| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Escort carrier |
| Class | Audacity |
| Pennant | D 10 |
| Built by | Bremer Vulcan (Bremen, Germany) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 29 Mar, 1939 |
| Commissioned | 20 Jun, 1941 |
| Lost | 21 Dec, 1941 |
| Loss position | 43.45N, 19.54W (See a map) |
| History | HMS Audacity was the first of the Royal Navy escort carriers. She was launched 29 March 1939 as the North German Lloyd cargo/passenger liner MV Hannover being completed on 10 May 1939. She was caught outside home waters by the outbreak of war, and captured by the British light cruiser HMS Dunedin (Capt. C.E. Lambe, RN) and the Canadian destroyer HMCS Assiniboine (Cdr. E. Mainguy, RCN) in the West Indies on 8 March 1940 while trying to run the blockade.
Taken into the Royal Navy as Sinbad, then renamed Empire Audacity and commissioned as an Ocean Boarding Vessel 11 Nov 1940. Converted to escort carrier by Blyth Shipbuilding from 22 Jan 1941, commissioned 20 June 1941. Renamed Audacity 30 July 1941. As the first Escort carrier the design she had no space for a hangar or a lift, so her aircraft were parked on deck. Three arrestor wires and an open conning position on the starboard side were fitted, together with a minimal anti-aircraft armament. As the principal air threat was perceived to be Condor long-range reconnaissance aircraft, her aircraft were all fighters. Hurricanes were proposed but not available, while the Grumman Martlet was not only available but had been specifically designed for carrier operations. Eight aircraft were embarked. HMS Audacity commenced her war service when she sailed with her first convoy in September 1941 to Gibraltar. On 21 September, one of her aircraft shot down a Focke-wulf Condor which had just been making a bomb run attack on the convoy rescue ship Walmer Castle. The ship carrying over 80 survivors was set on fire and had to be sunk by gunfire from a corvette. HMS Audacity (Cdr. Douglas William Mackendrick, RN) participated in two more convoys before being sunk at 2137hours on 21 December, after being hit by three torpedoes from the German submarine U-751 about 500 miles west of Cape Finisterre in position 43º45'N, 19º54'W. The survivors were picked up by the British corvettes HMS Convolvulus (T/Lt. R.S. Connell, RNR), HMS Marigold (Lt. W.S. Macdonald, RNVR), and HMS Pentstemon (Lt.Cdr. J. Byron, RNR). Commanding Officer: Hit by U-boat |
| Noteable events involving Audacity include: 17 Dec, 1941 |