U.S.S. Charger
CVE-30
1944
(Neptun 1325)
- Class: Charger - 1 escort carrier of 1941
- Displacement: 11,800 tons
- Dimensions: 465(wl) 492(oa) x 69.5 (78 max) x 21.5 ft.
- Machinery: 6-cylinder Doxford diesel; 1-shaft 8,500bhp = 17 knots
- Armament: 1-5in/51, 2-3in/50, 10-20mm A.A. guns
- Aircraft: 36
- Complement: 856
- Builder: Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co, Chester, PA
- Keel Laid: 1941
- Launched: 1 Mar 1941
- Commissioned: 3 Mar 1942
- Decommissioned: 15 Mar 1946
- Notes: One of six vessels earmarked in 1941 for conversion to an auxiliary carrier was the diesel-powered Rio de la Plata, another C3 cargo ship from the Moore-McCormack Line and closely similar to the Mormacmail that became Long Island. Incomplete when acquired, the ship was renamed Charger and designated BAVG-4, slated for delivery to the Royal Navy. The conversioin gave her a longer hangar and flight deck than Long Island as well as a simple island. Originally armed with 3-4in guns as she was completed to British requirments in mid-1941. However, she was taken back into the US Navy as a school for Fleet Air Arm trainees. In Jan 1942 she was redesignated AVG-30, in Aug 1942 ACV-30, and in Jul 1943 CVE-30. Used primarily to train Royal Navy pilots in Chesapeake Bay, she was stricken and sold in 1946. Converted back to a merchant ship from 1947, she was renamed Fairsea in 1949. The four British near-sisters were Archer BAVG-1, Avenger BAVG-2, Biter BAVG-3, and Dasher BAVG-5.
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