- HMS Pursuer (D73)
The USS "St. George" (CVE-17) (originally AVG-17 then ACV-17) was laid down on
31 July 1941 as a C3-S-A2 byIngalls Shipbuilding , Hull 296 ofPascagoula, Mississippi , underMaritime Commission contract as the (second) SS "Mormacland" for Moore-McCormack Lines, Inc. (MC Hull 163). She was renamed "St. George" (AVG-17) by theUnited States Navy on7 January 1942 ; and assigned to theUnited Kingdom underLend-Lease as HMS "Pursuer" (D73) on24 February 1942 .Launched on
18 July 1942 ; sponsored by Mrs. Mary Ann S. Bartman; reclassified ACV-17 on20 August 1942 ; acquired by the Navy and simultaneously transferred to Britain on14 June 1943 . She was reclassified CVE-17 on15 July 1943 ."Pursuer" served in the Home Fleet during
World War II , primarily on convoy escort duty. On3 April 1944 , however, she provided fighter support for an air strike on the German battleship "Tirpitz" inAltenfjord ,Norway , which disabled the German ship for three months. In August and September 1944, she served with a British carrier group providing air cover for the landings in southernFrance , and as ananti-submarine warfare vessel at theBattle of Normandy .The carrier was returned to
United States custody on12 February 1946 , struck from theNavy Register on28 March 1946 , and sold for scrapping on14 May 1946 to the Patapsco Steel Scrap Co.,Bethlehem, Pennsylvania .References
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