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| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Estero |
| Namesake | Estero Island in Florida |
| Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 31 October 1942 |
| Launched | 22 March 1943 |
| Completed | October 1943 |
| Fate | Transferred to Royal Navy |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | HMS Premier |
| Commissioned | 3 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 21 May 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number:D23 |
| Fate | Sold as merchant ship; for scrap 1974 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type |
|
| Displacement | 16,620 tons (full) |
| Length | 495 ft 7 in (151.05 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 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 | 890 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 24 |
The first USS Estero (CVE-42) (previously AVG-42 then later ACV-42) was an escort aircraft carrier launched 22 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle, Washington, and sponsored by Mrs. C. N. Ingraham. She was reclassified CVE-42 on 15 July 1943. Completed in October 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Navy on 3 November 1943 and commissioned the same day as HMS Premier.
She served in World War II as an ASW escort carrier in European waters and additionally as a ferry carrier. She was returned to United States custody 2 April 1946, she was stricken on 21 May 1946 and was sold into merchant service as the Rhodesia Star (later renamed Hong Kong Knight) in 1947. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974.