| Navy | The Royal Navy |
| Type | Armed Merchant Cruiser |
| Class | [No specific class] |
| Pennant | F 99 |
| Built by | A. Stephen & Sons Ltd. (Glasgow, Scotland) |
| Ordered | |
| Laid down | |
| Launched | 18 Aug 1931 |
| Commissioned | 26 Dec 1939 |
| End service | 30 Dec 1943 |
| History | laid down as Canton, completed as Carthage. Displacement: 14182 BRT Career: On 30 December 1943 returned and used as troopship by the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT). 1948 returned to owner. |
Commands listed for HMS Carthage (F 99)
Please note that we're still working on this section.
| Commander | From | To | |
| 1 | Capt. (retired) Basil Owen Bell-Salter, RN | 28 Aug 1939 | Dec 1940 |
| 2 | Capt. (retired) Henry Leonard Ivers Kirkpatrick, OBE, RN | Dec 1940 | 19 Feb 1942 |
| 3 | Capt. (retired) Basil Owen Bell-Salter, RN | 19 Feb 1942 | 1 May 1942 |
| 4 | A/Capt. Cyril William Archie Gooding Hamley, RN | 1 May 1942 | 10 Jun 1942 |
| 5 | A/Cdr. John Wyndham Cookson, RN | 10 Jun 1942 | 23 Jun 1942 |
| 6 | A/Capt. (retired) William Vesey Hamilton Harris, DSC, RN | 23 Jun 1942 | 28 Jul 1943 |
| 7 | A/Capt. Ughtred Henry Ramsden James, RN | 28 Jul 1943 |
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Notable events involving Carthage include:
3 Nov 1940
In the morning convoy WS 3A (slower part) and Convoy WS 3B (faster part) merged together west of Madagascar.
Convoy WS 3A was at that moment made up of the British transports Dorset (10624 GRT, built 1934), Erinpura (5143 GRT, built 1911), Highland Brigade (14134 GRT, built 1929), Khedive Ismael (7290 GRT, built 1922), Oropesa (14118 GRT, built 1920), Perthshire (10496 GRT, built 1936) and Port Chalmers (8535 GRT, built 1933). These were escorted by the armed merchant cruiser HMS Carthage (Capt.(Retd.) B.O. Bell-Salter, RN).
Convoy WS 3B was at that moment made up of the British troop transports Duchess of York (20021 GRT, built 1929), Georgic (27759 GRT, built 1932), Monarch of Bermuda (22424 GRT, built 1931) and Orontes (20097 GRT, built 1925). These were escorted by the heavy cruiser HMS Dorsetshire (Capt. B.C.S. Martin, RN).
Shortly before noon the Erinpure and Khedive Ismael split off from the convoy and set course for Mombasa escorted by HMS Carthage. HMS Dorsetshire then continued on towards Suez with the remainder of the convoy. (1)
19 Apr 1941
In the morning, near East London, South Africa, HMS Dorsetshire (Capt. B.C.S. Martin, RN), made rendez-vous with HMS Illustrious (Cdr. G.S. Tuck, RN) and took over the escort of the damaged aircraft carrier from the armed merchant cruiser HMS Carthage (Capt.(Retd.) B.O. Bell-Salter, RN). Course was then set for Capetown. (2)
Sources
- ADM 53/112041
- ADM 53/114132
ADM numbers indicate documents at the British National Archives at Kew, London.