True or false: in 1942 HMS Porcupine was hit by a torpedo and split in half, so they then built two ships from her, named HMS Pork and HMS Pine.

It sounds like something out of an old British comedy show, but it is true. U-602 torpedoed HMS Porcupine whilst she was escorting the depot ship Maidstone from Gibraltar to Algiers on 9 December 1942. U-602 fired four torpedoes at Maidstone, one of which hit Porcupine. The attack killed seven men but left most of the ship intact - except for critical localized damage that nearly split the ship in two. The next day a French tug took over and delivered Porcupine to Algeria. French dockworkers cut the damaged ship into two halves and a decision was made to strip them of all guns, ammunition, mountings, stores, etc., and tow them to Britain. Once the two pieces were back in Portsmouth they were reconfigured as two accommodation vessels. So the "Porc" at the front became "HMS Pork"; the "pine" at the back became "HMS Pine", the other accommodation vessel. And the "u" in the middle? Well, that was the bit that the U-boat got...