USS Chatham (CVE-32) (originally designated AVG-32, then later ACV-32) was built at the Seattle-Tacoma S/Y, Hull #27, Seattle, Washington, and fitted-out in Portland, Oregon. She was transferred to the United Kingdom 11 August 1943 under lend-lease and renamed HMS Slinger (D26). Designated as a transport carrier, the ship was mined, off Lowestoft, on 5 February 1944 but returned to service on 17 October, and worked-up a new crew.
 HMS Slinger in 1944
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Chatham |
| Builder | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down | 25 May 1942 |
| Launched | 19 September 1942 |
| Fate | Transferred to Royal Navy |
 United Kingdom | |
| Name | Slinger |
| Commissioned | 11 August 1943 |
| Decommissioned | 12 April 1946 |
| Identification | Pennant number:D26 |
| Fate | Sold as merchant ship, scrapped 1969-1970 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type |
|
| Displacement | 8,333 tons |
| Length | 496 ft (151 m) |
| Beam | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
| Draught | 26 ft 3 in (8.00 m) |
| Propulsion | Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6.3 MW) |
| Speed | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement | 646 officers and men |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 18-24 |
In early-1945, she was sent to Sydney to join the Pacific Fleet as a replenishment vessel i.e. carrying spare planes for other carriers - attached to the 30th Aircraft Carrier Squadron. The Slinger was accorded the battle honour ‘Okinawa’, though her participation was indirect. Returning to Sydney, she ferried aircraft to/from Brisbane, before being ear-marked for the force that was to invade Japan; in the event, she stood-by at Manus, Philippines, as the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki ended the war.
In August 1945, she was sent to Hong Kong as a support vessel, and in the autumn made at least two trips to Sydney, returning civilians who had been interned. She returned to UK via Colombo, Cairo and Gibraltar in late-1945 into early-1946.
She was returned to United States custody on 27 February 1946, and was sold and converted by the Robin Line, and was re-launched on 21 November 1946 as Robin Mowbray. Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc., purchased Robin Line in 1958. She was scrapped in Kaohsiung Taiwan in 1969-1970.
Design and description
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The Ruler class were larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships.[1] 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).[1] Propulsion was provided by one shaft, two boilers and a steam turbine giving 9,350 shaft horsepower (6,970 kW), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).[2]
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.[1] Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79.2 m) by 62 feet (18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck.[1] Armament comprised: two 4"/50, 5"/38 or 5"/51 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.[1] They had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Vought F4U Corsair or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft.[1]
Notes
editReferences
edit- Cocker, Maurice (2008). Aircraft-Carrying Ships of the Royal Navy. Stroud, Gloucestershire: The History Press. ISBN 978-0-7524-4633-2.