MV Empire MacKay
World War II merchant ship of the United Kingdom
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
MV Empire MacKay was an oil tanker constructed with rudimentary aircraft handling facilities as a merchant aircraft carrier (MAC ship).
Fairey Swordfish landing on Empire MacKay in 1944 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Empire MacKay |
| Owner | Ministry of War Transport |
| Operator | British Tanker Co. Ltd. |
| Builder | Harland & Wolff, Govan |
| Yard number | 1167[1] |
| Launched | 17 June 1943 |
| Completed | 5 October 1943[1] |
| Renamed | British Swordfish in 1946 |
| Fate | Scrapped Rotterdam 1959 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage | 8,908 GRT |
| Length | 460 ft (140 m) (pp) 482 ft 9 in (147.14 m) (oa) |
| Beam | 59 ft (18 m) |
| Depth | 27 ft 6 in (8.38 m) |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 11 knots (20 km/h) |
| Complement | 110 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | Four Fairey Swordfish |
MV Empire MacKay was built by Harland & Wolff, Govan under order from the Ministry of War Transport. She entered service as a MAC ship in October 1943, however only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval personnel.[2] She was operated by the British Tanker Company.[3]
She returned to merchant service as an oil tanker in 1946 as British Swordfish and she was eventually scrapped in Rotterdam in 1959.[3]