HMS Ruler (D72)

"St. Joseph" (AVG/CVE/ACV-50) was a "Bogue"-class escort aircraft carrier, the first United States Navy ship named for St. Joseph Bay, Florida.

The name "St. Joseph" was assigned to MC hull 261, a converted C3-S-A1, on 23 August 1942. She was laid down on 25 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington; redesignated CVE-50 on 15 July; launched on 21 August 1943; sponsored by Mrs. W.W. Smyth; transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend Lease agreement on 22 December 1943; and commissioned the same day as HMS "Ruler" (D72) in the Royal Navy.

HMS "Ruler" served in the North Atlantic during 1944 protecting the vital flow of men and war material from the United States to England and to fighting fronts on the European continent. In early 1945, she transferred to the Pacific Theatre and supported the campaign to take Okinawa.

After the war ended, "Ruler" returned to the United States at Norfolk, Virginia, on 28 January 1946; was decommissioned from RN service on 29 January; and was accepted by the U.S. Navy the same day. In excess of the Navy’s needs, she was slated for disposal and struck from the Navy Register on 20 March 1946. She was sold on 13 May and scrapped within the year.

References

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External links

* [http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/s17/st_joseph.htm history.navy.mil: USS "St. Joseph"]
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/050.htm navsource.org: USS "St. Joseph"]
* [http://www.hazegray.org/danfs/carriers/cve50.txt hazegray.org: USS "St. Joseph"]