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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

BLOCK ISLAND (ACV-8) / HMS HUNTER (D80)
(later CVE-8)

Battle Honours

Atlantic 1943-1944 — Salerno 1943 — South France 1944 — Aegean 1944 — Burma 1945 — Malaya 1945

Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Returned to US	Stricken
*Attacker (US Bogue) Class Escort Carrier*
-	15 May 1941	22 May 1942	9 Jan 1943	29 Dec 1945	26 Feb 1946
Builder: Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Miss.

Laid down as the US mercantile Mormacpenn, under a Maritime Commission contract (hull number 161).
Acquired by the USN, designated AVG-8 and named Block Island, after a sound off the south coast of New England.
Redesignated ACV-8, 20 Aug 1942.
Transferred to the RN and commissioned as HMS Hunter (D80). She was originally to have been named Trailer by the RN.
Redesignated CVE-8, 15 Jul 1943.
Returned to USN in Norfolk Navy Yard, 29 Dec 1945.
Fate: Sold into merchant service 17 Jan 1947 as Almdyk. Sold for scrapping, Oct 1965, and broken up in Valencia, Spain.

Specifications
(As converted, 1943)
Displacement: 7,800 tons standard; 14,170 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 465' x 69.5' x 24' 8" / 141.7 x 21.2 x 7.5 meters
Dimensions (max.): 495' 8" x 111.5' / 151.1 x 34 meters
Armor: None
Power plant: 2 boilers (285 psi); 1 steam turbine; 1 shaft; 8,500 shp
Speed: 18+ knots
Endurance: 27,300 nautical miles @ 11 knots
Armament: 2 single 4"/50 gun mounts; 4 twin 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; 8 twin and 10 single 20-mm/70-cal gun mounts
Aircraft: 12+
Aviation facilities: 2 elevators; 1 hydraulic catapult (H 2); 9 arresting wires and 3 barriers
Crew: 646

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
*HMS Hunter* (D80)**
NS0300805	88k	HMS *Hunter* (D80).	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
NS0300801	49k	Water level image showing her multi level anti-aircraft protection. Seen here at the flight deck level as well as in bulges added to her hull.	IWM
NS0300806	49k	Port side view of HMS *Hunter* (D80), ex-HMS *Trailer, ex-USS Block Island* (CVE-8) at anchor, circa 1943, location unknown. Photo RN, Official. Photo and text from Jane's Fighting Ships, 1943–44 edition.	Robert Hurst
NS0300807	53k	Starboard side view of HMS *Hunter* (D80), ex-HMS *Trailer, ex-USS Block Island* (CVE-8) at anchor, circa 1943, location unknown. Note Supermarine Walrus amphibian on the flight deck, aft of the bridge. Photo RN, Official. Photo and text from Jane's Fighting Ships, 1943–44 edition.	Robert Hurst
NS0300804	116k	HMS *Trailer, ex-USS Block Island* (ACV-8), later HMS *Hunter* (D80), location unknown, 14 January 1943. (U.S.) Division of Naval Intelligence, Identification and Characteristics Section, June 1943.	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
NS0300605	48k	HMS Battler as seen from HMS *Hunter* in an angry sea on passage to the Mediterranean for Operation Avalanche at Salerno, Italy (September 1943). Note the overhang of the sponsons from the flight deck catwalk (the Goofers).	Robert Hurst
NS0300809	100k	A Supermarine Seafire F.Mk.III of No. 807 Sqd is pictured from the flight deck catwalk of HMS *Hunter* as it leaves for another patrol[, 1944–45]. Photo courtesy of Rick Harding Collection. Photo and text from Supermarine Seafire by Kev Darling.	Robert Hurst
NS0300810	109k	A Supermarine Seafire F.Mk.III of No.807 Sqd (with debris from its recent dramatic landing scattered around) settles in the classic nose-over pose seen aboard many a escort carrier. Wisely the crew of HMS *Hunter* are staying clear until the drama is completed. Note the SEAC (South East Asia Command) roundel adopted for service with the British Eastern Fleet. Photo courtesy of Rick Harding Collection. Photo and text from Supermarine Seafire by Kev Darling.	Robert Hurst
NS0300803	49k	HMS *Hunter* and HMS Empress entering Singapore harbour after the Japanese surrender (September 1945). Note aircraft and ship's company lined up on the flight deck. Two cruisers of the Eastern Fleet are also in harbour.	Robert Hurst
NS0300808	121k	The escort aircraft carrier HMS *Hunter* (D80, ex-USS *Block Island, CVE-8), foreground prepares to anchor off Singapore[, September 1945]. The leading aircraft Seafire* F.Mk.III (NN300), D-5O, is that of Lt. Cdr. Baldwin. Its camouflage paint has been removed and the aircraft now has silver finish with black SEAC [South East Asia Command] recognition bands and anti-dazzle panel. HMS Stalker (D91, ex-USS Hamlin, CVE-15) can be seen in the background. Photo FAAM Yeovilton. Photo and text from Supermarine Seafire by Kev Darling.	Robert Hurst
Commercial Service
NS0300802	64k	Holland America Line *Almdyk* taking on cargo for the Far East. Bremerhaven, March 1965.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
For more information and photos of this ship, see: Photographs from the Collection of Louis Pryor