The Phantom Clipper was a modern American warship disguised as an antique merchantman, which preyed upon the German and Japanese Navies during the Second World War.
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.
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] It then was deployed to the southwestern Pacific Ocean, where it joined in the defense of Teagly Island.[3]
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)
- Catalogued images related to Phantom Clipper (Quality Universe)
Links and References