thumb|right|The convoy rescue ship, SS Gothland, in 1943.

During the Second World War, designated convoy rescue ships accompanied some Atlantic convoys to rescue survivors from ships that had been attacked. Rescue ships were typically small freighters with passenger accommodation converted to rescue service. This involved enlarging galley and food storage areas and providing berthing and sanitary facilities for approximately 150 men. Preparation for service included the installation of scrambling nets along the sides, and the substitution of boats suitable for open sea work for normal lifeboats. Rescue ships normally included a small operating room for an embarked naval doctor and sick bay staff.

Service

thumb|right|The crew of Gothland with a scramble net used to pick up survivors.

The first specially equipped rescue ship went into service in January 1941. When rescue ships were unavailable, large, ocean-going tugboats or converted trawlers were sometimes designated to perform rescue duty.

By the end of the war 30 rescue ships had been built or converted. They participated in 797 convoys and rescued 4,194 survivors from 119 ships. Seven rescue ships were lost, six to enemy action (three to U-boats and three to aircraft).

Origins

thumb|right|Survivors' quarters aboard a rescue ship in 1943.

In 1940 Admiral Sir Max Horton (later Commander-in-Chief Western Approaches Command) broached the idea of rescue ships with the Admiralty. The concept was to have merchant vessels that would accompany convoys but not carry cargo; they would instead have the role of saving the lives of seamen from ships sunk by enemy action. The rescue ship would take its position at the rear of one of the central columns of ships.

The convoy rescue ship was a response to early experience. Each merchant ship in a convoy was assigned a station so that the convoy formation would consist of several columns of three to five ships. The lead ships of the columns were spaced at intervals of 1,000 yards (910 m) along a line perpendicular to the convoy course. Each ship in the column followed the ship ahead at a distance of . The typical convoy would be approximately wide and long. The rescue plan for early convoys was to have the last ship of each column rescue survivors of other ships in that column. If the last ship in column was hit, the rescue task fell to the escorting warships. In practice, the escorting warships performed rescue tasks more often than the 25% suggested by random hits on a four-ship column because some merchant ships refused to leave the protection of the convoy formation to fall back and remain a stationary target while rescuing survivors. Furthermore, merchant ships were not well suited to manoeuvre to pick up survivors, and those attempting rescue were hampered by lack of suitable rescue equipment.

  • Melrose Abbey 1,908 GRT, built 1929, in rescue service from 11 February 1942, sailed with 46 convoys including Convoy SC 121, rescued 85 survivors.
  • 2,258 GRT, built 1915, in rescue service from 5 May 1941, sailed with 60 convoys, rescued 455 survivors.
  • Pinto 1,346 GRT, built 1928, in rescue service from 12 May 1942, sailed with 10 convoys, rescued 2 survivors, sunk with loss of 16 crewmen by ||2 8 September 1944 while assigned to Convoy HX 305.
  • Rathlin 1,599 GRT, built 1936 painting, in rescue service from 2 October 1941, sailed with 47 convoys, including Convoy PQ 17, rescued 634 survivors.

thumb|right|SS St Clair.

  • St Clair 1,636 GRT, built 1937, in rescue service from 1 July 1944, sailed with 14 convoys.
  • St Sunniva 1,368 GRT, built 1931, in rescue service from 7 December 1942, sailed with Convoy ON 158 and probably capsized from topside ice 23 January 1943. There were no survivors from the crew of 64.
  • 1,683 GRT, built 1911, in rescue service from 22 October 1941, sailed with 16 convoys including Convoy SC 107, rescued 413 survivors, sunk by 23 February 1943 while assigned to Convoy ON 166. There were no survivors from the crew of 63 and survivors previously rescued from other ships.
  • Syrian Prince 1,989 GRT, built 1936, in rescue service from 18 November 1943, sailed with 19 convoys.
  • Tjaldur 1,130 GRT, built 1916, in rescue service from 26 October 1941, sailed with 3 convoys, withdrawn from rescue service December 1941.
  • Toward 1,571 GRT, built 1923, in rescue service from 24 October 1941, sailed with 45 convoys, rescued 341 survivors, sunk by 7 February 1943 while assigned to Convoy SC 118. Two survivors and 54 crewmen were lost.
  • , 906 GRT, built 1936, in rescue service from 12 September 1941, sailed with Convoy OG 74 and rescued 81 survivors before being sunk by Focke-Wulf Fw 200 aircraft of I/KG 40 on 21 September 1941. Eleven crewmen and 20 of the survivors were lost.
  • Zaafaran 1,567 GRT, built 1921 as SS Philomel, in rescue service from 23 March 1941, sailed with 26 convoys, rescued 220 survivors, sunk by aircraft with loss of one crewman during the battle of Convoy PQ 17 on 5 July 1942.