HMS Puncher in April 1945
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | USS Willapa |
Namesake | Willapa Bay in Washington |
Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
Laid down | 21 May 1943 |
Launched | 8 November 1943 |
Fate | Transferred to the Royal Navy |
United Kingdom | |
Name | HMS Puncher |
Commissioned | 5 February 1944 |
Decommissioned | 16 February 1946 |
Identification | Pennant number D79 |
Honours and awards | Atlantic 1944[1] |
Fate | Returned to US, sold as a merchant ship 9 January 1947 |
Name |
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In service | 1949 |
Out of service | 1973 |
Fate | Scrapped in 1973 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Ruler-class escort carrier (UK) |
Displacement |
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Length | 492 ft 3 in (150.0 m) |
Beam |
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Draught | 25 ft 5 in (7.7 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
Range | 27,500 nmi (50,930 km) at 11 knots (20 km/h) max |
Endurance | 3,160 long tons (3,210 t) fuel oil |
Complement | 646 |
Sensors and processing systems |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 18–24 |
Aviation facilities |
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USS Willapa (AVG-53/ACV-53/CVE-53) was a Bogue-class escort carrier (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) built during World War II for the United States Navy. Never seeing American service, the ship was transferred to the United Kingdom as part of Lend-Lease. The escort carrier was renamed HMS Puncher (D79) of the British Ruler class and crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy with aircrew from the Fleet Air Arm. Primarily used as an aircraft transport, Puncher took part in operations along the Norwegian coast towards the end of the war. Following the war the ship was converted for mercantile service and renamed Muncaster Castle, Bardic and Ben Nevis, before being broken up in 1973.