HMS Hunter (D80): Difference between revisions
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|Ship country=US |
|Ship country=US |
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|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}} |
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1942}} |
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|Ship class=[[ |
|Ship class=[[Attacker class escort carrier|''Attacker''-class escort carrier]] |
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|Ship name=USS ''Block Island'' |
|Ship name=USS ''Block Island'' |
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|Ship ordered= |
|Ship ordered= |
Revision as of 05:01, 3 October 2010
History | |
---|---|
US | |
Name | USS Block Island |
Builder | Ingalls Shipbuilding |
Laid down | 15 May 1941, as Mormacpenn |
Launched | 22 May 1942 |
Commissioned | 9 January 1943 |
Decommissioned | 1946? |
History | |
UK | |
Name | HMS Hunter |
Commissioned | 11 January 1943 |
Decommissioned | 29 December 1945 |
Renamed | Initially HMS Trailer, before being named HMS Hunter, As merchant ship:Almdijk |
Stricken | 17 January 1947 |
Fate | Sold into Merchant service, Scrapped in Spain in 1965 |
General characteristics | |
Displacement | 14,400 tons |
Length | 491 ft 6 in (149.81 m) |
Beam | 105 ft (32 m) |
Draught | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
Complement | 646 officers and enlisted |
Armament | 2 × 4 in (102 mm), 8 × 40 mm, 20 × 20 mm guns |
Aircraft carried | 20 |
USS Block Island (CVE-8) (originally AVG and then ACV) was an Attacker-class escort aircraft carrier that served during World War II.
She was laid down on 15 May 1941 as Mormacpenn under Maritime Commission contract at Pascagoula, Mississippi by Ingalls Shipbuilding, acquired by the United States Navy on 9 January 1943 and simultaneously transferred via the Lend-Lease program to the United Kingdom as Trailer. On 11 January 1943, the ship was renamed HMS Hunter (D80) and commissioned by the Royal Navy. She participated in Operation Zipper and Operation Tiderace in August 1945, the reoccupation of Malaya and Singapore from the Japanese.
The vessel was returned to United States' custody 29 December 1945 and sold into merchant service on 17 January 1947 as Almdijk. In October 1965 the ship was sold for scrapping in Spain.
Design and description
There were eight Attacker class escort carriers in service with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. They were built between 1941 and 1942 by Ingalls Shipbuilding and Western Pipe & Steel shipyards in the United States, both building four ships each.[1]
The ships had a complement of 646 men and a overall length of 492.25 feet (150.04 m), a beam of 69.5 feet (21.2 m) and a height of 23.25 ft (7.09 m). They had a displacement of 11,420 long tons (11,600 t) at deep load.[2] Propulsion was provided by four diesel engines connected to one shaft giving 8,500 brake horsepower (BHP), which could propel the ship at 17 knots (31 km/h; 20 mph).[3]
Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side and above the the flight deck, two aircraft lifts 42 feet (13 m) by 34 feet (10 m), one aircraft catapult and nine arrestor wires. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79 m) by 62 feet (19 m) hanger below the flight deck.[2] Armament comprised two 4 inch DP,AA guns in single mounts, eight 40 mm anti-aircraft gun in twin mounts and twenty-one 20 mm anti-aircraft cannons in single or twin mounts.[2] They had the capacity for up to eighteen aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Hawker Sea Hurricane, Vought F4U Corsair fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft.[2]
References
- Bibliography
- Cocker, Maurice (2008). Aircraft-Carrying Ships of the Royal Navy. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 9780752446332.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.