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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

BASTIAN (CVE-37)  /  HMS TRUMPETER (D09)




Contributed by Tommy Trampp


Battle Honours

Atlantic 1943–44 — Arctic 1944 — Norway 1944–45
CLASS - BOGUE
Displacement 7,800 Tons, Dimensions, 495' 8" (oa) x 69' 6" x 26' (Max)
Armament 2 x 5"/51 4 x 40mm, 10 x 20mm, 28 Aircraft.
Machinery, 8,500 SHP; Allis-Chambers, Geared Turbines, 1 screw
Speed, 17.5 Knots, Crew 890.

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Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Name
Bastian Bay
NS0303724
89k

AVG-37 (later ACV-37 and CVE-37) was initially named Bastian for a bay on the Mississippi delta, in Plaquemines Parish, La., facing the Gulf of Mexico (NS0303724).

Reassigned to the Royal Navy, she was earmarked to become HMS Lucifer, but her name was changed to Trumpeter before she was completed. A trumpeter is a person who proclaims, commends, or extols something loudly or widely. Arguably, Trumpeter also refers to the High Lord Admiral.

(Map courtesy of Google Maps. Ship's badge courtesy of Tommy Trampp.)

NavSource
Trumpeter
NS0303724a
20k
HMS Trumpeter (D09 / R318)
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303708
121k

HMS Trumpeter officers at Portland, Oregon, July 1943.

Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303715
118k

Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers, comments: "The senior officer far left is Capt. K.S. Colquhoun RN commanding officer HMS Trumpeter[, May 1943–May 1945]. I suspect there may be someone more senior in the center but the flash has obscured his rank. I wonder why the ratings have their caps off?"

Chris Oldroyd
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303735
42k

An unhurt pilot of the Royal Netherlands Navy climbs out of his crashed Grumman Hellcat, its nose resting on the flight deck, after making a crash landing aboard HMS Trumpeter (D09). A crowd is gathering round the front of the aircraft.

Unknown Royal Navy official photographer. This photograph A 24471 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museum on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303712
81k

The escort aircraft carrier HMS Trumpeter (D09), ex-Bastian (CVE-37) at rest in the Atlantic, September 1943. Photo by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer.

Robert Hurst
Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303707
78k HMS Trumpeter underway, October 6, 1943, the day she arrived in Norfolk Navy Yard to embark Squadrons 848 (Avenger), 1831 and 1833 (Corsair) for passage to the UK. Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303714
42k

HMS Trumpeter (D09), ex-U.S. Bastian (CVE-37), at anchor, location and date unknown.

Gerhard L. Mueller‑Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303725
54k

As she nears the United Kingdom, HMS Trumpeter (D09) is shown with a cargo of P-51Bs (Mustangs) for the US Army Air Force. While wild weather prevails, her gunners are fully prepared for air and submarine attacks.

Imperial War Museums Admiralty Official Collection, Photo No. © IWM (A 21863).

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303732
43k

A Fairey Barracuda T.R. Mk. II of No. 821 NAS makes a rocket-assisted take-off from the flight deck of HMS Trumpeter (D09).

Photo by unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Photograph A 27060 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museums on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303728
198k

View of HMS Trumpeter (D09) looking aft from the bow. The U.S. Bogue-class small island structure and lattice are seen here. The carrier is ferrying aircraft, which have had their propellers and outer wing panels removed, in order to load more aircraft.

Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 302493.

Trumpeter ferried aircraft from New York to the Clyde twice, in late 1943–early 1944.

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303717
176k

A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger Mk.I of No.846 Naval Air Squadron, Fleet Air Arm lands on the escort carrier HMS Trumpeter (D09), circa 1944. Note the carrier's SK-1 radar. Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Photo # A 24282 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303730
196k

Photo taken from HMS Trumpeter (D09) in January 1944. The ship is in a convoy, crossing the Atlantic, and shows the majesty of North Atlantic gale sea condition.

Imperial War Museums, Admiralty Official Collection, Photo No. © IWM A21869.

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303729
169k

HMS Trumpeter (D09) drydocked at Rosyth, Scotland, 4 June 1944. Photo, looking up from the stern, shows the anti-aircraft platforms jutting out from the stern, just under the flight deck.

Imperial War Museums (IWM), Admiralty Official Collection, photo © IWM (A 24056).

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303713
120k

Wildcat Mk Vs and Avengers of 846 Sqd. aboard HMS Trumpeter off the Norwegian coast in summer 1944. Note invasion stripes, indicating that the image was taken in mid-summer 1944, after the beginning of the D-Day landings.

Photo and text from 100 Years of British Naval Aviation, by Christopher Shores.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303731
454k

A Grumman Wildcat (JV579) of No. 846 Squadron from HMS Trumpeter (D09). No.846 Squadron was embarked on Tracker (D24) and Trumpeter. Photo source unknown.

From British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, by Owen Thetford. Sixth revised edition. Pub. by Putnam Aeronautical Books, an imprint of Conway Maritime Press Ltd., 24 Bride Lane, Fleet Street, London EC4Y 8DR. ISBN 0 851770941.

Robert Hurst
CVE-41 Edisto / HMS Nabob
NS0304101e
53k

As seen from HMS Trumpeter (D09), HMS Nabob (D77) slowly (∼10 knots) makes her way back to base.

Source: Imperial War Museums (IWM) Admiralty Official Collection, by Hudson, F.A., (Lt), Photo No. © IWM (A 25369).

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303702
92k Winter in the Barents Sea. HMS Trumpeter thinks she is a submarine. Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303703
87k The flight deck of HMS Trumpeter looks inviting to her Avengers returning from a strike in Norwegian waters. Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303701
54k

As seen from HMS Fencer (D64), HMS Trumpeter (D09) is underway in October 1944, conducting flight operations. An Avenger torpedo-bomber has just launched.

Imperial War Museums Admiralty Official Collection, by Mason, H.A. (Lt), Photo No. © IWM A 26131.

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303716
7k

A Grumman Avenger ("G") of No. 846 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, returning to HMS Trumpeter, 14 October 1944 (Operation Lycidas, minelaying off Haarhamsfjord, Lepsorev, Ramsoysund, and a strike on shipping at Frohavet—Norway—in company with HMS Fencer). The members of crew can be clearly seen in the cockpit.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303734
191k

A Royal Navy Grumman Avenger Mk.I from 846 Naval Air Squadron in flight with an open bomb bay. 846 NAS was assigned to the escort carrier HMS Trumpeter (D09) in 1944–1945 and mainly operated around Norway.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo, # 1996.253.1737.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303733
36k

A Grumman Avenger T.R. Mk.I of No.846 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, landing on the flight deck of HMS Trumpeter (D09), 1944–1945. The arrester hook is just about to make contact with the flight deck.

Photo Hudson, F A (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer. This photograph A 25381 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. It was created and released by the Imperial War Museums on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303733a
28k

A Grumman Avenger T.R. Mk.I of No.846 Squadron, Fleet Air Arm, being catapulted off HMS Trumpeter (D09), 1944–1945.

Photo Hudson, F A (Lt), Royal Navy official photographer. This photograph A 25377 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. It was created and released by the Imperial War Museums on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303710
81k

HMS Trumpeter (ex-Bastian, CVE-37) refueling the Flower-class corvette HMS Honeysuckle (K27) in a very icy Kola Inlet.

Imperial War Museums, Admiralty Official Collection, Photo No. © IWM A28203.

Robert Hurst
Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303718
58k

A motor-boat from HMS Trumpeter (D09) working its way through the ice after the carrier's arrival at the Kola Inlet, Russia, March 1945. Trumpeter had been a part of the escort for convoy JW65. Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Photo # A 28206 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303727
74k

Undated photo of an escorting Russian Naval tug assisting the HMS Trumpeter's (D09) motor boat (the same as above?) through the Kola Harbor ice on the carrier's arrival.

Photo # A 28205 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums, Admiralty Official Collection.

Mike Green
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303706
180k

Operation Judgement, May 4, 1945, an attack on the U-boat base at Kilbotn, near Harstad, Norway. This proved to be the last offensive operation by the Home Fleet, as the war in Europe ended just a few days later.

The main targets of the attack are, in fact, hidden behind water columns and smoke in the center of the photo. They were the depot ship Black Watch and the Type VIIC submarine U-711 — they were both sunk. The ship visible in the center of the pic is in all probability the motor vessel Senja, also sunk in this attack but raised and repaired after the war. U-711 was the last U-boat sunk by the Fleet Air Arm in WW2. Note, on the lower left corner, part of the wing of an attacking aircraft; the ship visible just above and forward of the wing tip is the old Norwegian coastal defense ship Harald Hårfrage (commissioned in 1897), then in German hands and converted into a floating anti-aircraft battery — she was not considered a worthy target.

Operation Judgement was a repetition of Operation Newmarket (April 1945), intended to destroy the depot and store ships used to support the U-boat attacks on the convoys to North Russia, but cancelled because weather prevented aircraft from taking off. In May, however, the weather was perfect (as can be deduced from the photo) and the attack was carried out by Avenger torpedo-bombers and Wildcat fighters from Squadrons 846 (HMS Trumpeter, Capt. K. S. Colquhoun), 853 (HMS Queen, Capt. K. J. D'Arcy), and 882 (HMS Searcher, Capt. J. W. Grant).

John Pine explains: "I discovered this picture amongst family papers. It was in a big brown envelope addressed to "C in C H F" (Admiral [Sir Henry R.] Moore). My father was in charge of his staff. On the back of the photograph is typed 'Photographic Section H.M.S. Trumpeter'."

John Pine
Commercial Service
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303705
136k Ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, as Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), shortly after being acquired from the US Government. At that time she was owned by "Holland America Line," Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Original photo courtesy "Holland America Line." Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303719
49k Ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, as Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), date and location unknown. Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303720
113k Ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, as Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), date and location unknown. Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303721
82k

Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, departing Rotterdam, The Netherlands, date unknown.

Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303722
62k

Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, Vancouver, BC, date unknown.

Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303709
172k

Ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, as Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), in the port of Bremen, Germany, in the late 1950s.

Postcard photo. Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303711
241k

Alblasserdyk, ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, working cargo in her home port of Rotterdam, The Netherlands, circa 1962.

This photograph was included in a photo calendar issued in the early 60s by her owner, famous former Dutch steamship company Holland-America Lijn. The company ceased to exist in the early 70s.

Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303704
126k Ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, as Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag) on the River Weser, Germany, January 1965. This vessel was sold to Greek buyers in 1966 and renamed Irene Valmas. She was scrapped in Castellón, Spain in 1971. Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303723
63k

Irene Valmas (Greek flag), ex-Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, location and date unknown (late 1960s).

Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
Bastian CVE-37/HMS Trumpeter
NS0303726
164k

Irene Valmas (Greek flag), ex-Alblasserdyk (Dutch flag), ex-Bastian, ex-HMS Trumpeter, underway around 1970, location unknown.

Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus

Read the Bastian (CVE-37) / HMS Trumpeter (D09) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages by Andrew Toppan.
"A History of HMS Trumpeter" by Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers

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Last update: 17 September 2024