HMS Attacker (D02)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Career (US) |  |
|---|---|
| Class and type: | Bogue-class escort carrier |
| Name: | USS Barnes |
| Builder: | Western Pipe and Steel Company |
| Laid down: | 17 April 1941 |
| Launched: | 27 September 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 1946? |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Attacker |
| Commissioned: | 30 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 5 January 1946 |
| Renamed: | As merchant ship: Castel Forte Fairsky Philippine Tourist |
| Struck: | 26 February 1946 |
| Fate: | Sold into Merchant service, Scrapped in Hong Kong in 1980 |
| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 14,400 tons |
| Length: | 491 ft 6 in (149.8 m) |
| Beam: | 105 ft (32 m) |
| Draught: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6.3 MW) |
| 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 |
HMS Attacker (D02) (originally AVG then ACV) was an American-built Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier that served with the Royal Navy during World War II.
She was laid down on 17 April 1941 as Steel Artisan (hull 160) under Maritime Commission contract by Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Francisco, California. She was commissioned by the United States Navy on 30 September 1942 as USS Barnes (CVE-7) but simultaneously transferred via the Lend-Lease program to the United Kingdom. That same day, the ship was renamed HMS Attacker (D02) and commissioned by the Royal Navy. HMS Attacker served throughout the war as a convoy escort, first in the Atlantic and later the Pacific. The vessel was returned to the United States’ custody 5 January 1946 and sold into merchant service on 28 October 1946 as Castel Forte.
The ship was eventually converted into a passenger vessel, renamed Fairsky, and in 1958 began a new career with the Sitmar Line transporting British migrants to Australia, a role that formally came to an end in 1970. On 23 June 1977, while operating as a cruise ship, Fairsky hit a submerged wreck and was beached to prevent sinking, but was given a temporary repair and refloated six days later.
In 1978, the ship began conversion to the floating hotel Philippine Tourist but was destroyed by fire on 3 November 1979 and subsequently scrapped in Hong Kong on 24 May 1980.
[edit] See also
- List of aircraft carriers
- List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
- List of World War II ships
[edit] References
- This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
|
|||||||||||
