HMS Trumpeter (D09)

The USS Bastian (CVE-37) (originally AVG-37 and then ACV-37) was an escort aircraft carrier built by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington, laid down on 25 August 1942 and launched 15 December 1942. She was transferred to the United Kingdom, under Lend-Lease and commissioned on 4 August 1943 as HMS Trumpeter (D09).

On 4 May 1945 aircraft of 846 Naval Air Squadron flew from Trumpeter to take part in Operation Judgement, an attack on the U-boat depot at Kilbotn, Norway, contributing eight Avengers and four Wildcats to a 44-aircraft attack that destroyed several vessels including the depot ship "Black Watch" and U-711.

Trumpeter was returned to United States' custody 6 April 1946, stricken from the Naval Vessel Register 19 June 1946 and sold into merchant service as the Alblasserdijk (later renamed Irene Valmas). She was sold for scrap in Spain in 1971.

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 a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving 9,350 brake 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.