USS ''Pybus'' (CVE-34) was initially a United States Navy . The ship was transferred to the United Kingdom for service in the Royal Navy as the HMS ''Emperor'' (D98) as part of the

Lend-Lease Lend-Lease, formally the Lend-Lease Act and introduced as An Act to Promote the Defense of the United States (), was a policy under which the United States supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union and other Allied nations with food, oil, ...

program of World War II. Entering service in 1943, the ship took part in operations against the and the invasions of Normandy and

southern France Southern France, also known as the South of France or colloquially in French language, French as , is a defined geographical area consisting of the regions of France that border the Atlantic Ocean south of the Marais Poitevin,Louis Papy, ''Le midi ...

. Returned to the United States following the war, the carrier was sold for

scrap Scrap consists of Recycling, recyclable materials, usually metals, left over from product manufacturing and consumption, such as parts of vehicles, building supplies, and surplus materials. Unlike waste, scrap Waste valorization, has monetary ...

in 1946.

Design and description

The ''Bogue'' class were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships. All the ships had a complement of 646 and an overall length of , a

beam Beam may refer to: Streams of particles or energy *Light beam, or beam of light, a directional projection of light energy **Laser beam *Particle beam, a stream of charged or neutral particles **Charged particle beam, a spatially localized grou ...

of and a draught of .Cocker (2008), p.82. Propulsion was provided a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving , which could propel the ship at .Cocker (2008), p.79. Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the

starboard Port and starboard are nautical terms for watercraft and aircraft, referring respectively to the left and right sides of the vessel, when aboard and facing the bow (front). Vessels with bilateral symmetry have left and right halves which are ...

side, two aircraft lifts by , one aircraft catapult and nine

arrestor wires An arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is a mechanical system used to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBA ...

.Cocker (2008), p.82. Aircraft could be housed in the by hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised two 4"/50, 5"/38 or 5"/51 dual purpose guns in single mounts, sixteen 40 mm Bofors

anti-aircraft gun Anti-aircraft warfare, counter-air or air defence forces is the battlespace response to aerial warfare, defined by NATO as "all measures designed to nullify or reduce the effectiveness of hostile air action".AAP-6 It includes surface based, ...

s in twin mounts and twenty 20 mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts. They had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Grumman F6F Hellcat, Vought F4U Corsair or

Hawker Sea Hurricane The Hawker Hurricane was a British single-seat fighter aircraft designed and predominantly built by Hawker Aircraft Ltd. Some versions were built in Canada by the Canada Car and Foundry Co Ltd British variants Hurricane Mk I ; Hurricane Mk I ( ...

fighter aircraft Fighter aircraft are fixed-wing military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat. In military conflict, the role of fighter aircraft is to establish air superiority of the battlespace. Domination of the airspace above a battlefield ...

and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger

anti-submarine An anti-submarine weapon (ASW) is any one of a number of devices that are intended to act against a submarine and its crew, to destroy (sink) the vessel or reduce its capability as a weapon of war. In its simplest sense, an anti-submarine weapo ...

aircraft.

Construction and career

''Pybus'', originally designated AVG-34, was laid down on 23 June 1942 as MC Hull No. 245 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Washington. Reclassified as ACV-34 on 20 August 1942, the ship was launched on 7 October 1942 and commissioned into the United States Navy on 31 May 1943 at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, Washington. ''Pybus'' was reclassified as CVE-34 on 15 July 1943 and assigned for transfer to the United Kingdom under the Lend-Lease agreement. From March to April 1945 she was attached to the

21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron The 21st Aircraft Carrier Squadron also called Twenty First Aircraft Carrier Squadron was a Royal Navy aircraft carrier formation from March 1945 to December 1945. During its existence the squadron's usual composition varied depending on its op ...

. ''Pybus'' reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet after shakedown, in a temporary status, before she decommissioned on 6 August 1943 at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

. She was accepted that day by the UK and placed in service as HMS ''Emperor'' with the

pennant number In the Royal Navy and other navies of Europe and the Commonwealth of Nations, ships are identified by pennant number (an internationalisation of ''pendant number'', which it was called before 1948). Historically, naval ships flew a flag that iden ...

D98. During her British service, she helped provide fighter cover for airstrikes on ''Tirpitz'', served on

detail during

Operation Overlord Operation Overlord was the codename for the Battle of Normandy, the Allies of World War II, Allied operation that launched the successful invasion of German-occupied Western Front (World War II), Western Europe during World War II. The operat ...

, and helped support the invasion of Southern France (

Operation Dragoon Operation Dragoon (initially Operation Anvil) was the code name for the landing operation of the Allied invasion of Provence (Southern France) on 15August 1944. Despite initially designed to be executed in conjunction with Operation Overlord, th ...

). Following the war, ''Emperor'' was returned to the United States Navy on 12 February 1946, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 28 March 1946, and sold 14 May to Patapsco Scrap Co.,

Baltimore, Maryland Baltimore ( , locally: or ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland, fourth most populous city in the Mid-Atlantic, and the 30th most populous city in the United States with a population of 585,708 in 2020. Baltimore was ...

for scrapping.

Notes

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Emperor (D98) Ships built in Seattle Ruler-class escort carriers 1942 ships