HMS Puncher (D79)
Service
- as USS Willapa2,193 days of the war
- as HMS Puncher5 February 1944 — 1973575 days of the war
- Name
- HMS Puncher
- Pennant / hull number
- D79
- Namesake
- Willapa Bay in Washington
- Builder
- Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
- Laid down
- 21 May 1943
- Launched
- 8 November 1943
- Commissioned
- 5 February 1944
- Decommissioned
- 16 February 1946
- Fate
- Scrapped in 1973 (1973)
- Status
- Scrapped
Specifications
- Displacement, standard
- 11,400 long tons (11,583 t)
- Length
- 149.96 m (492 ft)
- Beam
- 21.03 m (69 ft)
- Draught
- 7.62 m (25 ft)
- Speed
- 18 knots (33.3 km/h, 20.7 mph)
- Range
- 27,500 nmi (50,930 km)
- Complement
- 646
- Main gun
- 127 mm (5 in)
HMS Puncher was a escort carrier of the Ruler-class escort carrier (UK), operated by the United States Navy. She carried the pennant number D79. She was named for Willapa Bay in Washington. Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation laid her keel on 21 May 1943. Launched on 8 November 1943, she entered service on 5 February 1944.
She was the only ship of her class. The class followed the Attacker-class escort carrier and was succeeded by the None.
She displaced 11,400 long tons. She measured 150.0 m (492 ft) long with a beam of 21.0 m (69 ft). Her designed speed was 18 knots, and she carried a complement of 646.
Her main battery was two 127 mm (5 in) guns. She carried 18 aircraft. Her machinery developed 8,500 shp through one shafts.
She served with the United States Navy as USS Willapa. She then passed to the Royal Navy, serving as HMS Puncher from 5 February 1944. She was in commission for 2,768 days of the Second World War. She was decommissioned on 16 February 1946.
She was broken up for scrap in 1973.
Written from the harvested record. Every figure above is sourced; the wording is this site's own.
Armament and machinery
Armament and machinery
- Propulsion
- 1 × Allis-Chalmers geared steam turbine
- 1 shaft
- Power
- 2 × Foster Wheeler boilers
- 8500 shp
- Armament
- 2 × 5 in/51 cal. guns
- 8 × twin 40 mm Bofors guns
- 14 × twin Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
- 7 × single Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
- Aircraft
- 18–24
Sources
- Facts harvested from HMS Puncher (D79) on Wikipedia. Figures only — no wording is taken from it.
- Photograph: Royal Navy official photographer — This photograph FL 17755 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums (collection no. 8308-29) — Public domain — Wikimedia Commons