HMS Attacker (D02)

HMS Attacker (D02) at anchor in San Francisco Bay, 13 November 1942
History
United States
Name	Steel Artisan Barnes
Namesake	Barnes Sound, Florida
Ordered	as type (C3-S-A1) hull, MC hull 171[1]
Awarded	30 September 1940
Builder	Western Pipe and Steel Company, San Francisco, California
Cost	$7,992,456
Yard number	62
Way number	1
Laid down	7 April 1941
Launched	27 September 1941
Commissioned	30 September 1942
Decommissioned	30 September 1942
Reclassified	BACV-7, 20 Aug 1942 CVE, 15 July 1943
Refit	Converted to AVG, 10 October 1941
Identification	Hull symbol: AVG-7 BACV-7 CVE-7
Fate	Allocated to the Royal Navy, 1 March 1942 Transferred to the Royal Navy, 30 September 1942
United Kingdom
Name	Attacker
Namesake	One who assaults or assails an opponent
Acquired	30 September 1942
Commissioned	7 October 1942
Decommissioned	29 December 1945
Identification	Pennant number: D02
Honours and awards	Atlantic 1943–1944 Salerno 1943 South France 1944 Aegean 1944[2]
Fate	Returned to the US Navy, 5 January 1946
United States
Name	Barnes
Acquired	5 January 1946
Stricken	26 Feb 1946
Fate	Sold for commercial use, 28 October 1948, scrapped 1980
General characteristics
Class and type	Bogue-class escort carrier (USA) Attacker-class escort carrier (UK)
Displacement	10,200 long tons (10,360 t) (standard) 14,400 long tons (14,630 t) (full load)
Length	465 ft (142 m) (wl) 496 ft (151 m) (oa) 440 ft (130 m) (fd)
Beam	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) wl 82 ft (25 m) (fd) 111 ft 6 in (33.99 m) (extreme width)
Draught	23 ft 3 in (7.09 m) (mean) 26 ft (7.9 m) (deep load)
Installed power	2 × Foster-Wheeler 285 psi (1,970 kPa) boilers 8,500 shp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion	1 × General Electric or Westinghouse steam turbine 1 × Screw
Speed	18 kn (33 km/h; 21 mph)
Range	27,300 nmi (50,600 km; 31,400 mi) at 11 kn (20 km/h; 13 mph)
Capacity	3,100 long tons (3,150 t) (fuel oil) 50,000 US gal (190,000 L; 42,000 imp gal) (Avgas)
Complement	646
Armament	2 × single 5 in (127 mm)/51 caliber gun (removed by RN) 2 × single QF 4 in (100 mm) Mk V dual-purpose guns (installed by RN) 4 × twin 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors antiaircraft (AA) guns 8 × twin 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon cannons 10 × single 20 mm Oerlikon cannons
Aircraft carried	24
Aviation facilities	1 × hydraulic catapult 2 × elevators

HMS Attacker (D02) was an American-built escort carrier that served with the Royal Navy during the Second World War.

Converted from a merchantman under construction, she was commissioned by the United States Navy on 30 September 1942, as USS Barnes (CVE-7), a Bogue-class escort carrier; she was decommissioned and transferred to the Royal Navy on the same day under the Lend-Lease agreement.

Attacker served throughout the war, first as a convoy escort in the Battle of the Atlantic. After further conversion by the Royal Navy in October 1943, into an assault carrier, the ship was active in the Mediterranean, and later the war in the Pacific. In late August 1945, Attacker witnessed the Japanese surrender of Penang, in Malaya, as part of Operation Jurist.