HMS Searcher (D40)
| HMS Searcher (D40) | |
| Career (USA) | 100x35px |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS AVG-22[1] |
| Builder: | Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down: | 20 February 1942[2] |
| Launched: | 20 June 1942[3][4] |
| Fate: | Transferred to the Royal Navy |
| Career (UK) |  |
| Name: | HMS Searcher |
| Commissioned: | 7 April 1943 |
| Fate: |
Returned to the US Navy in 1945 Listed for disposal on 7 February 1946 Sold to J & A T Vatis in 1952 |
| Career (Greece) | Ensign and flag of Greece |
| Name: | SS Captain Theo |
| Owner: | J & A T Vatis |
| Acquired: | 1952 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 6116575[3] |
| Fate: | Sold to Tung Chao Yung in 1966 |
| Career (Taiwan) | Flag of ROC |
| Name: | SS Oriental Banker |
| Owner: | Tung Chao Yung |
| Acquired: | 1966 |
| Identification: | IMO number: 6116575[3] |
| Fate: | Scrapped on 21 April 1976 in Taiwan |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Attacker-class escort carrier |
| Displacement: |
As Searcher: 14,400 tons As Captain Theo: 7129 tons As Oriental Banker: 10542 tons[3] |
| Length: | 491 feet 6 inches (149.81 m) |
| Beam: | 69 feet 6 inches (21.18 m) |
| Draught: | 26 feet (7.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6.3 MW) |
| Speed: | 18 knots (33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 646 officers and men |
| Armament: |
2 × 4 in (102 mm) guns 4 x twin 40 mm Bofors 20 x single 20 mm Oerlikon |
| Aircraft carried: | 20 |
HMS Searcher was an Attacker-class escort carrier of the Royal Navy. Built in Seattle in the United States she was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease. Launched in 1942 she served until 29 November 1945. She was sold into merchant service and renamed Captain Theo. In 1966 she was renamed again to Oriental Banker and was finally scrapped in Taiwan in 1976.
Contents
Construction
Laid down on 20 February 1942 at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation as USS AVG-22, she was completed by Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon. She was transferred to the Royal Navy on completion on 20 June 1942, and was commissioned into Royal Navy service as HMS Searcher on 7 April 1943.[1]
Wartime Service
From 1943 Searcher operated mainly around the UK as a Fighter Carrier. In late December 1943 she provided Atlantic convoy escort, escorting ships to the USA, and arriving at Norfolk on 2 January 1944. She participated in the attacks on the German battleship Tirpitz as part of the Home Fleet Strike force of Operation Tungsten, during which her role was to provide fighter cover. In August 1944 she took part in Operation Dragoon, the Allied invasion of Southern France.[1]
On 4 May 1945 aircraft from the escort carriers Searcher, Queen, and Trumpeter sank the German submarine U-711 in Kilbotn harbour in the Arctic near Harstad, Norway.[2] Avenger torpedo bombers escorted by Wildcat fighters attacked the submarine tender Black Watch, the supply ship Senja and the former Norwegian coastal defence ship HNoMS Harald Haarfagre, which had been rebuilt by the Germans as the Flak ship Thetis. U-711 was alongside Black Watch when she was sunk in position 68°43.717′N 16°34.600′E / 68.728617°N 16.5767°E by bombs aimed at Black Watch. Black Watch and Senja were also sunk. This was the last sinking of a U-Boat by the Fleet Air Arm [1], and the final air-raid of the war in Europe.
Searcher was sent to the Far East as part of the British Pacific Fleet but arrived in mid-August as the war ended.[1]
Commanding officers
| From | Until | Captain[2] |
|---|---|---|
| 15 February 1943 | 23 January 1945 | Captain Gerrard Oulton Colthurst Davies Royal Navy |
| 23 January 1945 | October 1945 | Captain John William Grant DSO Royal Navy |
Searcher was returned to the US Navy under the terms of the Lend-Lease arrangement on 29 November 1945 and was listed for disposal on 7 February 1946.[4]
Merchant Service
The decommissioned escort carrier was sold to J & A T Vatis, a Greek shipping company, and renamed Captain Theo in 1952. She was sold again in 1966 to the Chinese shipping magnate Tung Chao Yung, becoming Oriental Banker.[4]
Fate
Oriental Banker was scrapped at Kaohsiung[3] in Taiwan, commencing on 21 April 1976.[4]
References
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 "HMS Searcher, Escort Fighter Carrier at the Fleet Air Arm archive". http://www.fleetairarmarchive.net/ships/Searcher.html. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ 2.0 2.1 2.2 "U-711 at Uboat.net". http://uboat.net/boats/u711.htm. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- ↑ 3.0 3.1 3.2 3.3 3.4 ""6116575"" (subscription required). Miramar Ship Index. R.B. Haworth. http://www.miramarshipindex.org.nz. Retrieved 21 June 2009.
- ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 4.3 "World Aircraft Carrier List - HMS Searcher". http://www.hazegray.org/navhist/carriers/uk_esc.htm#d40. Retrieved 2009-06-22.
- The Attack on 'Black Watch' (Harald Isachsen, Harstad, 2009, ISBN 978-82-998024-2-0 - in Norwegian)
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