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USS Charger (CVE-30) |
| Class overview |
| Name: |
Avenger |
| Builders: |
Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co. |
| Operators: |
Royal Navy, US Navy |
| Completed: |
4 |
| Lost: |
2 |
| General characteristics |
| Type: |
Escort carrier |
| Displacement: |
15,120 tons full load |
| Length: |
465 ft (142 m) |
| Beam: |
69.5 ft (21.2 m) |
| Draught: |
25 ft (7.6 m) |
| Propulsion: |
6-cylinder Doxford diesel, 1 shaft, 8,500 hp |
| Speed: |
16.5 knots (31 km/h) |
| Complement: |
555 |
| Armament: |
3 × 4 in/50 guns
19 × 20 mm AA cannon |
| Aviation facilities: |
~ 490 ft (150 m) × 78 ft (24 m) flight deck |
The Avenger class escort carriers were conversions of C3 merchant freighters into aircraft carriers by the US Navy for the Royal Navy.
Four freighters, the Rio Hudson, Rio Parana, Rio de la Plata and Rio de Janeiro were converted before they had been completed as merchantmen at American dockyards. They were similar in design to HMS Archer which had been converted from a completed freighter. All four were delivered into service with the RN, but one, Charger, was returned not long after delivery and taken into USN service. At the end of the war they were returned to the USN.
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