HMS Riviera

Built as a fast Cross-Channel steamer for the South East and Chatham Railway Co., HMS Riviera was requisitioned by the Admiralty on 11 August 1914 and converted by Chatham Dockyard to carry and operate four seaplanes.

Based at Harwich along with HMS Engadine and Empress, aircraft from all three ships took part in the Cuxhaven Raid on hangars housing Zeppelin airships on Christmas Day 1914. A notable member of her crew was Robert Erskine Childers whose knowledge of the east German coast was considered very important in the raid. HMS Riviera later saw service in the Dover Patrol, prior to moving to the Mediterranean in June 1918.

In 1919 the ship returned to civilian use under her original name of RTMS Lairds Isle. She once again entered military service on 28 August 1939 as HMS Laird's Isle, an Armed Boarding Vessel and carried landing craft and tanks on D-Day.

She returned to civil use again in 1946.

References

• Colledge, J. J.; Warlow, Ben (2006) [1969]. Ships of the Royal Navy: The Complete Record of all Fighting Ships of the Royal Navy (Rev. ed.). London: Chatham. ISBN 978-1-86176-281-8. OCLC 67375475. 
• Dittmar, F. J. & Colledge, J. J., "British Warships 1914-1919", (Ian Allan, London, 1972), ISBN 0-7110-0380-7
• Friedman, Norman (1988). British Carrier Aviation: The Evolution of the Ships and Their Aircraft. Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-054-8. 
• Gardiner, Robert; Gray, Randal, eds (1984). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships: 1906–1922. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-85177-245-5. 
• Layman, R. D. (1989). Before the Aircraft Carrier: The Development of Aviation Vessels 1859–1922. Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 0-87021-210-9. 

External links

• Account of Cuxhaven raid
• Information on Lairds Isle