Royal Navy Escort Carriers, Ruler-class: HMS Patroller, Puncher, Reaper, Slinger, Smiter, Speaker, Trouncer, Trumpeter, Arbiter, Ameer, Atheling, Begum, Emperor, Empress, Khedive, Nabob, Premier, Queen, Rajah, Ranee, Ruler, Shah, Thane
Royal Navy Ruler-class Escort Carriers in the Second World War
Ruler class, The Ruler class of escort aircraft carriers served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. All twenty-three ships were built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation in the United States as Bogue-class escort carriers, supplied under Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom. They were the most numerous single class of aircraft carriers in service with the Royal Navy.As built they were intended for three types of operations, "Assault" or strike, convoy escort, or aircraft ferry.After the Second World War some of the escort carriers were scrapped, while others had their flight decks removed and were converted to merchant ships (and all eventually scrapped by the 1970s).
First group: HMS Patroller, HMS Puncher (crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy), HMS Reaper, HMS Slinger, HMS Smiter, HMS Speaker, HMS Trouncer, HMS Trumpeter, Second group: HMS Arbiter, HMS Ameer, HMS Atheling, HMS Begum, HMS Emperor, HMS Empress, HMS Khedive, HMS Nabob (crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy) (torpedoed 22 August 1944, by U-354 west of the North Cape), HMS Premier, HMS Queen, HMS Rajah, HMS Ranee, HMS Ruler, HMS Shah, HMS Thane (torpedoed 15 January 1945, by U-1172 in the Clyde estuary).
These ships were all larger and had greater aircraft capacity than all preceding American built escort carriers. They were laid down as escort carriers and were not converted merchant ships.[4] All the ships had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of 492 feet 3 inches (150.0 m), a beam of 69 feet 6 inches (21.2 m) and a draught of 25 ft 6 in (7.8 m). Propulsion was provided by one shaft, two boilers and a steam turbine giving 9,350 shaft horsepower (6,970 kW), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side, two aircraft 43-by-34-foot (13.1 by 10.4 m) lifts, one aircraft catapult and nine arrestor wires. Aircraft could be housed in the 260-by-62-foot (79.2 by 18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised: two 4-inch (102 mm)/50-calibre dual purpose guns in single mounts, sixteen 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannon in single mounts. They had a maximum capacity for twenty-four carrier-based aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, an American carrier-based fighter aircraft, or Vought F4U Corsair, another type of American carrier-based fighter aircraft, or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter aircraft (a navalised Hawker Hurricane fighter aircraft), and Fairey Swordfish torpedo bomber, or Grumman Avenger torpedo bomber / anti-submarine aircraft. (Wikipedia)
First group:
HMS Patroller (D07)

(RN Photo)
HMS Patroller (D07) was an escort carrier in the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Laid down in 1942 at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding company, she was originally named USS Keweenaw (CVE-44). USS Keweenaw (previously AVG-44 then later ACV-44) was an escort carrier laid down under Maritime Commission contract by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington, 27 November 1942; launched 6 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. R. G. Risley; assigned to the United Kingdom 10 June 1943; reclassified CVE-44 on 15 July 1943; and transferred to the United Kingdom under lend-lease 22 October 1943.During the remainder of war, she served the Royal Navy as HMS Patroller and operated in the Atlantic on convoy escort and patrol duty, with brief stints as a transport carrier for both the Army and Navy. Arriving Norfolk, Virginia, 9 December 1946, she was returned to the United States Navy the same day. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry 7 February 1947 and she was sold to Waterman Steamship Corp., 26 August 1947 as Almkerk (later renamed Pacific Reliance). She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974. (Wikipedia)

(RN Photo)
HMS Patroller (D07).

(RN Photo)
HMS Patroller (D07).
HMS Puncher (D79)

(Shearwater Aviation Museum Photo)
HMS Puncher (D79), originally named USS Willapa (AVG-53/ACV-53/CVE-53) was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) in the United States Navy, leased to the United Kingdom. Willapa was laid down on 21 May 1943 at Seattle, Washington, by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation and reclassified CVE-53 on 10 June 1943. Launched on 8 November 1943, the ship was transferred under lend-lease to the Royal Navy on 5 February 1944 to be manned by a Canadian crew. Renamed HMS Puncher (D79), the carrier served the Royal Canadian Navy except for Fleet Air Arm personnel in the Atlantic and Mediterranean for the duration of hostilities. Stationed with the Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, Puncher initially served in a training role, but was re-tasked to strike and convoy air protection (CAP) after her sister ship, HMS Nabob was torpedoed off Norway in 1944. Also part of her squadron was the US escort carrier USS Shamrock Bay. Puncher also provided convoy air protection on the Murmansk/Arkhangelsk convoy route which she did six times. Strike operations included against German occupied Norway industrial and shipping targets such as the steel works at Narvik on the west coast of Norway. Fleet Air Arm squadrons assigned to Puncher included Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers, Fairey Firefly fighter/bombers, American-built Hellcat (Wildcat) fighters and Avenger torpedo bombers. The Barracuda was one of the largest carrier-borne aircraft in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and required rocket assistance to take flight from the small flight deck. The Admiralty had determined that, in the post-war world, Canada would have her own aircraft carriers. Both HMS Puncher and HMS Nabob were crewed by RCN crews to establish the knowledge base for the future carriers assigned to that country, HMCS Warrior (ex HMS Warrior), HMCS Magnificent (ex HMS Magnificent) ("The Maggie"), and HMCS Bonaventure (ex HMS Powerful) ("The Bonnie"). Decommissioned on 16 February 1946 at Norfolk, Virginia, and returned to American custody that day, the escort carrier was struck from the Navy Registry on 12 March 1946, having never seen active service with the United States Navy. Initially sold to William B. St. John, of New York City, on 9 January 1947, the carrier was subsequently resold to a British firm on 4 February 1947 and converted for mercantile service. She later served successively as Muncaster Castle, Bardic and Ben Nevis until she was scrapped in Taiwan in 1973.

(Alanfor SVallely Photo)
HMS Puncher (D79).

(Official USN Photo, located at the US National Archives)
HMS Puncher (D79).

(Official USN Photo, located at the US National Archives)
HMS Puncher (D79).
HMS Reaper (D82)

(IWM Photo, A 25715)
HMS Reaper (D82), Greenock, Scotland.
USS Winjah (CVE-54) (originally AVG-54, later ACV-54), was a Bogue-class escort carrier of the United States Navy, leased to the Royal Navy during the Second World War. Winjah was laid down on 5 June 1943 at Tacoma, Washington, by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding. She was assigned to the United Kingdom under lend-lease on 23 June; she was redesignated CVE-54 on 15 July; launched on 22 November; and delivered to the British on 18 February 1944. From March to August 1945 she was part of the British Pacific Fleet attached to the 30th Aircraft Carrier Squadron. Renamed HMS Reaper (D82), the carrier operated in the Royal Navy for the duration of the Second World War. After arriving at Norfolk, Virginia, on 13 May 1946, Reaper was decommissioned on 20 May and returned to the United States Government. Authorized for disposal on 14 June, Winjah was struck from the Navy Registry on 8 July and sold to the Waterman Steamship Company of Mobile, Alabama, on 12 February 1947 as South Africa Star. She was scrapped in Japan in May 1967. (Wikipedia)

(RN Photo)
HMS Reaper (D82) on her maiden Atlantic crossing. She is carrying a ferry load of Lend-lease aircraft, there are 26 Corsairs and 4 Avengers on her flight deck.

(USN Photo)
One of the pair of Dornier Do 335A Pfiels being loaded aboard HMS Reaper at Cherbourg, France, during Operation 'Seahorse'.
On completion of her post refit trials she was allocated to participate in Operation 'SEAHORSE', the retrieval portion of Operation 'LIVERY', the allied operation to recover top secret German aircraft and weapons from Europe. REAPER was due to make an Atlantic crossing on route to the Panama Canal on her voyage to Australia to join the BPF and so she was the ideal vessel to ferry the captured airframes. Sailing on 12 July she proceeded to Cherbourg to begin loading.
Operation 'LUSTY' had commenced on April 22nd 1945, and involved USAAF Intelligence Service personnel scouring Europe searching for top secret German aircraft and weapons, along with other technical and scientific intelligence, to be taken back to the US for study. The Searchers, nicknamed "Watrson's Whizzers" (after their CO) located many airworthy aircraft, including nine Me 262 jet aircraft at Lechfeld, and other secret weapons and materials; in total Operation 'LUSTY' had acquired 16,280 items (6,200 tons) of equipment and other materials which were transported to Cherbourg for the voyage to the US under the code name operation 'SEAHORSE'. For this operation two vessels were loaded at Cherbourg, HMS Reaper and the Liberty Ship USS Richard J. Gatling. Reaper was to ferry the recovered German airframes, the last of which had arrived at Cherbourg on July 8th 1945 these were cocooned before being secured as deck cargo on the flight deck.
HMS REAPER embarked 40 airframes comprising of: Ten Messerschmitt Me 262, Five Focke-Wulf Fw 190F, Four Focke-Wulf Fw 190D, One Foccke-Wulf Ta 152H, Four Arado Ar 234B, Three Heinkel He 219, Three Messerschmitt Bf 109, Two Dornier Do 335, Two Bucker Bu 181, One Helicopter WNF 342, Two Flettner Fl 282 helicopters, One Junkers Ju 88G, One Junkers Ju 388, One Messerschmitt Bf 108, and One US North American P-51 Mustang. (Each of these aircraft are covered in detail on other pages on this website).
HMS Reaper also accommodated the intelligence staff and searchers as passengers.. She sailed form Cherbourg bound for New York on 19 July 1945 and docked at pier 14, New York Harbour on 31 July. HMS Reaper's cargo was then off-loaded by crane onto barges which were towed to a canal that bordered Ford Field, an Air Material Command facility in Newark, New Jersey where another large crane lifted each aircraft to the hard standing.

(USN Photo)
The flight deck of HMS Reaper on leaving Cherbourg during Operation 'Seahorse'. The two jet aircraft nearest the camera are Messerschmitt se-262 , and there are several Arado Ar 234 jet bombers lashed on the opposite side of the deck. There are several piston engine aircraft parked further down the deck and all appear to have their props and/or engines removed for transport.

(RN Photo)
HMS Reaper (D82), paying off.

(RN Photo)
HMS Reaper (D82) on the Clyde December 7th 1944 waiting to disembark her ferry load, a Grumman Tigercat can be seen forward on the flight deck.

(RN Photo)
HMS Reaper (D82) arriving at Portsmouth harbour in March 1946 flying her paying off pennant from her masthead.
HMS Slinger

(IWM Photo, A 26909)
HMS Slinger (D26) underway at sea as seen from one of her aircraft, 1 Dec 1944.
USS Chatham (CVE-32) (originally designated AVG-32, then later ACV-32) was built at the Seattle-Tacoma S/Y, Hull #27, Seattle, Washington, and fitted-out in Portland, Oregon. She was transferred to the United Kingdom 11 August 1943 under lend-lease and renamed HMS Slinger (D26). Designated as a transport carrier, the ship was mined, off Lowestoft, on 5 February 1944 but returned to service on 17 October, and worked-up a new crew. In early-1945, she was sent to Sydney to join the Pacific Fleet as a replenishment vessel i.e. carrying spare planes for other carriers - attached to the 30th Aircraft Carrier Squadron. The Slinger was accorded the battle honour ‘Okinawa’, though her participation was indirect. Returning to Sydney, she ferried aircraft to/from Brisbane, before being ear-marked for the force that was to invade Japan; in the event, she stood-by at Manus, Philippines, as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war. In August 1945, she was sent to Hong Kong as a support vessel, and in the autumn made at least two trips to Sydney, returning civilians who had been interned. She returned to UK via Colombo, Cairo and Gibraltar in late-1945 into early-1946.She was returned to United States custody on 27 February 1946, and was sold and converted by the Robin Line, and was re-launched on 21 November 1946 as Robin Mowbray. Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., purchased Robin Line in 1958. She was scrapped in Kaohsiung Taiwan in 1969-1970. (Wikipedia)
HMS Smiter (D55)

(IWM Photo, FL 19148)
HMS Smiter (D55), 7 Sep 1944.
USS Vermillion (CVE-52) (previously AVG-52 then later ACV-52) was laid down on 10 May 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation as a Bogue-class auxiliary aircraft carrier; redesignated an escort aircraft carrier, on 10 June 1943; assigned to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 23 June 1943; launched on 27 September 1943; and accepted by Britain on 20 January 1944. Commissioned in the Royal Navy as HMS Smiter (D55) (pronounced "smite·er"), designated a Ruler-class escort carrier, she served the British throughout the remainder of the Second World War. She returned to the United States at Norfolk Naval Base, Virginia on 20 March 1946 and was officially transferred back to the United States Navy on 6 April 1946. She was immediately determined to be surplus to the needs of the Navy and was designated for sale. Her name was struck from the Navy Registry on 6 May 1946. On 28 January 1947, she was sold to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Norfolk, Virginia, for conversion to mercantile service. She was subsequently resold to Compania Argentina de Navigacion Dodero, S.A., and entered mercantile service in 1948 at Buenos Aires as SS Artillero (renamed President Garcia in 1965). She was wrecked off Guernsey in July 1967, deemed a total loss and was scrapped at Hamburg in November of the same year. (Wikipedia)
HMS Speaker (D90)

(IWM Photo)
HMS Speaker (D90) moored off Greenock, Scotland, 19 May 1944.
HMS Speaker (D90), a Ruler-class escort carrier, based on a "C3" hull, was originally the Bogue-class USS Delgada (AVG/ACV/CVE-40), which was transferred to the United Kingdom under the Lend-Lease program. Delgada was launched 20 February 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. James B. Sykes and reclassified CVE-40 on 15 July 1943. She was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 20 November 1943, and served as HMS Speaker (D90).
After working up off Vancouver, a passage through the Panama Canal on 8 March 1944 (which required temporary adaptations to conform to the width restrictions), further works at Norfolk, Virginia and loading crated aircraft, stores and passengers at Staten Island, New York, Speaker sailed for Liverpool on 8 March. She sailed with an eastbound convoy and arrived on 8 April. She returned to the U.S. to perform a second aircraft ferry run.On 17 May, she was at Greenock awaiting orders. Now required to be an assault aircraft carrier, supporting army operations, she underwent further modifications at the Caledon Shipbuilding & Engineering Company, Dundee.While waiting for her squadron of Hellcats (1840 Naval Air Squadron) to complete their training, Speaker filled in as a training carrier from 16 October to 14 December. Nearly 1,500 landings were made by Fairey Barracuda, Fairey Swordfish and Curtiss Helldiver aircraft. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo)
HMS Speaker (D90) moored off Greenock, Scotland, 19 May 1944.

(IWM Photo)
Grumman Hellcat, No. 1840 Squadron FAA, landing on HMS Speaker (D90).

(IWM Photo)
HMS Slinger (left) and HMS Speaker (right) off the west coast of Sumatra, April 1945.
HMS Trouncer (D85)

(RN Photo)
HMS Trouncer (D85) underway with a flight deck full of USAAF aircraft being delivered to Casablanca.
The USS Perdido (CVE-47) (previously AVG-47, later ACV-47) was a Bogue-class escort carrier laid down as ACV-47 under Maritime Commission contract by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington, 1 February 1943; launched 16 June 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. M. Bemis, reclassified as CVE-47 on 15 July 1943; and completed at the Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon. Assigned to the United Kingdom under lend lease 23 June 1943, Perdido was taken over by the Royal Navy at Portland, 31 January 1944. During the remainder of the Second World War, she served the Royal Navy as Ruler-class escort carrier HMS Trouncer (D85) and took part in convoy escort and ASW patrol operations. The escort carrier returned to Norfolk, Virginia, 21 February 1946. Perdido was returned to the U.S. Navy 3 March 1946, and on 25 March, the Secretary of the Navy authorized her for disposal. Her name was struck from the Naval Register 12 April 1946. She was sold to William B. St. John, delivered to her purchaser 6 March 1947 and pressed into merchant service as Greystroke Castle (renamed Gallic in 1954 and Berinnes in 1959). She was sold for scrap in Taiwan in 1973. (Wikipedia)

(RN Photo)
HMS Trouncer (D85) approaching New York Harbour to embark 1843 Naval Air a Squadron for passage to the UK, 1 Aug 1944.
HMS Trumpeter (D09)

(IWM Photo, A 21066)
HMS Trumpeter (D09)
USS Bastian (CVE-37) (originally AVG-37 and then ACV-37) was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier built by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington, laid down on 25 August 1942 and launched 15 December 1942. She was transferred to the United Kingdom, under Lend-Lease and commissioned on 4 August 1943 as the Ruler-class escort carrier HMS Trumpeter (D09). On 4 May 1945 aircraft of No. 846 Naval Air Squadron flew from Trumpeter to take part in Operation Judgement, an attack on the U-boat depot at Kilbotn, Norway, contributing eight Grumman Avengers and four Grumman Wildcats to a 44-aircraft attack that destroyed several vessels including the depot ship "Black Watch" and U-711. Trumpeter was returned to United States' custody 6 April 1946, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 19 June 1946 and sold into merchant service as Alblasserdijk (later renamed Irene Valmas). She was sold for scrap in Spain in 1971. (Wikipedia)
Second group:
HMS Arbiter (D31)

(IWM Photo, A 25022)
HMS Arbiter (D31) moored at Greenock, Scotland, 24 July 1944.
USS St. Simon (CVE-51) (originally AVG-51 then later ACV-51), an escort aircraft carrier originally classified as an auxiliary aircraft carrier, was laid down on 26 April 1943 at Tacoma, Washington, by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 262); reclassified as an escort aircraft carrier, CVE-51, on 15 July 1943; launched on 9 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. R. H. Lewis, the wife of Major General R. H. Lewis, Commanding General, Northwestern Sector, Fort Lewis, Washington; assigned to the Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon, for the completion of construction; and delivered to the Royal Navy, under lend-lease, on 31 December 1943.
Renamed HMS Arbiter (D31) (while being carried on the United States' Naval Vessel Register with the classification BCVE-51), the escort carrier served in the Royal Navy for the duration of the Second World War. She earned "battle honours" in the Atlantic during 1944, serving on the western approaches to the British Isles, and in 1945 served as one of seven similar ships engaged in operating as an aircraft ferry supporting the British Pacific Fleet's train, bringing up replacement aircraft or providing combat air patrol for replenishment ships. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia, on 23 February 1946, where she was accepted by the United States Navy on 3 March 1946. Struck from the Navy list on 12 April 1946, the ship was sold to the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia, on 30 January 1947. Converted to the cargo ship Coracero, the former escort carrier served under two more names, President Macapagal from 1965 to 1972 and Lucky Two in 1972 before she was scrapped in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1972. (Wikipedia)
HMS Ameer (D01)

(IWM Photo, A 21338)
HMS Ameer (D01) at anchor at Greenock, Scotland, showing the flight deck crowded with aircraft.
HMS Ameer (D01) was an American escort carrier, USS Baffins (CVE-35), that was transferred to the Royal Navy in mid-1943. As a Ruler-class escort carrier it served in the Far East until the end of the war. Ameer was returned to the US Navy in 1946 and sold off to commercial service. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo, A 27346)
The pilot of a Grumman Hellcat makes an abortive landing aboard HMS Ameer (D01) and powers up to fly around and attempt again after his first approach was to high.

(IWM Photo, A 27348)
While the armourer ratings unload its guns, a group assembles round a crashed Grumman Hellcat of 804 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm as it hangs over the edge of the ship, to decide how it should be removed to clear the deck on board HMS Ameer. The photograph was taken during the eleven days of action in the course of which the successful landings on the islands of Ramree and Cheduba were made.

(IWM Photo, A 27349)
A large group of men helping to clear a crashed Grumman Hellcat of No. 804 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm from the flight deck of the Escort Carrier HMS Ameer while others look on, c1945.
HMS Atheling (D51)

(State Library of Victoria Photo)
HMS Atheling (D51), December 1945.
HMS Atheling (D51) was a Royal Navy Ruler-class escort carrier of the Second World War. She was a US built ship provided under lend lease and returned to the US at the end of hostilities. She was built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation (Tacoma, Washington) under Maritime Commission Contract. She was launched 7 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Richard P. Luker. The ship was commissioned on 12 July 1943 as USS Glacier AVG-33 (edit - ACV-33: all Bogue-class carriers changed designation on 20 August 1942) under the command of Commander Ward C. Gilbert. Her designation was changed to CVE-33 on 15 July 1943. Final work was carried out at US Navy Yard Puget Sound in July and she was transferred to the Royal Navy on 31 July 1943 at Vancouver, British Columbia.
Following formal transfer the ship was sent to the Royal Canadian Navy dockyard at Esquimalt for conversion for British use. Following the work she was commissioned as HMS Atheling (D51) on 28 October. She sailed via the Panama Canal and New York arriving at the Clyde UK in January 1944 and underwent further modification there to operate fighter aircraft. Atheling ferried RN squadrons to the Far East in April 1944: No. 822 NAS and No. 823 NAS FAA, with their Fairey Barracudas at Madras on 11 April and No. 1837 NAS and No. 1838 NAS FAA (Vought Corsair II) disembarked at Ceylon on 13 April.
At Trincomalee HMS Atheling took on No. 1383 NAS and No. 899 NAS FAA aircraft and personnel; ten Corsair and ten Supermarine Seafires respectively. From November 1944 into 1945, she was engaged in aircraft ferry duties for British and US fleets. After the war she was used as troopship before returning to the US. From October 1945 to April 1946, her commanding officer was Capt. John Inglis, who was to become director of US Naval Intelligence in July 1954. Atheling put into Norfolk, Virginia, 6 December 1946 for return to the United States. Her name was stricken from the Naval Register on 7 February 1947 and she was sold to National Bulk Carriers as the merchant ship Roma on 26 November 1947. She was scrapped in Italy in November 1967. (Wikipedia)
_underway_on_22_December_1943.jpg)
(USN Photo)
HMS Atheling (D51) (ex-USS Glacier (CVE-33)) underway on 22 December 1943. She has a deck load of U.S. Navy aircraft types in British markings, including: ten North American "Harvard" trainers (T-6 Texan), 18 Grumman Avenger torpedo bombers, and seven Grumman Hellcat fighters.

(IWM Photo, A 21918)
HMS Atheling (D51), Greenock, Scotland, 22 Feb 1944.
HMS Begum (D38)

(IWM Photo, A 21736)
HMS Begum (D38) at Greenock, Scotland, 6 Feb 1944.
USS Bolinas (CVE-36) (originally AVG-36, then later ACV-36) was an escort carrier launched 11 November 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Tacoma, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. G. B. Sherwood, wife of Commander Sherwood; and commissioned 22 July 1943, Captain H. L. Meadow in command. On 2 August 1943 after being decommissioned Bolinas was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease and renamed HMS Begum (D38). Begum served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War, doing anti-submarine sweeps in the Indian Ocean with No. 832 Squadron FAA as her complement, participating in the sinking of the German submarine U-198. After her return she was declared surplus by the U. S. Navy. She was stricken for disposal 19 June 1946 and sold by the Navy into merchant service 16 April 1947 as Raki and later I Yung. She was scrapped in Taiwan in March 1974. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo, A 21737)
HMS Begum (D38) at Greenock, Scotland, 6 Feb 1944.

(IWM Photo)
Maintenance personnel assess the damage and prepare to recover Grumman Avenger (Serial No. JZ231), coded 4Q from No. 1 barrier on HMS Begum (D38), 1 June 1944.

(RN Photo)
HMS Begum (D38) at Kilindini, Kenya, c1944.

(RN Photo)
HMS Begum (D38) at sea operating the Grumman Avengers of No. 832 Squadron FAA.

(RN Photo)
HMS Begim (D38)at sea, possibly on passage from Vancouver, British Columbia, to the Panama Canal on route to the UK, cDecember 1943.
HMS Emperor (D98)

(IWM Photo, A 21343)
HMS Emperor (D98) at Greenock, Scotland, 10 Jan 1943.
USS Pybus (CVE-34) was initially a United States Navy Bogue-class escort carrier. The ship was transferred to the United Kingdom for service in the Royal Navy as the Ruler-class escort carrier HMS Emperor (D98) as part of the Lend-Lease program of the Second World War. Entering service in 1943, the ship took part in operations against the Tirpitz and the invasions of Normandy and southern France. She was transferred to the Indian Ocean fleet for the last stages of the war, supporting the landings in Burma and the early stages of the naval hunt for the Japanese Cruiser Haguro. After the war she was tasked with assisting the re-occupation of Malaya before returning to the UK in December 1945 carrying 800 Squadron home as passengers. She left the UK in January 1946 and was returned to the USA. The carrier was sold for scrap in 1946. (Wikipedia)

(IWM Photo, FL 11445)
HMS Emperor (D98) at Greenock, Scotland.
HMS Empress (D42)

(IWM Photo, FL 5795)
HMS Empress (D42) at anchor in the Firth of Forth, 28 Aug 1944.
USS Carnegie (CVE-38) (previously AVG-38 then later ACV-38) was an escort aircraft carrier built in 1942-43 for transfer to the United Kingdom. She was reclassified ACV-38 on 20 August 1942, and CVE-38 on 15 July 1943. She was commissioned on 9 August 1943 for a period of three days prior to being turned over to the United Kingdom, under whom she served as HMS Empress (D42). (Wikipedia)
HMS Khedive (D62)

(IWM Photo, A 22956)
HMS Khedive (D62) underway at Greenock under the command of Captain H J Haynes RN.
USS Cordova (CVE-39) (originally AVG-39 then later ACV-39) was an escort carrier launched 27 December 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. A. E. Mitchell. Reclassified CVE-39 on 15 July 1943, Cordova was transferred to the Royal Navy on 25 August 1943, as HMS Khedive (D62). Khedive served as the command ship for the Allied landings in southern France, in August 1944. From April to August 1945, she was with the East Indies Fleet as part of the 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron. Khedive was to take part in the invasion of Singapore in September 1945, codenamed Operation Tiderace. But with the Japanese surrender, she was merely deployed to the island for security. She was returned to United States custody on 26 January 1946 and sold into merchant service 23 January 1947 as Rempang (later Daphne). She was sold for scrap in Spain in 1975. (Wikipedia)
HMS Nabob (D77)

(Bruce Jones Photo)
HMS Nabob (D77), (RCN-manned) (Capt H N Lay RCN), damaged 22 August 1944, Arctic Ocean, north west of North Cape in Barents Sea (71.42N, 19.11E) - torpedoed by German ‘U.354’ (Sthamer). With Home Fleet covering Fleet Air Arm attack on the 'Tirpitz' in Altenfiord, Norway and also Russian convoy JW.59. Not repaired and laid up; 21 crew lost (Casualty List) (Russian Convoys).
HMS Nabob (D77) was a Ruler-class escort aircraft carrier which served in the Royal Navy during 1943 and 1944. The ship was built in the United States as USS Edisto (CVE-41) (originally AVG-41 then later ACV-41) but did not serve with the United States Navy. She was laid down on 20 October 1942, launched 22 March 1943, and transferred under Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom on 7 September 1943 prior to her commissioning as HMS Nabob (D77) into the Royal Navy. She served as an anti-submarine warfare carrier and the ship's crew was largely drawn from personnel provided by the Royal Canadian Navy. Flight crew were Royal Navy personnel (No. 852 and No. 856 Naval Air Squadrons of the Fleet Air Arm).
After training the ship went to San Diego and took the 852 FAA-Sqdn on board, equipped with Avenger aircraft. She then proceeded with HMCS New Waterford (K321) via the Panama Canal to Norfolk, where 45 Republic P-47 Thunderbolt fighters were embarked as deck load and US Army Air Force personnel were taken on board as passengers when the ship made passage to the UK in convoy VT-10. There, it joined the Home Fleet after disembarking the fighters. In April 1944, four Grumman Martlet (Wildcat) Mk. V fighters were added to the No. 852 Squadron, FAA, while a detachment of the No. 856 Squadron, FAA, equipped with Grumman Avenger Mk. II aircraft joined the escort carrier in June. The ship then participated in Operation Offspring, a great mine lying operation off Norway.

(Library and Archives Canada Photo, MIKAN No. 3198918)
HMS Nabob (D77), starboard quarter, January 1944.

(IWM Photo, A 25368)
HMS Nabob (D77). On 22 August 1944, while returning from a strike against the German battleship Tirpitz (Operation Goodwood), she was torpedoed by U-354 in the Barents Sea and sustained heavy damage. The damaged carrier is shown steaming under her own power for Scapa Flow. At 01.14 hours on 22 Aug 1944 the U-boat fired a spread of FAT torpedoes and hit the HMS Nabob (D 77) with one torpedo in the starboard side aft, resulting in a hole about 32 feet square located aft of the engine room and below the waterline. At 01.22 hours, the U-boat fired a Gnat to finish off the carrier, but struck the HMS Bickerton (K466) instead, which was about to begin refuelling the escort carrier at the time of the attack. The frigate was subsequently scuttled by a torpedo from the HMS Vigilant (R93).
The stern of the HMS Nabob (D77) quickly sank 15 feet and the power went off. The fans in the engine room stopped and the main engines had to be shut down because the temperature had soared to 150 degrees. As the ship lay dead in the water, 205 men were evacuated from the ship and transferred to the Canadian destroyer HMCS Algonquin by boats and Carley floats, two weeks later they were transferred to the HMS Zest (R02) near the Faeroe Islands and finally brought to Scapa Flow. The remaining crew worked hard to get the ship under control. Emergency diesel generators were used to get power for the pumps to limit the flooding, but the engine room bulkheads bulged inward from the pressure of the sea that had rushed in through the hole. Heavy gear was ditched or brought to the bow to improve the trim, including the two 5-inch guns, which were removed with cutting torches and dropped overboard. This helped raise the stern so there was not as much pressure on the drive shaft bearings. In the early evening, the escort carrier was underway again at 10 knots.
Early the next morning, an HF/DF bearing and a surface contact indicated that a U-boat was in the area. Two Avengers managed to launch from the sloping deck and kept the U-boat under water for three and a half hours. The first returned and made a good landing, but the second crashed and damaged six other aircraft on deck. The damaged torpedo bombers were later jettisoned.
Despite her damaged condition, HMS Nabob turned homeward with a skeleton crew and reached her base after sailing 1,070 miles at a steady ten knots, proceeding homewards under her own steam, her stern low down in the water. On 27 August, the ship reached Scapa Flow under her own power. As the carrier's galley had been destroyed the skeleton crew lived on short rations and rum for the five days it took to get the ship home.

(RN Photo)
HMS Nabob (D77), down by the stern after the torpedo strike.
HMS Nabob had lost 21 men. She was eventually judged not worth repairing, was beached and abandoned, and then cannibalized for other ships. She was decommissioned on 30 September 1944, but was retained as part of the Reserve Fleet. She was returned to USN at Rosyth and stricken for disposal 16 March 1946. She was sold for scrapping in the Netherlands in March 1947, but was resold and converted as the merchant ship Nabob of Norddeutscher Lloyd (she was later renamed Glory and registered in Panama). She was sold for scrap in Taiwan in 1977. HMS Nabob was one of three Royal Navy escort carriers built in the United States which were listed as lost in action (2 sunk and 1 heavily damaged and never repaired) during the Second World War.
These ships were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships. All the ships had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of 492 feet 3 inches (150.0 m), a beam of 69 feet 6 inches (21.2 m) and a draught of 25 ft 6 in (7.8 m). Propulsion was provided a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving 9,350 brake horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph). Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side, two aircraft lifts 43 feet (13.1 m) by 34 feet (10.4 m), one aircraft catapult and nine arrestor wires. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79.2 m) by 62 feet (18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised: two 4 inch Dual Purpose guns in single mounts, sixteen 40-mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty 20-mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts. They had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Vought F4U Corsair or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft.
HMS Premier (D23)

(IWM Photo, A 22526)
HMS Premier (D23).
The first USS Estero (CVE-42) (previously AVG-42 then later ACV-42) was an escort aircraft carrier launched 22 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle, Washington, and sponsored by Mrs. C. N. Ingraham. She was reclassified CVE-42 on 15 July 1943. Completed in October 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Navy on 3 November 1943 and commissioned the same day as HMS Premier (D23). She served in the Second World War as an ASW escort carrier in European waters and additionally as a ferry carrier. She was returned to United States custody 2 April 1946, she was stricken on 21 May 1946 and was sold into merchant service as the Rhodesia Star (later renamed Hong Kong Knight) in 1947. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974. (Wikipedia)
HMS Queen (D19)
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(IWM A 29177)
HMS Queen (D19) moored to a buoy at Scapa Flow, 1 May 1945.
The USS St. Andrews (CVE-49) (originally AVG-49, later ACV-49) was assigned to MC hull 260 on 23 August 1942, a ship to be built to modified C3-S-A1 plans. She was laid down on 12 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington; redesignated CVE-49 on 15 July; and launched on 31 July; sponsored by Mrs. Robert W. Morse; transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 7 December; and commissioned the same day as HMS Queen (D19) in the Royal Navy. HMS Queen served British and Allied escort forces in protecting the vital convoy supply effort across the North Atlantic in 1944, and in the Pacific campaigns in 1945. On 4 May 1945 aircraft of Queen's 853 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, took part in Operation Judgement, the last air-raid of the European war, at Kilbotn, Norway. After hostilities ceased, she was converted to a troop carrier and used to bring British forces back from the Far East, before being returned to the United States at Norfolk, Virginia, 31 October 1946.On arrival, Queen was decommissioned by the Royal Navy and was taken over by the U.S. Navy. In excess of Navy needs, CVE-49 was slated, in December, for disposal; struck from the Navy Register in July 1947, sold to the N.V. Stoomv, Maats, Nederland Co., Amsterdam, Netherlands and pressed into merchant service as Roebiah on 29 July 1947 (renamed President Marcos in 1967 and Lucky One in 1972). She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1972. (Wikipedia)
HMS Rajah (D10)

(IWM Photo, FL 7059)
HMS Rajah (D10), 1944.
USS Prince (CVE-45) (originally named McClure, designated AVG-45 then later ACV-45) was an escort carrier laid down on 17 December 1942 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington. She was renamed Prince on 13 November 1942 and launched on 18 May 1943. She was sponsored by Mrs. J. L. McGuigan, reclassified CVE-45 on 15 July 1943 and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 17 October 1943.Prince served the United Kingdom as HMS Rajah (D10). She was returned to the United States Navy at Norfolk, Virginia on 13 December 1946. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Registry on 7 February 1947 and delivered to her purchaser, Waterman Steamship Corporation, on 7 July. She became the merchant ship Drente (later renamed Lambros, then Ulysses) in 1948. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1975. (Wikipedia)
HMS Ranee (D03)

(IWM Photo, FL 18146)
HMS Ranee (D03), 8 Nov 1945.
USS Niantic (CVE-46) was a US escort carrier, that served in the Royal Navy as HMS Ranee (D03).Niantic, originally given the designation AVG-46, was redesignated as ACV-46 on 20 August 1942. The ship's keel was laid down by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation at their yard in Tacoma, Washington on 5 January 1943. The vessel was launched on 2 June, sponsored by Mrs. Ray V. Blanco. She was redesignated again to CVE-46 on 15 July that year and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease on 8 November, when she was commissioned into the Royal Navy.
As one of the 38 converted C3 escort carriers transferred to the United Kingdom, HMS Ranee (D03) joined the merchant aircraft carriers guarding the Atlantic convoy routes. Assigned to the Western Approaches, her aircraft helped to turn the tables on foraging U-boats in the North Atlantic and also assisted in operations to close their northern transit into the Atlantic and track them down in the Bay of Biscay. On 27 February 1945 she sailed from San Diego with USMC squadron VMO-7 embarked for Pearl Harbor. Serving with Training Squadron, Western Approaches, at the end of 1945, she was returned to US custody at Norfolk, Virginia on 21 November 1946. She was declared not essential to the defense of the US, and struck from the Navy List on 22 January 1947. She was sold into merchant service 9 June 1947 to the Waterman Steamship Corporation, in Mobile, Alabama as Friesland (later Pacific Breeze). She was sold for scrap in Taiwan in 1974. (Wikipedia)
HMS Ruler (D72)

(IWM Photo, A 28796)
HMS Ruler (D72) docked with her flight deck packed with snow-covered Grumman Hellcat fighters, 1 Jan 1945.
HMS Ruler (D72) was the lead ship of her class of escort carrier of the Royal Navy during the Second World War. She was built in the United States as the Bogue-class carrier St. Joseph (AVG/CVE/ACV-50) for Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom. The name St. Joseph (making her the first United States Navy ship named for St. Joseph Bay, Florida) was assigned to MC hull 261, a converted C3-S-A1 cargo ship, on 23 August 1942. She was laid down on 25 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington. She was redesignated CVE-50 on 15 July, launched on 21 August 1943 and sponsored by Mrs. W.W. Smyth. The carrier was transferred to the United Kingdom on 22 December 1943 and commissioned into Royal Navy service the same day as HMS Ruler (D72).
After completing sea trials HMS Ruler (D72) went to Burrard Dry Dock, in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, for refit to Royal Navy standards, as a transport carrier. Following a work-up period HMS Ruler went to Norfolk, Virginia, via the Panama Canal. It departed on 20 April 1944 with a number of Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair, transferring them to RNAS Speke in Liverpool, England, the aircraft disembarking on 6 May 1944. HMS Ruler returned to the United States, to New York, to fetch a batch of Grumman TBF Avenger and Grumman F6F Hellcat aircraft, embarking them between the 20 and 23 May 1944 and again transferring to RNAS Speke, on 11 June. HMS Ruler later made a third trip, fetching Grumman F6F Hellcat and Vought F4U Corsair from Norfolk, Virginia, between 20 and 29 October, this time arriving at Greenock to unload on 18 November.[1]HMS Ruler served in the North Atlantic during 1944, protecting the vital flow of men and war materiel from the United States to Great Britain and to fighting fronts on the European continent. In early 1945, she transferred to the Pacific Theatre where she supported a raid on Truk and the campaign to take Okinawa.From March to August 1945 was part of the British Pacific Fleet attached to the 30th Aircraft Carrier Squadron. She entered Tokyo Bay on 31 August 1945 prior to the Surrender of Japan.[2] On 13 September, the ship brought onboard some 450 ex Prisoners of War and sailed for Sydney in Australia, arriving 27 September where she was greeted by the Governor-General of Australia, Prince Henry, Duke of Gloucester.[2]After the war ended, Ruler returned to the United States at Norfolk, Virginia, on 28 January 1946. She was decommissioned from RN service on 29 January, and was accepted by the US Navy the same day. In excess of the Navy’s needs, she was slated for disposal and struck from the Navy Register on 20 March 1946. The ship was sold on 13 May and scrapped within the year. (Wikipedia)
HMS Shah (D21)

(USN Photo,
HMS Shah (D21) ferrying aircraft, possibly in January 1944, en route to Melbourne from San Francisco.
USS Jamaica (CVE-43) (originally AVG-43 then later ACV-43), was an escort carrier of World War II that served in the British Royal Navy as HMS Shah (D21). Returned to the United States at war's end, she was converted into a merchant vessel and she was sold into civilian service in 1946 as Salta. She was ultimately scrapped in 1966. MC Hull 254 was laid down 13 November 1942 and launched as Jamaica under contract to the Maritime Commission by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding[4] at Tacoma, Washington, on 21 April 1943 sponsored by Mrs. C. T. Simard. She was reclassified CVE-43 on 15 July 1943 and acquired by the United States Navy.She was transferred to the United Kingdom under lend-lease, commissioning on 27 September 1943, as one of a large group of escort carriers suitable for anti-submarine work transferred to the Royal Navy in the Pacific.
Jamaica was renamed Shah, with a RN pennant number of D21. Commanded by William John Yendell, her initial air complement was 851 Naval Air Squadron with 12 Grumman Avenger II torpedo bombers and a flight of Grumman Wildcat fighters. After sea trials, she was modified in Canada for convoy defence, this being completed at the end of the year. She sailed from Vancouver for San Francisco to take on her complement of operational aircraft, 12 Grumman Avengers and a flight of Grumman Wildcats. However, no flying was possible as her decks were also filled with Curtiss P-40 Warhawks to be ferried to Cochin. From San Francisco she sailed to Williamstown, Melbourne, Australia. After resupplying she continued in this configuration to Cochin and Colombo.Her duties were chiefly convoy defence and trade protection against German U-boats operating in the Indian Ocean with a shore base at Trincomalee. She took an active part in the war, heading the hunter-killer group which sank U-198 in the Indian Ocean on 12 August 1944. Alerted to the submarine's presence in the area, 851's Avengers located the U-boat and attempted to attack her, and directed the other ships in the group, HMS Begum, the River-class frigate HMS Findhorn and the Black Swan-class sloop HMIS Godavari to a point where the U-boat was depth charged resulting in it sinking.
Shah was transferred to the East Indies Fleet and then refitted in Durban before taking part in the Burma campaign in 1945. Having suffered several aircraft losses on patrol and landing accidents, her complement was augmented around this time by a flight of Grumman Hellcats. During April and May 1945 she participated in Operation Bishop, launching patrols and strikes against Nicobar preparatory to the invasion of Rangoon. Soon after, she was tasked with the search for the Japanese cruiser Haguro. Mechanical problems with the catapult resulted in most of 851's Avengers being sent to HMS Emperor in exchange for Hellcats from 800 and 804 Squadron. A serious landing accident by one of those Hellcats effectively removed Shah from operations on 11 May. Nonetheless 851's Avengers, flying from Emperor, were able to locate and damage Haguro, prior to her sinking by the 26th Destroyer Flotilla in Operation Dukedom.The Hellcats that survived the earlier landing accident were flown off Shah and she briefly returned to Ceylon and Bombay for refitting and training. Collecting surviving Avengers from No. 851 and No. 845 Squadrons FAA, plus Hellcats and a Walrus for support and recovery during landing operations, in August she sailed to join Operation Zipper on the Malay coast, only to be stood down en route when Japan capitulated.Disembarking her aircraft at Trincomalee on 26 August, she then sailed to the Clyde naval base via Aden and the Suez Canal where she was prepared for return to the United States. Arriving at Norfolk on 16 October, she was formally handed over to the United States on 26 November 1945.
She was sold into merchant service to Argentina on 20 June 1947 as Salta, named after the Argentinian city. The Newport News shipyard performed the conversion. In 1963 she was the first ship on scene at the rescue of passengers and crew from the Greek liner Lakonia when it caught fire in the Atlantic. At the time she was under the command of Captain José Barrere, on its way from Genoa, Italy, to Buenos Aires. Salta rescued 475 people and took aboard most of Lakonia's lifeboats. Salta was scrapped in Buenos Aires in 1966. (Wikipedia)
HMS Thane (D48)

(RN Photo)
HMS Thane (D48) in Chesapeake Bay, carrying a ferry load of lead-lease Grumman Hellcats from Norfolk, Virginia bound for Cape Town.
USS Sunset (CVE-48) (previously AVG-48 then ACV-48) was a Bogue-class escort carrier. Assigned on 23 August 1942 to MC hull 259, a modified C3-S-A1 laid down on 23 February 1943 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington; launched on 15 July and redesignated CVE-48 the same day; sponsored by Mrs. C.E. Taylor. She was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease agreement on 19 November; and commissioned the same day as HMS Thane (D48), a Ruler-class escort carrier in the Royal Navy.HMS Thane operated in the North Atlantic protecting convoys and ferrying aircraft for use in the European Theater. On 15 January 1945, while ferrying aircraft in the Irish Sea, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-1172 and severely damaged, losing her starboard aft 5 inch gun and its sponson, disabling propulsion, and losing 10 men. Taken to Gare Loch in the Firth of Clyde, southwest Scotland, she was examined, declared a constructive total loss and decommissioned to reserve. She was returned to United States custody while in the United Kingdom on 12 May. Determined to be of no use to the United States Navy, she was slated for disposal in October; and she was subsequently scrapped. (Wikipedia)
HMS Thane (Capt E R J Baker), damaged 15 January 1945, Western Europe, off Clyde Light Vessel in Firth of Clyde, SW Scotland(55.08N, 05.25W) - torpedoed by German ‘U.1172’ (Kuhlmann). (Originally credited to ‘U.482’ which had already been lost). Believed ferrying aircraft from Northern Ireland to Britain. Not repaired and laid up; 10 crew lost (Casualty List) (Battles of Britain - U-boat Inshore Campaign).