Empire Battleaxe was a British ship of the Second World War and as HMS Donovan in service with the Royal Navy just after the Second World War. Built as a Type C1-S-AY1 Landing Ship, Infantry named Cape Berkeley she then saw merchant service as Empire Battleaxe before being commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Empire Battleaxe and then Donovan. After she was decommissioned she returned to merchant service as Empire Battleaxe and was returned to the USA where she was renamed Cape Berkeley once again. A proposed sale in 1948 to China and renaming to Hai C fell through and she was scrapped in 1966. Career Cape Berkeley was built by Consolidated Steel Corporation, Wilmington, California as a Type C1-S-AY1 Landing Ship, Infantry. She was launched on 12 July 1943 and completed in October 1943 as Empire Battleaxe. Cape Berkeley was but Empire Battleaxe was . Empire Battleaxe was transferred under the terms of lend lease shortly after being completed. She was chartered by the Ministry of War Transport and operated under the management of Cunard White Star Line. She came to the United Kingdom as part of Convoy HX267, which departed New York on 19 November 1943. Empire Battleaxe was carrying a cargo of fish She took part in exercises in the Cromarty Firth and Moray Firth to train troops in preparation for the invasion of France. In May 1944, she took part in an exercise near Littlehampton. She took part in the Normandy Landings carrying part of 537 LCA Flotilla, carrying troops to Sword Beach. The flotilla that Empire Battleaxe was in consisted of four ships, the others being , and . Empire Battleaxe was close to HNoMS Svenner when that ship was torpedoed and sunk by E-boats. Among those she carried to Normandy was the actor David Niven. After landing her troops, Empire Battleaxe returned to the United Kingdom to collect a second wave of troops. Empire Battleaxe was then commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS Empire Battleaxe. In August 1944, HMS Empire Battleaxe was sent to the Pacific as part of Force X. She sailed in a convoy of seven ships comprising , , HMS Empire Battleaxe, , , and . The convoy sailed from Greenock on 3 August via New York and the Panama Canal, arriving at Suva, Fiji, where the convoy dispersed, in late September. HMS Emipire Battleaxe then sailed to Bougainville