HMS Premier (D23)
HMS Premier served during World War Two as an escort carrier.
America leased the ship to Britain in 1943. It is an example of a vessel provided by the United State's 'lend/lease' programme which supplied Allied nations with military equipment and supplies during the War.
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HMS Premier (D23)
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Escort carriers
Escort carriers
The rise of the aircraft had been incredibly quick in the last years of the interwar period. Although convoys had been around for hundreds of years the new threat from aircraft and submarines was difficult to negate.
The best way to protect a slow convoy was by having aircraft in the air, deterring submarines, making them submerge to avoid being spotted and allowing enemy aircraft to be sighted and engaged much earlier.
The amount of land-based aircraft needed to protect convoys at sea was inhibiting due to the lack of time they could stay above the convoy.
At any one time, one plane would be above the convoy, whilst one relief was on the way and another was returning home.
On the ground an aircraft was being readied with one in reserve, the demands on personnel were large and tiring.
The ability to have an escort carrier as part of the convoy therefore became increasingly important. To address the lack of available carriers a number of solutions were designed.
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HMS Premier at war
HMS Premier at war
HMS Premier is an example of an escort carrier - large ships with merchant vessel hulls were converted into carriers with hangar and flightdeck. With British ports and factories at full stretch America provided a significant amount of these.
HMS Premier was commissioned in Seattle, America. With British ports and factories at full output Britain needed the assistance of American Industry.
After the entry of America into World War Two in 1941 Britain began to receive large amounts of materiel and ships from them. HMS Premier was originally laid down as USS Estero in October 1942.
When completed in 1943 she was then leased to Britain for the duration of the War. After the War the carrier was returned to America who sold her on as a merchant vessel.
The Rhodesia Star and Hong Kong Knight, as she was later renamed, continued to serve in that role until it was scrapped in 1974.
America was to lend/lease huge amounts of war supplies to Britain during the war, this assistance was one of the most important factors in the Allies victory.
The first task for HMS Premier’s crew, as it was for all new lend/lease carriers, was the conversion to Royal Navy standards.
The Royal Navy did not like the layout of the fuels system and also disapproved of using seawater as ballast for spent fuel.
The American system of using watertight bulkheads was also seen as below British standards. This delay in converting escort carriers frustrated Americans who saw the immediate benefits of convoy protection as paramount.
In 1944 once she had sailed to Liverpool she was then sent back again to America to pick up more lend/lease material, in this case aircrafts.
In this role she would not have a squadron or flight embarked, but instead ferried the aircraft on the flight deck and in her hangar space.
Ruler Class Escort carriers could embark up to 30 aircraft whilst being used on operations and could ferry up to 90 when not being used in that role.
The Royal Navy did not use HMS Premier as an aircraft carrier proper until the end of 1944 when she embarked 856 and 846 Naval Air Squadrons (NAS).
These squadrons flew Grumman Avengers, which were themselves a lend/lease aircraft from America. HMS Premier, operating out of Scapa Flow, helped to cover operations off the Norwegian coast as German forces were rolled back from occupied territories.
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Hangars
The use of an integrated hangar was a very important in the Ruler Class of Escort carrier. The ability to stow aircraft away from the flight deck meant they were safer from the weather and enemy attack.
The hangar also meant more space on the flight deck for landing. Just next to the hangar space and near the lift would be maintenance rooms that would employ all manner of craftsmen.
Joiners, carpenters, welders, riggers and other skilled trades were employed below decks. Without a hangar these men’s job would have to have been conducted on the flight deck, a potentially dangerous and difficult situation.
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Life on board escort carriers
Life onboard escort carriers
For the ships coming from America the food onboard was of a much higher standard than their equivalents in the Mediterranean or Indian Oceans.
The Americans standard of living had not dropped as steeply as war torn Europe and therefore their supplies of food and material were of a higher quality.
Life onboard a Royal Navy ship was still hard. Although onboard an escort carrier there was more room, when returning from America the ships were packed in with as many supplies as possible and space limited.
There was also the constant threat of U-Boat and air attack. A not unfamiliar concern for any sailor during World War Two but escort carriers carrying aviation fuel and stores were famously combustible. Life on an escort carrier presented its own set of difficulties and challenges.