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HMS NABOB, photo taken from HMS PUNCHER at Vancouver while both escort carriers were completing in February 1943. PUNCHER (foreground) is in the builders hands, just starting conversion to RN standards, while NABOB is undergoing acceptance trials. Both escort aircraft carriers are manned by Royal Canadian Navy ship’s company’s and are considered to be the RCN’s first aircraft carriers.
HMS Puncher
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USS Willapa (AVG-53/ACV-53/CVE-53) was a Bogue-class escort carrier (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) built during World War II for the United States Navy. Never seeing American service, the ship was transferred to the United Kingdom as part of Lend-Lease. The escort carrier was renamed
HMS Puncher (D79) of the British Ruler class and crewed by the Royal Canadian Navy with aircrew from the Fleet Air Arm. Primarily used as an aircraft transport, Puncher took part in operations along the Norwegian coast towards the end of the war.
HMS Nabob
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HMS Nabob (D77) was a Ruler-class escort aircraft carrier which served in the Royal Navy during 1943 and 1944. The ship was built in the United States as the Bogue-class USS Edisto (CVE-41) (originally AVG-41 then later ACV-41) but did not serve with the United States Navy. In August 1944 the ship was torpedoed by the German submarine U-354 while participating in an attack on the German battleship Tirpitz. Nabob survived the attack, but upon returning to port, was considered too damaged to repair. The escort carrier remained in port for the rest of the war and was returned to the United States following it. Nabob is one of two Royal Navy escort carriers built in the United States which is listed as lost in action (both of which were damaged beyond repair, but returned) during World War II.
