HMS Raven II HMS " Raven II " was a seaplane carrier of the Royal Navy used during World War I . Converted from the captured German freighter " Rabenfels " , the ship ' s aircraft conducted aerial reconnaissance , observation and bombing missions in the Eastern Mediterranean and Red Sea during 1915 – 17 even though the ship was not commissioned into the Royal Navy until mid - 1915 . She fruitlessly searched the Indian Ocean for the German commerce raider in mid - 1917 . " Raven II " was decommissioned in late 1917 and became a Merchant Navy collier for the last year of the war . She was sold off in 1923 and had a succession of owners and names until she was sunk during World War II while under Japanese ownership . Description . " Raven II " was long , had a beam of , and a draught of . She was rated at 4 , 706 GRT . The ship had one propeller shaft powered by one quadruple - expansion steam engine that used steam generated by an unknown number of coal - fired boilers . " Raven II " had a maximum speed of . Career . The German freighter SS " Rabenfels " was built by Swan Hunter & Wigham Richardson and completed in December 1903 . On the outbreak of war in August 1914 , she was seized by the British authorities whilst in Port Said , Egypt and was requisitioned for service under the Red Ensign in January 1915 to operate seaplanes . No special modifications were made to the ship ; the aircraft were stowed on the aft hatch covers and handled with her cargo booms . " Aenne Rickmers " operated two French Nieuport floatplane s that had been off - loaded by the ; they were flown by French pilots with British observers . Later , the ship operated included British Short Type 184 , Sopwith Schneider , Sopwith Baby and Short Admiralty Type 827 floatplane s . For the first two months of 1915 , the ship and her aircraft supported Allied operations in Syria , Palestine and the Sinai Peninsula . Aside from reconnaissance duties , they delivered and recovered Allied spies as well as observed for ships performing coastal bombardments . Around 20 March , " Rabenfels " arrived in Mudros to load the aircraft and crew of the damaged " Aenne Rickmers " ( later HMS " Anne " ) . The ship was commissioned into the Royal Navy on 12 June 1915 and renamed HMS " Raven II " . On 17 August , both " Anne " and " Raven II " spotted for the French armoured cruiser as she bombarded Tarsus . In January 1916 , she was assigned to the East Indies and Egypt Seaplane Squadron together with the carriers , and " Anne " . The squadron was under the command of the General Officer Commanding , Egypt and its primary duty was to watch Turkish positions and movements in southern Palestine and the Sinai in early 1916 . At the end of March , " Raven II " was sent to the Red Sea to attack Turkish troops threatening Aden ; she carried one two - seat Short floatplane and five Sopwith Schneiders for this operation . After a preliminary reconnaissance mission , on 2 – 3 April her aircraft dropped ninety - one bombs as well as leaflets urging the Arab auxiliaries to desert . The ship returned to the Syrian coast for patrols and was transferred to Kastellorizo in early July to conduct aerial reconnaissance and bombing missions in that area . " Raven II " was transferred to the Gulf of Aqaba later that month to take aerial photographs of the head of gulf as well as the east coast of the Red Sea . Her aircraft observed for the monitor as she bombarded a Turkish encampment in the Sinai . One aircraft was forced to land , but it was taken in tow by the monitor and delivered back to " Raven II " . The East Indies and Egypt Squadron reassembled in late August with " Raven II " , " Anne " and " Ben - my - Chree " and the aircraft from the three carriers attacked the Turkish supply dump at El Afule for thirty minutes . The squadron then steamed south along the Palestinian coast where they encountered two Turkish supply dhows . One was sunk by the escorting while the other was captured . The squadron flew off seven aircraft that attacked an encampment at Bureir and a nearby railroad viaduct . " Raven II " was then sent to the Adalia area on the Turkish coast where her aircraft bombed a factory at Fineka and searched for U - boat bases On 1 September , the ship was in Port Said preparing for another sortie into the Red Sea when she was hit by a bomb dropped by a German aircraft ( probably the first successful air attack on an aviation vessel ) . Although " Raven II " was only lightly damaged , " Anne " was sent in her place . " Raven II " relieved Anne on 26 October in the Red Sea and her aircraft bombed Turkish forces advancing on Rabigh and Yenbo on 10 December . Shortly afterwards , the ship was transferred back to the Eastern Mediterranean where her aircraft attacked a bridge over the Ceyhan River with one bomb and eight bombs on 27 December . On 10 March 1917 , " Raven II " and the sailed for the Indian Ocean to hunt for the German Q - ship " Wolf " . For this mission she carried a Short Baby and two Short 184s . The two ships searched the Laccadive Islands en route to Colombo , Ceylon , which they reached on 2 April . They then searched the Chagos Archipelago and the Maldive Islands and returned to Colombo . Engine problems forced a Short 184 to make an emergency landing on 21 April in the Maldives ; the crew rejoined the ship on 6 May after a series of adventures that inspired Rudyard Kipling ' s story " A Flight of Fact " . " Raven II " recovered the floatplane and its aircraft continued to fly search missions from Colombo until 21 May . She then joined a convoy bound for Egypt and arrived back in Port Said on 10 June . In early November , the ship ' s aircraft observed fire for a variety of ships during the Third Battle of Gaza . Commercial service . HMS " Raven II " was paid off shortly afterwards and , renamed " Ravenrock " , served as a collier under the Red Ensign from January 1918 until the end of the war under the management of Grahams & Co . She was sold to British Dominion Steamship Co . in 1923 and resold later that year to Karafuto Kisen Kabushiki Kaisha ( KKK ) , which renamed her " Heiyei Maru No . 7 " . In 1935 , the ship was sold to Inuri KKK and she was renamed " Heiei Maru No . 7 " in 1938 . The ship was sunk during World War II , although the circumstances are unknown .