HMS Puncher (D79)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Willapa and HMS Puncher.

HMS Puncher in April, 1945
History
United States
Name:	USS Willapa
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
Honours and awards:	Atlantic 1944
Fate:	Returned to US, sold as a merchant ship
Name:	Muncaster Castle (1949-54) Bardic (1954-59) Ben Nevis (1959-73)
In service:	1949
Out of service:	1973
Fate:	Scrapped in 1973
General characteristics
Class & type:	Bogue-class escort carrier (USA) Ruler-class escort carrier (UK)
Displacement:	7,800 tons
Length:	492 ft 3 in (150.0 m)
Beam:	69 ft 6 in (21.2 m)
Draught:	26 ft (7.9 m)
Installed power:	2 x Foster Wheeler boilers 9,350 shp (6,970 kW)
Propulsion:	1 x shaft Geared turbines
Speed:	16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph)
Complement:	646
Armament:	2 x 4-inch dual purpose guns in single mounts 16 x 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts 20 x 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts
Aircraft carried:	24
Aviation facilities:	2 x aircraft lifts 43 ft (13.1 m) by 34 ft (10.4 m) 1 x aircraft catapult 9 x arrestor wires

USS Willapa (AVG-53/ACV-53/CVE-53) was a Bogue-class escort aircraft carrier (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) in the United States Navy built during World War II. The ship was leased to the United Kingdom, renamed HMS Puncher (D79) (British Ruler-class) and crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy with aircrew from the Fleet Air Arm. Following the war the ship was converted for mercantile service and renamed Muncaster Castle, Bardic and Ben Nevis, before being scrapped in 1973.

Design and description

A typical twin 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft gun

The Bogue-class ships were larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not simply converted merchant ships. Each vessel 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). Propulsion was provided by two Foster Wheeler boilers and a steam geared turbine driving one shaft, giving 9,350 shaft horsepower (6,970 kW), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h; 19.0 mph).

Puncher's armament comprised: two 4-inch 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.

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. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79.2 m) by 62 feet (18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck. She had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft, usually a mixture of fighter, anti-submarine and torpedo bomber aircraft. Fleet Air Arm squadrons assigned to Puncher included Fairey Barracuda torpedo bombers, Fairey Firefly fighter/bombers, American-built Hellcat fighters and Avenger torpedo bombers. The Barracuda was one of the largest carrier-borne aircraft in the Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm and required rocket assistance to take flight from the small flight deck.

Construction and career

Willapa was laid down on 21 May 1943 at Seattle, Washington by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation and reclassified CVE-53 on 10 June 1943. Willapa was launched on 8 November 1943. The ship was transferred under lend-lease to the Royal Navy on 5 February 1944 and commissioned as HMS Puncher with the pennant number D79. On 15 March 1944, Puncher arrived at Vancouver to undergo conversion to Royal Navy standards.

The British Admiralty had determined that, post-World War II, the Royal Canadian Navy would have its own aircraft carriers. For this reason, Puncher and Nabob were crewed by Royal Canadian Navy personnel to establish the knowledge base for the future carriers. However, the aircrew was from the Fleet Air Arm.

Puncher spent the war in the Atlantic and Mediterranean. In June 1944, the escort carrier transported motor launches from New Orleans to New York. The following month, the ship transported United States Army Air Force aircraft from Norfolk, Virginia to Casablanca in North Africa.

On 1 February 1945, Puncher joined the British Home Fleet at Scapa Flow, embarking 881 Naval Air Squadron in Wildcats and 821 Naval Air Squadron in Barracudas. Initially serving in a training role, within the year, Puncher was re-tasked to both airstrike and convoy air protection (CAP) after her sister ship, Nabob, was decommissioned due to being torpedoed off Norway in August 1944. Puncher's CAP service included protection of six different Arctic convoys on the Murmansk/Arkhangelsk route. Operations also included strikes against German occupied Norway, hitting industrial and shipping targets such as the steel works at Narvik. Following the surrender of Germany, Puncher was utilized as a troop transport, carrying Canadian soldiers back to Canada. Her hangar had bunks welded into them and was used in this role until the end of 1945.

Paid off on 16 February 1946 at Norfolk, Virginia, and returned to American custody that day, the escort carrier was struck from the Navy Registry on 12 March 1946, having never seen active service with the United States Navy.

Initially sold to William B. St. John, of New York City, on 9 January 1947, the carrier was subsequently resold to a British firm on 4 February 1947 and converted for mercantile service. The ship reappeared as Muncaster Castle in 1949, renamed Bardic in 1954 and Ben Nevis in 1959. She sailed under that name until she was sold for scrapping at Taiwan on 11 June 1973.