Fleet tenders were British merchant ships that were fitted with a wooden superstructure to resemble battleships during the Second World War. They were known as fleet tenders for security reasons, and were built to fool German reconnaissance planes.
Three ships were converted in 1939 and another one (HMS Centurion) in 1941. The three converted in 1939 were 7,900-tons merchant ships:
These three ships never left the home waters of the United Kingdom and became obsolete in 1941. The SS Mamari was wrecked off The Wash and then attacked by German torpedo boats. The SS Pakeha and SS Waimana were converted back to merchants and returned to cargo use, but as the Empire Pakeha and Empire Waimana under the Ministry of War Transport[1]
HMS Centurion was a First World War-era battleship, disarmed under the Washington Naval Treaty. In 1941 she was fitted with a dummy after-funnel, mainmast and main armament, to resemble HMS Anson. She left the home waters to sail around the Cape of Good Hope to Bombay and in June 1942 was a part of a convoy to Malta (operation Vigorous). HMS Centurion was used as a blockship off the Normandy coast as part of the Gooseberry shelter for Omaha Beach.
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