USS Charger (CVE-30)
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| Career | |
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| Laid down: | 19 January 1940 |
| Launched: | 1 March 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 3 March 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 15 March 1946 |
| Fate: | merchant ship; sold for scrap, 1969 |
| General Characteristics |
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| Displacement: | 8,000 tons |
| Length: | 492 ft |
| Beam: | 69.5 ft |
| Extreme width: | 112 ft |
| Draft: | 26.25 ft |
| Speed: | 17 knots |
| Complement: | 856 officers and men |
| Armament: | 1 x 5-inch gun |
| Aircraft: | 30+ |
The USS Charger (CVE-30) (originally AVG-30, then later ACV-30) was launched 1 March 1941 by Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania; as Rio de la Plata; sponsored by Mrs. F. Espil; commissioned as HMS Charger (BAVG-4), Captain George Abel-Smith, RN, in command; transferred to the U.S. Navy 4 October 1941, reclassified AVG-30, 24 January 1942; commissioned 3 March 1942, Captain T. L. Sprague in command; and reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Charger's area of operations throughout the war was Chesapeake Bay, and her duty the basic task of training pilots' and ships' crews in carrier operations. Men trained on her decks played an important role in the successful contest for the Atlantic with hostile submarines carried out by the escort carrier groups. Reclassified ACV-30 on 20 August 1942, and CVE-30 on 15 July 1943, Charger left Chesapeake Bay for two ferry voyages, one to Bermuda in October 1942, and one to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in September 1945. Charger was decommissioned at New York 15 March 1946, and sold into merchant service 30 January 1947 as Fairsea. The ship was disabled by an engine fire 29 January 1969 and due to a lack of spare parts was sold for scrap in Italy in 1969.
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