HMS Cheerly (W 153)

HMS Cheerly (W 153) was a Favourite-class tugboat of the Royal Navy during World War II.

History
United Kingdom
Builder	Levingston Shipbuilding Company, Orange, Texas
Launched	23 July 1943
Commissioned	18 January 1944
Stricken	12 April 1946
Fate	Returned to US Navy, 19 February 1946 and sold for merchant service 1948
General characteristics
Displacement	852 tons light
Length	165 ft 6 in (50.44 m)
Beam	33 ft 4 in (10.16 m)
Draught	15 ft 6 in (4.72 m)
Propulsion	one Prescott Co. vertical triple-expansion reciprocating steam engine two Foster Wheeler "D"-type boilers, 200psi, Sat two Turbo drive Ships Service Generators, 60 kW 120 V D.C. single propeller, 1,600 hp
Speed	12.2 knots (22.6 km/h; 14.0 mph)
Complement	52
Armament	1 x 3"/50 caliber gun * 2 x single 20mm AA guns

Service history

Cheerly was laid down in early 1943 at the Levingston Shipbuilding Company in Orange, Texas, as ATR-95, launched 23 July 1943 and commissioned into the Royal Navy as Cheerly under Lend-Lease on 18 January 1944. Cheerly served as a rescue tug with convoys in the English Channel and also Gibraltar convoy ON273. She was returned to the United States Navy on 19 February 1946, struck on 12 April 1946 and sold for merchant service in 1948.