USS Willapa (CVE-53)
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| Career | |
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| Laid down: | 21 May 1943 |
| Launched: | 8 November 1943 |
| Commissioned (RN): | 5 February 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 12 March 1946 |
| Fate: | merchant ship |
| General Characteristics |
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| Displacement: | 7,800 tons |
| Length: | 495' 8" |
| Beam: | 69' 6" |
| Draft: | 26' |
| Speed: | 17.5 knots |
| Complement: | 890 officers and men |
| Armament: | 2 x 5-inch guns, 4 x twin 40mm Bofors, 10 x single 20mm Oerlikon |
| Aircraft: | 28 |
The USS Willapa (CVE-53) (originally AVG-53 then later ACV-53), a Ruler-class escort aircraft carrier (originally an auxiliary aircraft carrier) in the United States Navy, leased to the United Kingdom. Willapa was laid down on 21 May 1943 at Seattle, Washington, by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co. and reclassified CVE-53 on 10 June 1943. Launched on 8 November 1943, the ship was transferred under lend-lease to the Royal Navy on 5 February 1944 to be manned by a Canadian crew. Renamed HMS Puncher (D79), the carrier served the Royal Canadian Navy in the Atlantic and Mediterranean for the duration of hostilities, mainly in a training role. Decommissioned on 16 February 1946 at Norfolk, Virginia, and returned to American custody on that day, the escort carrier was struck from the Navy Registry on 12 March 1946, having never seen active service with the United States Navy. Initially sold to William B. St. John, of New York City, on 9 January 1947, the carrier was subsequently resold to a British firm on 4 February 1947 and converted for mercantile service. She later served successively as Muncaster Castle, Bardic and Ben Nevis until she was scrapped in Taiwan in 1973.
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