Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS CARNEGIE   (CVE-38)  /  HMS EMPRESS (D42)


Contributed by Tommy Trampp



Battle Honours

Atlantic 1944 — Burma 1945
CLASS - BOGUE
Displacement 7,800 Tons, Dimensions, 495' 8" (oa) x 69' 6" x 26' (Max)
Armament 2 x 5"/51 4 x 40mm, 10 x 20mm, 28 Aircraft.
Machinery, 8,500 SHP; Allis-Chambers, Geared Turbines, 1 screw
Speed, 17.5 Knots, Crew 890.
FATE
Stricken, 28 March 1946 (Navy Dept. Bulletin, 46-714, p. 13).

Click On Image
For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Name
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303814a
19k

According to DANFS, Carnegie is a bay on the coast of New Jersey. There is a Carnegie Lake in New Jersey, and a Carnegie Bay in Alexandria, New York.

In British service, this ship was named Empress. An Empress is a woman who is the sovereign or supreme monarch of an empire, or the wife or widow of an emperor. The ship's badge is a purple lozenge on a gold field, charged with an empress crown proper. In heraldry, the lozenge is the sign of a lady; the crown featured in this design was made for Queen Mary, Empress of India, for the royal visit to the Dheli Dubar, India, in 1911.

Ship's badge and partial text courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal Navy Escort Carriers.

NavSource
HMS Empress (D42)
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303808
113k

Undated pic of the escort carrier HMS Empress (D42) underway, location unknown. Photo courtesy of C.S. "Bill" Drake.

Photo and text from A Century of British Naval Aviation: 1909–2009, by David Wragg.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303812
58k

Undated picture of a Grumman Wildcat fighter being winched aboard HMS Empress at Norfolk, Virginia, USA during landing trials. Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Photo # A 26813 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303816
34k

A Grumman Avenger T.R. Mk.I taking off from the escort carrier HMS Empress (D42).

Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer.

This photograph A 26466 comes from the collections of the Imperial War Museums. This image was created and released by the Imperial War Museums on the IWM Non Commercial Licence.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303815
466k

Undated pic of a Grumman Hellcat Mk.II (JX715) of No.896 Squadron aboard the escort carrier HMS Empress (D42). Photo courtesy FAA Museum. Note: No.896 squadron was embarked on HMS Ameer (D01) and Empress.

From British Naval Aircraft Since 1912, by Owen Thetford.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303813
76k

British evacuees from the United States cross the Atlantic in the escort carrier HMS Empress (D42) during her passage home to a British port in April 1944. The party consisted of more than 50 women and children evacuees sent to the United States at the start of the Second World War. Shown here are some of the boys in the mess flat given over to them as a dormitory. Charles Bowes-Lyon, the Queen's nephew is seen wearing glasses. Photo taken by an unidentified Royal Navy official photographer. Photo # A 25194 from the collections of the Imperial War Museums.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303809
52k

HMS Empress tied to mooring buoy, August 1944. The carrier appears to be trimming by the stern, suggesting that she is not fully fuelled. Note the fake bow painted on the side as a camouflage measure. Ministry of Defence (Navy) photo, courtesy of Ray Burt.

Photo and text from Aircraft Carriers of the World, 1914 to the Present: An Illustrated Encyclopedia, by Roger Chesneau.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303810
117k

HMS Empress (D42) at anchor in the Firth of Forth, Scotland, 28 August 1944. Photo by unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Imperial War Museum (Photo No: FL 5795).

Robert Hurst
Mike Green
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303807
111k

A Grumman Avenger of 845 NAS taking off from the escort carrier HMS Empress (D42), ex-USS Carnegie (CVE-38), near Trincomalee, Ceylon, early 1945. (U.S.) National Museum of Naval Aviation photo no. 1996.253.1734.

Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303811
60k

HMS Empress (D42), apparently entering Valletta harbor, Malta. If this is so, then the date stamped on the photo must be wrong, as Empress was not in Malta on 12 February nor 2 December 1945.

Gerhard Mueller‑Debus
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303805
63k

"Photo taken looking down onto the flight deck of the Empress and my father [Bill McGregor] has written on the photo that this is VJ Day."

Ross McGregor, son of Bill McGregor
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0300803
49k HMS Hunter and HMS Empress entering Singapore harbour after the Japanese surrender (September 1945). Note aircraft and ship's company lined up on the flight deck. Two cruisers of the Eastern Fleet are also in harbour. Robert Hurst
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303806
54k

"HMS Empress entering Wellington Harbour in November of 1945 returning New Zealanders back to their homeland. Just prior to going to Wellington they had done the same thing in Melbourne (Australia)."

Ross McGregor, son of Bill McGregor
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303806a
125k

Same photo as NS0303806, digitally restored by Ross' sister-in-law.

The Crew
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303802
96k

Crossing the Equator.

Ross McGregor, son of Bill McGregor
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303803
44k

Signalmen Bill McGregor (left) and Dave Campbell.

"This photograph was taken in 1944 and my father had written on the photo 'Happy Days on the Home Fleet.' This is definitely on the Empress as this was the only ship that my father and Dave served together on. My guess is that this also could have been when the Empress was in for a refit on the Clyde River in Scotland just prior to joining the British East India Fleet."

Ross McGregor, son of Bill McGregor
CVE-38 Carnegie / HMS Empress
NS0303804
19k

Signalman Bill McGregor on board the Empress at the signal lamp, circa 1945.

Ross McGregor, son of Bill McGregor

For more photos and information about this ship, see:

Read the
USS CARNEGIE (CVE-38) / HMS EMPRESS (D42) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Not Applicable To This Ship
Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Main
Photo Index
Escort Carrier
Photo Index Page

Comments, Suggestions or Image submissions, E-mail Carrier Information
Problems and site related matters, E-mail Webmaster

This page was created by Paul Yarnall and is maintained by Fabio Peña
All pages copyright NavSource Naval History

Last update: 1 June 2024