The Bogue class was a class of 45 escort carriersbuilt in the United States during World War II. Of this total 34 were transferred, through the Lend-Lease program, to Britain's Royal Navy for wartime service. Several subclasses were recognized within the group, one of which, consisting of the 11 ships retained in American service, was also, by itself, identified as the Bogue class.
The first 22 ships of the class were converted from finished or near-finished Maritime Commission Type C3-S-A1 and C3-S-A2 hulls, with 11 being retained by the USN as the Bogue class, and the other 11 transferring to the Royal Navy, where they were given new names and classified as the . The remaining 23 ships were built from the keel up on hulls based on the C3-class, but incorporating greater internal subdivision and retaining their as-built American-made main armament, and were classified as , or the Ameer class. , the last of the USN ships to be built, was the only unit in American service considered equivalent to the Ruler-class, rather than the Attackers; as such it is sometimes referred to as its own subclass.
Following the war, those ships that served with the Royal Navy were returned to the United States and were either scrapped or converted for mercantile use. Of the 11 vessels that had served in the U. S. Navy during the war, ten were kept in service for helicopter and aircraft transport operations.
Construction and design The Bogue-class escort carriers were based on the Maritime Commission's Type C3 cargo ships hull. They all were named for sounds. All of the ships for the USN and half of the ships for the Royal Navy were built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, some of the early Royal Navy ships were produced by Ingalls Shipbuilding of Pascagoula, Mississippi, and Western Pipe and Steel Company of San Francisco, California.
Specifications The Bogue class displaced at standard load and at full load. The ships had a waterline length of with an overall length of . Their beam was at the waterline with a maximum beam of . Their draft was at full load and at light load.
Propulsion and power The previous and s had suffered from reliability issues with their diesel engines, so it was decided that the Bogues would use two water-tube boilers, built by Foster-Wheeler, feeding steam to an Allis-Chalmers steam-turbine engine connected to a single shaft. This produced , which could propel the ships at . They could sail at .
Aircraft facilities
The Bogue class had the capacity for up to 24 antisubmarine or fighter aircraft, which could be a mixture of the Grumman Wildcat, Vought F4U Corsair, and Grumman Avenger planes. The exact composition of the embarked squadrons depended upon the mission. Some squadrons were composite squadrons for convoy defense, and would be equipped with antisubmarine and fighter aircraft, while other squadrons working in a strike-carrier role would only be equipped with fighter aircraft. When used in ferry service, the ships could carry up to 90 aircraft between both the flight and hangar decks. Aircraft facilities consisted of a small, combined bridge–flight control island on the forward starboard side of the ship. The flight deck was , with nine arresting wires and three barriers at the stern, along with one hydraulic catapult on the port side at the bow, which was able to launch a aircraft at . Two elevators were placed on the flight deck, one at the stern and one near the bow. The hangar deck was and fully enclosed, which was larger than the previous Long Island class. The hangar deck retained the camber at the bow and stern of the main deck of the merchant ships on which they were builtn. Since the elevators were placed near the ends of the flight deck, pulleys were required for handling planes on and off of them on the hangar deck, which was difficult in normal conditions and impossible in rough seas. The ships were also equipped with derricks for retrieving seaplanes and loading and unloading aircraft.
Armament The Bogue class was equipped with a variety of weapons, which varied throughout the war and from ship to ship. The early ships were equipped with two /51 caliber guns for surface targets, on sponsons at either side of the stern; these were soon refit with two 5-inch/38 caliber, dual-purpose guns, and standardized on the remaining ships of the class. For antiaircraft (AA) cover, they were only equipped with ten Oerlikon cannons. This was later augmented with up to eight twin-mounted Bofors AA guns and an additional 10 to 18 Oerlikons in single or twin mounts.
After the war, the 10 remaining Bogue-class escort carriers retained in US service were redesignated as "helicopter escort carriers" (CVHE) in 1955, and five of these were redesignated as "utility escort carriers" (CVU) in 1958, then aircraft ferry (AKV) in 1958, and operating under US Military Sea Transportation Service during the Vietnam War.
Transfer to the Royal Navy
Thirty-four of the 45 ships of the Bogue class were transferred to the Royal Navy under the provisions of the Lend-Lease program; they were given new names for their RN service and returned to the USN after the war. Of the first group of 22 ships, 11 were transferred to the RN and reclassified as . These ships had been converted from Maritime Commission Type C3 cargo ships that were finished or had already been laid down. A second group of 23 ships was built from the keel up, based on C3-S-A1 or C3-S-A1 plans, and transferred to the RN and reclassified as , or Ameer class, in British service, and sometimes as the Prince William class by the USN.
As delivered, these carriers required modifications to conform to RN standards. The Attacker-class ships had their conversions carried out in drydocks in United Kingdom, but, because British ports were overburdened with other work, 19 of the 23 ships of the Ameer class were modified by Burrard Dry Dock at Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. Changes included extending the flight deck, fitting redesigned flying controls and fighter direction layout, modifications to the hangar, accommodation and storerooms, extra safety measures, oiling at sea arrangements, gunnery and other internal communications, extra wireless and radio facilities, ship blackout arrangements, and other changes necessary for British service.
The consequential delays in getting these ships into active service caused critical comments from some in the USN.
Ships of class Converted from C-3 cargo ships
First group + List of Bogue-class/Attacker-class escort carriersHull numberUS namePennant numberBritish nameBuilderLaid downLaunchedFate CVE-6(ex-Mormacmail)D18Battler Ingalls Shipbuilding15 April 19414 April 194215 November 194212 February 1946Returned to US, sold for scrap 14 May 1946 CVE-7(ex-Steel Artisan)D02AttackerWestern Pipe and Steel Company17 April 194127 September 194130 September 19425 January 1946Returned to US, sold for mercantile use February 1947 CVE-8(ex-Mormacpenn)D80Hunter(ex-Trailer)Ingalls Shipbuilding15 May 194122 May 19429 January 194329 December 1945Returned to US, sold for mercantile use 17 January 1947 CVE-9(ex-Steel Advocate) Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation1 October 194115 January 194226 September 194230 November 1946Sold for scrapping 1960 CVE-10D32ChaserIngalls Shipbuilding28 June 194119 June 19429 April 194312 May 1946Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-11 Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation27 October 194127 February 19428 November 194213 May 1946Converted to an aircraft transport as USNS Card, sold for scrapping in 1971 CVE-12 18 June 194121 October 194115 June 19425 July 1946Sold for scrapping 1961 CVE-13 2 January 194215 May 194210 December 19424 October 1946Sold for scrapping 1971 CVE-14D64Fencer Western Pipe and Steel Company5 September 19414 April 194220 February 194321 December 1945Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-15D91Stalker6 October 19415 March 194221 December 194229 December 1945Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-16 Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation27 November 19414 April 194220 August 194228 October 1946Sold for scrap 1961 CVE-17D73PursuerIngalls Shipbuilding31 July 194118 July 194214 June 194312 February 1946Returned to US, sold for scrapping 1946 CVE-18 Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation19 December 194122 May 194215 September 194227 September 1946Sold for scrapping 1961 CVE-19D12StrikerWestern Pipe and Steel Company15 December 19417 May 194218 May 194312 February 1946Returned to US, sold for scrapping 1948 CVE-20 Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation19 January 19422 May 194220 February 194329 August 1946Sold for scrapping 1960 CVE-21 19 January 19421 May 19428 March 1943 Torpedoed by , scuttled 29 May 1944 AVG-22 D4020 February 194220 June 19427 April 194329 November 1945Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-23 25 February 194227 June 194212 April 194320 August 1946Sold for scrapping 1972 AVG-24 D7011 April 194216 July 194225 April 194327 February 1946Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-25 15 April 19421 August 194228 April 194320 May 1946Sold for scrapping 1971 BAVG-6 D243 November 19417 March 194231 January 19432 November 1946Returned to US, sold for mercantile use CVE-31 18 May 194223 August 19429 April 194329 August 1946Sold for scrapping, 1961
Second group Built from the keel up as escort carriers. All were built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation. General characteristics as the Attacker class, except for displacement and armament.