HMS Ravager (D70)

HMS Ravager (D70) was an Ruler class escort carrier escort carrier built in the United States and operated by the Royal Navy during World War II.

Ravager was initially constructed in the U.S. by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding in Tacoma in 1942. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy and was converted to an escort carrier at Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon. Upon completion in 1943 she was transferred to the Royal Navy and named HMS Ravager.

The ship initially served as a convoy escort in the Atlantic theatre. Later in the war she was used mainly as a deck-landing training carrier. In February 1946 she was returned to the US Navy and sold for civilian use in July 1947, being renamed the Robin Trent and later the Trent. She was scrapped in 1973.

Design and description
These ships were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships. All the ships had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of 492 ft, a beam of 69 ft and a draught of 25 ft. Propulsion was provided by one shaft, two boilers and a steam turbine giving 9,350 shaft horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at 16.5 kn.

Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side, two aircraft lifts 43 ft by 34 ft, one aircraft catapult and nine arrestor wires. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 ft by 62 ft hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised: two 4 inch Dual Purpose guns in single mounts, sixteen 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts. They had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Vought F4U Corsair or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft.