Editing CAM ship (section)

{{Short description|British merchant ships with onboard fighter aircraft}}
{{Good article}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=January 2014}}
{{Use British English|date=January 2014}}
[[File:Hawker Hurricane W9182 On CAM Ship.jpg|thumb|right|The Hawker Sea Hurricane ''W9182'' on the catapult of a CAM ship]]

'''CAM ships''' were [[World War II]]–era [[United Kingdom|British]] [[merchant ship]]s used in [[Convoy#Atlantic|convoys]] as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient [[escort aircraft carrier|escort carriers]] became available. ''CAM ship'' is an [[acronym]] for '''catapult aircraft merchant ship'''.<ref name="proceedings">Wise, pp. 70–77</ref>

They were equipped with a [[rocket]]-propelled [[Aircraft catapult|catapult]] launching a single [[Hawker Hurricane]], dubbed a "Hurricat" or "Catafighter" to destroy or drive away an attacking bomber. Normally the Hurricane fighter would be lost when the pilot then bailed out or ditched in the ocean near the convoy.{{refn|group=Note|Although on several occasions the pilot was close enough to an airfield to land there instead.}} CAM ships continued to carry their normal cargoes after conversion.

The concept was developed and tested by the five [[fighter catapult ship]]s, commissioned as warships and commanded and crewed by the [[Royal Navy]] – but the CAM ships were merchant vessels, commanded and crewed by the [[Merchant Navy]].