HMAS Albatross (1928)

In 1925, Governor-General Lord Stonehaven announced the construction of a seaplane carrier, to the surprise of both the RAN and RAAF. The decision to acquire a seaplane carrier was prompted by both the need to provide work during the high unemployment of the 1920s and the realisation that a conventional aircraft carrier was outside the ability of the RAN to finance or man. She was long overall, with a beam of at her moulded depth and over the gun sponsons, and an initial maximum draught of , although this had increased to by 1936. Development of the ship from the Admiralty sketch design was based around the Fairey IIID seaplane being operated for the RAN by the Royal Australian Air Force's No. 101 Flight. Albatross could carry up to nine aircraft—six active and three in reserve—in three internal hangars; their incorporation inside the ship's hull resulted in an unusually high freeboard in the forward half of the vessel, and forced the propulsion machinery, accommodation, and bridge to all be located in the aft half. Albatross was removed from seagoing service in 1933, two months before the Mark Vs entered service, although the aircraft were operated from the vessel while she was at anchor. In addition, the new Seagulls were too tall to manoeuvre around inside the hangars, although this problem was worked around by placing the aircraft, with undercarriage retracted, on specially designed trolleys. Albatross was laid down by the Cockatoo Docks and Engineering Company at the Cockatoo Island Dockyard, Sydney on 16 April 1926. She was launched by the wife of the Governor-General of Australia, Baron Stonehaven of Ury on 23 February 1928. Albatross was completed on 21 December 1928, and commissioned into the RAN on 23 January 1929. She cost 1,200,000 pounds to construct. ==Operational history==

Royal Australian Navy HMAS Albatross began her first cruise a week after commissioning, visiting Tasmania and Victoria. In November 1931, the ship's engines were damaged by sabotage. This occurred again in September 1932. In 1938, with the Australian government experiencing difficulties in funding the purchase of the light cruiser , the Admiralty agreed to accept Albatross as part payment for Hobart (266,500 pounds was credited against the cruiser's purchase price). However, the loss of the aircraft carriers and early in World War II created scope for the ship's use. Post-war Albatross was sold to a British company on 19 August 1946 for commercial use. Before this went through, the ship was purchased on 14 November 1948 by the British-Greek Yannoulatos Group, and was renamed Hellenic Prince to recognise the birth of Prince Charles on that day, and his Greek heritage. The vessel was converted into a passenger liner at Barry in Wales. In 1949, she was chartered by the International Refugee Organization as a refugee transport to relocate displaced persons from Europe to Australia. On 5 December 1949, Hellenic Prince arrived in Sydney Harbour with 1,000 passengers. In 1953, Hellenic Prince was used as a troopship during the Mau Mau uprising. The ship's career finally ended when she was scrapped at Hong Kong on 12 August 1954. ==Citations==