Nairana-class escort carrier

The Nairana class was a group of three British escort carriers, Nairana, Vindex and Campania, converted during the Second World War from merchant hulls that were still under construction. The Admiralty took over the three ships at three yards in different parts of the United Kingdom: John Brown on the Clyde built the prototype Nairana and supplied copies of the plans to Swan Hunter on the Tyne, which built Vindex, and to Harland and Wolff at Belfast, which built Campania from a hull begun for Shaw Savill. Although meant to be identical, the three differed slightly. Each carried only about 15 to 20 aircraft, mostly Swordfish and Sea Hurricanes, and was driven by diesel engines on two shafts. They served as convoy escorts in the last year of the war, and Campania was the first British carrier fitted with an action information organisation and a radar able to detect low-flying aircraft.