Gateway School 1936-39.
Air Mechanic Lyner was on board the aircraft carrier HMS Nabob en route to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands. On the 22nd August 1944 the Nabob was torpedoed by the German submarine U-354, and the resulting explosion caused severe damage to the ship. Air Mechanic Lyner was one of the 21 men reported as missing presumed killed after the attack. He is commemorated on the Lee-on-Solent Memorial, Bay 5, Panel 3.
HMS NABOB was a ‘Ruler’ class escort carrier (US Bogue class) built in the USA at Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co. Tacoma, Washington. Her keel was laid down on October 20th 1942 as a C3-S-A1 type freighter, Maritime Commission hull number 252, Seattle-Tacoma hull number 36. The hull was purchased by the US navy to be completed as the USS EDISTO ACV-41 (designation later changed to CVE-41). She was launched on March 9th 1943, 140 days after her keel was laid. Whilst still under construction it had been decided that CVE-41 was to be transferred to the Admiralty on loan upon her completion, Cdr. L.R. Romer RN was appointed as Officer in Charge on August 15rh 1943. After spending 182 days outfitting the ship was ready for delivery on September 7th 943; CVE-41 took a total of 322 days to complete. Essentially she was a cargo vessel with a flight deck welded on top.
History Information
During the Second World War the Fleet Air Arm served in almost every theatre. In a reconnaissance role they supported land operations in France, the Netherlands, North Africa, Italy, and the Far East. Operating from aircraft carriers (seven of which were lost during the war), they were one of the chief weapons against the U-boats in the Atlantic and in support of the Russian convoys. In November 1940, Fleet Air Arm Swordfish biplanes carrying torpedoes undertook a night raid on the harbour at Taranto, resulting in disaster for the Italian navy. Aircraft from HMS Victorious and Ark Royal took part in the sinking of the German battleship Bismark in May 1941 and in February 1942, when the Scharnhorst, Gneisenau and Prinz Eugen attempted a daring dash along the English Channel from the Altlantic to the relative safety of the North Sea, they were attacked by Swordfish of the Fleet Air Arm. The principal base of the Fleet Air Arm, Lee-on-the-Solent, Hampshire, was chosen as the site for the memorial to almost 2,000 men of that service who died during the Second World War and who have no known grave.
