History
The Phantom Clipper was to all appearances a 3-masted, square-rigged clipper ship, only with advanced concealed supercharged engines, armor plate, two 8-inch guns, six deck-mounted torpedo tubes, a fog generator, and a seaplane. The Q-ship, and the services of its crew, were donated to the U.S.Navy in 1942, at Norfolk, Virginia, by its original commander, Captain Seth Perkins, a British citizen.
This unique warship's crew called themselves the "Yankee Clippers". Captain Perkins had a wooden right leg, from the knee down, shaped like a peg. His First Mate, Hook, had a hook for a left hand. Their Engineer, Erik, was a hulking brute of a man with a thick Scandinavian accent. The Bosun was called Sea Biscuit. All four of these officers were British, while American Lieutenant "Tiger" Shark, USN, joined the crew as their official liaision.
The deceptively obsolete Phantom Clipper, with its mixed-nationality crew, scored several victories against the Axis forces. In fact, the next day after the ship started its U.S.Naval career, the Phantom Clipper was instrumental in recapturing a stolen U.S. destroyer.[1]
The Q-ship then was homeported somewhere on the U.S. West Coast, in a hidden cove near a naval base, and it went on to sink two Japanese destroyers and a battleship.[2]
Notes
- The Phantom Clipper series ran from Military Comics #9 to #16, with Fred Kida art on the first seven stories, and Andre LeBlanc on the last one.
See Also
- Appearances of Phantom Clipper (Quality Universe)
- Vehicle Gallery: Phantom Clipper (Quality Universe)
Links and References
- None.
