HMS Cheshire was a passenger ship that was built in Scotland in 1927 and scrapped in Wales in 1957. She belonged to Bibby Line, which ran passenger and cargo services between Rangoon in Burma (now Yangon in Myanmar) and various ports in Great Britain, via the Suez Canal and Gibraltar. The Admiralty requisitioned her in 1939 and had her converted into an armed merchant cruiser (AMC). She was converted into a troopship in 1943, and returned to civilian service in 1948.
She was the second of five Bibby Line ships to be named after the English county of Cheshire. The first was a steamship that was built in 1891 and sold in 1911. The third was a motor ship that was built in 1959 and sold in 1968. The fourth was built in 1971 and sold in 1983. The fifth was built in 1989.
The second Cheshire was the second of five sister ships that the Fairfield Shipbuilding and Engineering Company of Govan in Glasgow built for Bibby Line. The first was Shropshire, which was built in 1926. They were followed by Staffordshire in 1929, in 1931, and Derbyshire in 1935.
Building
Fairfield built Cheshire as yard number 620, launched her on 20 April 1927, and completed her that July. Her registered length was , her beam was , her depth was and her draught was . Her tonnages were and . She was completed with four masts,
As built, her navigation equipment included submarine signalling and wireless direction finding.
Bibby Line registered Cheshire at Liverpool. Her United Kingdom official number was 149601 and her code letters were 149625. By 1930 her call sign was GLXV. In 1934 this superseded her code letters.
Auxiliary cruiser
On 29 August 1939 the Admiralty requisitioned Cheshire for conversion into an AMC. Her primary armament was six guns, and her secondary armament was two guns. She was commissioned on 30 October, with the pennant number F18. Her first commander was Captain Montague Bernard. On 28 May 1940, she protected the French aviso , which was rescuing survivors from the torpedoed cargo liner . In June 1941, she took part in the escort of Convoy HX 131 from Halifax, Nova Scotia to Britain, and Convoy OB 335 from Liverpool out into the North Atlantic. In July 1941 she took part in the escort of Convoy BHX 137 from Bermuda to join Convoy HX 137 in mid-Atlantic to continue to Britain. In August 1942 Cheshire took part in the escort of Convoy SL 118 from Freetown to Britain. She returned to active service in 1941, commanded by Captain James Begg. At 18:52 hours on 18 August attacked the convoy at position , firing four single torpedoes. Two hit and sank Netherland Line's Balingkar, one damaged the British India Steam Navigation Company's , and one damaged Cheshire.
Between 28 and 31 December 1944 Cheshire took the US Army's 289th Engineer Combat Battalion from Southampton to Le Havre. Other US Army units that Cheshire carried during the war included the 263rd Regiment, which was part of the 66th Infantry Division, and the 329th Regiment, which was part of the 83rd Infantry Division.
The MoWT later used Cheshire as a repatriation ship.