HMS Khedive (D62)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Cordova and HMS Khedive.

History
USA
Name	USS Cordova
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	30 December 1942
Launched	30 January 1943
Fate	Transferred to Royal Navy
History
UK
Name	HMS Khedive
Commissioned	25 August 1943
Decommissioned	19 July 1946
Fate	Sold as merchant ship; for scrap 1975
General characteristics
Class and type	Bogue class escort carrier
Displacement	16,620 tons (full)
Length	495 feet 7 inches (151.05 m)
Beam	69 feet 6 inches (21.18 m)
Draught	26 feet (7.9 m)
Propulsion	Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6.3 MW)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement	646 officers and men
Armament	2 × 5 in (127 mm) guns 8 x twin 40 mm Bofors 35 x single 20 mm Oerlikon
Aircraft carried	18-24

The USS Cordova (CVE-39) (originally AVG-39 then later ACV-39) was an escort aircraft 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 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.

Design and description

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.

Twin 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun.

References

• Cocker, Maurice (2008). Aircraft-Carrying Ships of the Royal Navy. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 9780752446332.