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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

ESTERO (CVE-42) / HMS PREMIER (D23)

Contributed by Tommy Trampp

Battle Honours

Atlantic 1943 — Norway 1944 — Arctic 1941–44

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.

Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Returned to US	Stricken
*Ruler (US Bogue/Prince William) Class Escort Carrier*
-	31 Oct 1942	22 Mar 1943	3 Nov 1943	12 Apr 1946	21 May 1946
Builder: Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.

Built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier, but in almost all respects identical to the converted Bogues.
Named Estero after an island off the coast of Florida.
Initially designated AVG-42, was redesignated ACV-42, 20 Aug 1942, prior to construction.
Redesignated CVE-42, 15 Jul 1943.
Converted to RN standards by Burrard, Vancouver.
Returned to USN at Norfolk, Va.
Sold for commercial service. Acquired by Blue Star Line Ltd. (1948) and converted to a cargo liner by Gulf Shipbuilding Corp., Mobile, Ala. Renamed Rhodesia Star (British flag).
Sold to International Export Lines Ltd., Bahamas, and renamed Hong Kong Knight (1967).
Fate: Sold to Ta Yung Steel Corp., Taiwan, for scrapping (1974). Broken up at Kaohsiung, Taiwan, starting 10 Feb 1974.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
Name
NS0304209	85k	AVG-42 was named *Estero* for an island off the coast of Florida (NS0304209, courtesy of Google Maps.) She was transferred to the Royal Navy on 3 November 1943 and renamed *Premier*. The ship's badge (NS0304208, courtesy of Tommy Trampp) reflects the prime qualities of pure gold, strength of steel, and the integrity of silence and honesty—the Bezant is a gold coin, the Billet a steel bar, and the Rose is an ancient symbol of purity.	NavSource
NS0304208	63k		NavSource
Estero / HMS Premier (D23)
NS0304207	46k	HMS *Premier* (D23) moored to buoy at Greenock, Scotland, 23 March 1943. Photo taken by Lt S. J. Beadell, Official Royal Navy photographer. Photo No. A22526 from the Imperial War Museum Collection No. 4700-.	Robert Hurst
NS0304207a	49k	HMS *Premier* (D23) moored to buoy at Greenock, Scotland, 23 March 1943. Photo taken by Lt S. J. Beadell, Official Royal Navy photographer. Imperial War Museums Admiralty Official Collection, Photo No. © IWM (A 22527).	Mike Green
NS0304201	265k	HMS *Premier, February 1944 (thanks to Robert Hurst)*. Place unknown.	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
NS0304205	105k	HMS *Premier* taking on stores using her starboard "A" frame hoist, circa 1945. Photo: CFB Esquimalt Naval & Military Museum, VR999.693.25.	Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers
NS0304206	99k	This photo of HMS *Premier* was probably taken at Norfolk in the spring of 1946. She might had already been returned to U.S. custody by the time this picture was taken. From the collection of RM1c Dale Magnus, USN (Ret.), a Pearl Harbor Survivor. In the spring of 1946 Dale was assigned to USS Mindoro (CVE-120).	Dale Magnus, via Carol Edgemon Hipperson, author of "Radioman: An Eyewitness Account of Pearl Harbor and World War II in the Pacific."
Commercial Service
NS0304210	69k	British freighter *Rhodesia Star, ex-HMS Premier*; location, date and author unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304204	86k	*Rhodesia Star* anchored off Southend.	David Nixon
NS0304211	81k	British freighter *Rhodesia Star, ex-HMS Premier*; location, date and author unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304212	71k	British freighter *Rhodesia Star, ex-HMS Premier*; location, date and author unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304214	79k	British freighter *Rhodesia Star, ex-Estero, ex-HMS Premier*; location, date and author unknown.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304215	74k	British freighter *Rhodesia Star, ex-Estero, ex-HMS Premier*; location and date unknown. Skyfotos photo.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304202	123k	*Rhodesia Star, ex-HMS Premier*, leaving Bremen, Germany, March 1965.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304213	97k	Three archive pictures of ex-*Estero, ex-HMS Premier, as Hong Kong Knight*, in Hong Kong-based Orient Overseas Line (now Orient Overseas Container Line, OOCL) colors.	Gerhard Mueller-Debus
NS0304213a	122k
NS0304213b	163k
NS0304203	88k	*Rhodesia Star, ex-HMS Premier*, in the Weser River, Bremen, Germany, September 1966.	Photo by Gerhard Mueller-Debus