africa
5 March 1941 at Colombo she hoisted the White Ensign for service as an Armed Merchant Cruiser with Pennant Number F 113
August 1941 A.M.C. service ended
1 September 1941 at Simonstown reconditioning for return to commercial service
1 October 1941 transferred to MoWT control
29 August 1942 sailed from Liverpool to New York arriving on the 18 September 1942
24 December 1942 sailed from Liverpool in convoy ON(S)156 to New York arrived 17 January 1943
8 August 1943 sailed Liverpool to Freetown in convoy OS53 arrived on 27 August 1943
15 June 1944 sailed Cape Town to Durban in convoy CD43 arrived on the 19 June 1944
10 August 1944 sailed Durban independently to Mombassa arriving on 21 August 1944
29 August 1944 sailed Mombassa independently to Durban arriving on 9 September 1944
22 September 1944 sailed Durban independently to Lourenco Marques arriving 24 September 1944
29 May 1945 sailed Gibraltar independently to Middlesborough arriving 7 June 1945
30 December 1945 considered to have no further commercial use so was scuttled in position 55.30 N 11..00 W loaded with a cargo of poison gas shells as part of Phase 1 of Operation Sandcastle
Notes:
- RFA Lambridge was a cover name for the 'Q' Ship HMS Botlea. The name Lambridge was used when the ship was in port so her true identity was not disclosed. She never sailed as an RFA.
