Summary
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.[1] They were the most numerous single class of aircraft carriers in service with the Royal Navy.[2]
 HMS Puncher
| |
| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Name | Ruler-class |
| Builders | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Operators |  Royal Navy |
| Preceded by | Attacker class |
| Succeeded by | None |
| Built | 1942–1943 |
| Planned | 23 |
| Completed | 23 |
| Lost | 2 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type | Escort carrier |
| Displacement | 11,420 long tons (11,600 t) |
| Length | 492 ft 3 in (150.0 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.2 m) |
| Draught | 25 ft 6 in (7.77 m) |
| Installed power | 9,350 shp (6,970 kW) |
| Propulsion | 1 shaft geared steam turbines |
| Speed | 17 kn (20 mph; 31 km/h) |
| Complement | 646 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 24 |
| Aviation facilities |
|
| Notes | Built in two groups of 8 and 15 |
As built they were intended for three types of operations, "Assault" or strike, convoy escort, or aircraft ferry.[3]
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).
Design and description edit
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).[4] Propulsion was provided by one shaft, two boilers and a steam turbine giving 9,350 shaft horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[5]
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.[4] Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79.2 m) by 62 feet (18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck.[4] 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.[4] 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.[4]
Ships edit
First group edit
- HMS Patroller
- HMS Puncher (crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy)
- HMS Reaper
- HMS Slinger
- HMS Smiter X
- HMS Speaker XX
- HMS Trouncer
- HMS Trumpeter X
Second group edit
- HMS Arbiter
- HMS Ameer XX
- HMS Atheling X
- HMS Begum X
- HMS Emperor XX
- HMS Empress
- HMS Khedive X
- HMS Nabob X (crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy) (torpedoed 22 August 1944, by U-354 west of the North Cape)[6][7]
- HMS Premier X
- HMS Queen X
- HMS Rajah
- HMS Ranee
- HMS Ruler XX
- HMS Shah X
- HMS Thane (torpedoed 15 January 1945, by U-1172 in the Clyde estuary).[6][8]
- X = Fitted for anti-submarine warfare.[4]
- XX = Fitted for strike-operations.[4]
- All the others were mainly used for aircraft transport with an added strike capability.[4]
Notes edit
- ^ Cocker (2008), p.81
- ^ Cocker (2008), 74–84
- ^ Gordon Smith (ed.), "US-built escort aircraft carriers", Lt Cmdr G Mason - His Service Histories of Royal Navy Warships in World War 2 and Other Researches, naval-history.net
- ^ a b c d e f g h i Cocker (2008), p.82.
- ^ Cocker (2008), p.79.
- ^ a b Cocker (2008), p.83.
- ^ "HMS Nabob (D 77) (British Escort carrier) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net".
- ^ "HMS Thane (D 83) (British Escort carrier) - Ships hit by German U-boats during WWII - uboat.net".
- Bibliography
- Cocker, Maurice (2008). Aircraft-Carrying Ships of the Royal Navy. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4633-2.
