South Tyneside History
| Title | Festival of Britain Exhibition Ship "Campania" |
|---|---|
| Reference Number | STH0009758 |
| Photographer | Unknown |
| Town or Village | South Shields |
| Date | 1951 |
| Original Format | Black and White Photograph |
| Period | The 1950s |
| Copyright | South Tyneside Libraries |
| Further Information | Festival of Britain exhibition ship "Campania" leaving the Tyne. HMS Campania was an escort aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that saw service during the Second World War. After the war, the ship was used as a floating exhibition hall for the 1951 Festival of Britain and as the command ship for the 1952 Operation Hurricane, the test of the prototype British atomic bomb. She was built at Harland & Wolff shipyards in Belfast, Northern Ireland. When construction started in 1941 she was originally intended as a refrigerated cargo ship for transporting lamb and mutton from New Zealand, she was requisitioned by the Government during construction and completed and launched as an escort carrier, entering service in early 1944. |
