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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

(BAVG-1) / HMS ARCHER (D78)

Battle Honours

Atlantic 1943

Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Returned to US	Stricken
*Archer (similar to US Long Island) Class Escort Carrier*
-	7 Jun 1939	14 Dec 1939	17 Nov 1941	8 Jan 1946	26 Feb 1946
Builder: Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pa.

Built as the US mercantile Mormacland (1st,) under a Maritime Commission contract (hull number 46,) for the Moore-McCormack Lines.
Purchased by the Admiralty prior to Lend/Lease arrangements.
Engines were a continual source of problems. Started major repairs, 3 August 1943, but defects were so serious that she paid off into care and maintenance. Subsequently used as a stores hulk in the Gareloch.
Used as an accommodation hulk after 16 March 1944.
Repaired and transferred to the Ministry of War Transport as an aircraft ferry, 3 August 1944; renamed Empire Lagan.
Returned to the USN at Norfolk, Virginia, 8 January 1946.
Fate: Sold into merchant service as Swedish Anna Saelen (1946), Greek Tasmania (1955), and Taiwanese Union Reliance (1961). Scrapped at New Orleans, starting March 1962.

Specifications
(As converted, 1941)
Displacement: 9,000 tons standard; 15,700 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 465' x 69.5' x 26.33' / 141.7 x 21.2 x 8 meters
Dimensions (max.): 492' x 102' / 150 x 31.1 meters
Armor: None
Power plant: 4 Busch-Sulzer diesels (7-cylinder); 1 shaft; 8,500 bhp
Speed: 16 knots
Endurance: 14,550 nautical miles @ 10 knots
Armament: 3 single 4"/50 gun mounts; 4(?) twin and 7(?) single 20-mm/70-cal gun mounts
Aircraft: 15
Aviation facilities: 1 elevator; 1 hydraulic catapult (H 2); 9 arresting wires and 3 barriers
Crew: 555

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
NS0303014	368k	Charger & Long Island-class . From U.S. Naval Ships & Aircraft (ONI 54-R), condensed and printed for FM 30-50, NAVAER 00-80V-57 (Recognition Pictorial Manual of Naval Vessels). Supplement 4 - 4 August 1943. Photos show HMS *Archer, HMS Biter* and USS Charger.	Gerd Matthes, Germany
NS0303014a	341k	As above. Top photos show USS Charger (BAVG-4/AVG/ACV/CVE-30). Bottom photos show USS Long Island (AVG/AVC/CVE-1).	Gerd Matthes, Germany
NS030100101	80k	HMS *Archer* underway in 1943, with Swordfish of 819 Squadron and Martlets (US Wildcats) of 892 Squadron on deck.	IWM
NS030100102	64k	Undated image showing *Archer* from the stern angle.	IWM
NS030100103	36k	Port view of *Archer* showing her camouflage paint, place unknown. Early 1943 (thanks to Robert Hurst).	Hazegray & Underway
NS030100104	51k	Another port view of *Archer*; date and place unknown.	Robert Hurst
NS030100105	108k	HMS *Archer* as seen from the rear cockpit of one of her Swordfish strike aircraft, that has just taken off. Note another Swordfish is about to leave her flight deck.	Robert Hurst
NS030100106	206k	HMS *Archer*. Starboard view. Date and place unknown.	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
NS030100107	203k	HMS *Archer*. Port bow view. Date and place unknown.	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers

BAVG-1 / HMS Archer (D78) History
This vessel was not listed in DANFS.
To read another vessel's entry visit DANFS Online History Project
(Located on the Hazegray & Underway Web Site)

Crew Contact and Reunion Information

Not applicable to this ship

Related Links

Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.

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Last update: 19 April 2009