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[Kopfdorfer]

The "Attacker" Class, RN,  is an important and missing class of early escort carriers.


HMS Attacker     


There were eight ships in the class (Attacker,Battler,Chaser, Fencer, Hunter,
Pursuer,Stalker, and Striker) all constructed in the United States, outfitted in British Columbia,Canada,  and supplied under the terms of Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy.

Specifications :
Displacement : 11,420 tons   
Dimensions : 492ft x 69.5ft x 23.25ft.   
Armament : Two 4in AA (2 x 1); Eight 40mm AA (4 x 2), Fifteen 20mm AA (15 x 1) Guns;
18 aircraft. 
Complement : 646

HMS Striker                   

HMS Battler                   



                              The ships served in two different roles: as convoy escort carriers, equipped with both
anti-submarine and fighter aircraft, and as strike carriers, equipped with just fighter
aircraft. When used as convoy escorts, the ships' aircraft were successful in deterring
German submarines from attacking Allied convoys. They were able to claim some success,
with a number of German submarines and aircraft destroyed or damaged by the aircraft.
           Those carriers operating in the strike role took part in two major landings in the
Mediterranean and an operation against the German battleship Tirpitz in Norwegian waters.
Seven of the ships ended the war in the Far East in the campaigns against the Japanese
Empire and were then used to transport home prisoners of war.All eight ships survived the war and were eventually returned to the United States Navy, which sold five of them for conversion into merchant ships. The other three ships were scrapped.

HMS  Fencer

HMS Hunter   

The ships had an overall length of 492.25 feet (150.04 m), a beam of 69.5 feet (21.2 m),
and a height of 23.25 ft (7.09 m). They displaced 11,420 long tons (11,600 t) at deep
load. Propulsion was provided by two steam turbine engines connected to one shaft,
giving 8,500 brake horsepower (BHP), which could propel the ship at 17 knots
(31 km/h; 20 mph).
On HMS Battler, a Fairey Swordfish comes on deck via the aircraft lift. The ship's
'Island' bridge and flight control is in the background.

All the escort carriers had the capacity for up to 24 anti-submarine or fighter aircraft,
which could be a mixture of the British Hawker Sea Hurricane, Supermarine Seafire, and
Fairey Swordfish, and the American Grumman Wildcat, Vought F4U Corsair and Grumman
Avenger .The exact composition of the embarked squadrons depended upon the mission.
Some squadrons were composite squadrons for convoy defence, and would be equipped with
anti-submarine and fighter aircraft, while other squadrons working in a strike-carrier
role would only be equipped with fighter aircraft. Aircraft facilities consisted of a
small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side above the 450-by-120-foot (140
by 37 m) flight deck, two aircraft lifts measuring 42 by 34 feet (13 by 10 m), and nine
arrestor wires. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 by 62 feet (79 by 19 m) hangar below
the flight deck.

HMS Chaser HMS Pursuer, 1944


HMS Stalker

These were workhorses.


Sincerely,

Kopfdorfer

[boogabooga]

These built from the U.S. Bogue class.

There has been a reskined "Ameer" class Royal Navy escort carrier since ship pack 2 came out years ago. I know they aren't exactly the same, but isn't that a fair representation of RN escort carrriers for mission building purposes? 

[Kopfdorfer]

Hey Boogabooga,

                        You are correct to a fine point. The Bogue Class was delivered in 2 production groups.
The first group which were known to the RN as the Attacker class was operational at the end of 1941, with the bulk of the Class at sea by the end of the summer of '42. The Second group delivery was known to the RN as the Ruler or Ameer Class. This second group only began to become operational about 13 months after the Attacker class, or mid-summer 1943.
Are they so close an approximation of each other that a separate vessel representation is unwarranted? That depends upon your perspective. I don't know about their vulnerability to combat damage - which is always a factor of interesting mod design - I DO know that all eight of the Attacker Class survived the war.
Were their other characteristics different enough to warrant a separate representation? Let's look.


HMS Attacker   

USS Bogue       

HMS Ruler         


                                              Attacker Class                    Ameer Class

Complement                        646 + Air Division                646 + Air Division

Displacement                        11, 420 long tons                16, 620 long tons                         Ameer Class 145.5 % more massive

Length/Beam/Draught (ft)        492/ 69.5/ 23.25                  496/ 69.5/ 26'

Flight Deck                                  438'                                  480'                                           Ameer Class Flight Deck 10% longer

Aircraft Complement                       18                                  19-24                                       Ameer Class up to 6 more aircraft - 25%

Guns                                        2 x 1  - 4"                          1 x 2   - 4"
                                              4 x 2  - 40mm                     4 x 2   - 40mm
                                              15 x 1 -  20mm              10-35 x 1 - 20mm                             Ameer Class up to 3 x AAA

Speed                                      17 knots                             18 knots   

While their speed, defensive armament and ship's complement are about the same, the displacement of the Attacker class is only 69 % of the Ruler/Bogue Class.
The aircraft complement is weaker by up to 25%, and the flight deck of the Attacker Class is about 10 % shorter than the Rulers'. In addition, the Attacker might have less than 50% of the 20mm AAA of the Ruler class.

To me these are very different vessels, like a Spit MkII to a MkV. I can't mod, only read history and consider. I am just putting the thought out there. I see many modders go for bigger faster better armed in many things. I tend to like ungainly, challenging equipment with personality, that somehow managed to muddle through WW2 making a contribution by doing its job despite the fact that other equipment was bigger,stronger and faster.

Thanks for the comments. That is what I am looking for.

kopfdorfer

                                     

[HundertzehnGustav]

i always thought that the CVEs a la Ameer had way too much AAA...

thanks for your thoughts, Kopf - i tend to do the same thing, considering that stopgap measures were often used during the whole war...