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NS0310911 |
120k |
ACV-53 (later CVE-53) was initially named Willapa
for a bay off southwestern Washington state, adjacent to Pacific County (NS0310911).
Transferred under Lend-Lease to the Royal Navy, 5 February 1944, to be manned by a Canadian crew,
she was renamed and served as HMCS Puncher. A "Puncher" is one who packs a punch. The
original design of the ship's badge, submitted by the ship's officers, had
the fist smashing upward through a bar (in some versions, a submarine).
(Map NS0310911 courtesy of Hamstermap.com.
Badge courtesy of Tommy Trampp. Partial text courtesy of Tony
Drury.) |
NavSource |
NS0305315 |
23k |
HMS Puncher (D79)
|
NS0305316 |
5.36M |
"CVE-53, Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier, Booklet of General Plans," Willapa,
HMS Puncher. |
Courtesy of Ed Zajkowski & the Historic Naval Ships Association |
NS0305301 |
108k |
Willapa (CVE-53) seen here as HMS Puncher (D79). |
©Joe Radigan |
NS0305302 |
333k |
HMS Puncher at Valletta (La Valetta) Harbour, Malta, carrying
Seafires. Date unknown. The fleet carrier HMS Formidable
(67) is visible in the background.
Photo P.A. Vicary. |
Robert Hurst
Jaume Cifré Sánchez |
NS0305306 |
164k |
HMS Puncher underway, date and location unknown. |
Robert Hurst
Jaume Cifré Sánchez |
NS0305313 |
73k |
HMS Puncher (D79) underway at Greenock, Scotland. Date unknown.
Source: Imperial War Museums Admiralty Official Collection
by Coote, R.G.G. (Lt), Photo No. © IWM(A 25712). |
Mike Green |
NS0305307 |
71k |
HMS Puncher moored in Burrard Inlet, North Vancouver between 12–27
Feb 1944 waiting on being taken in hand for modification by Burrard’s Dry Dock CO, LTD. Moved to
no. 8 berth, LaPointe Pier on the 28th. (Note no radar Bofors mounts fitted — she had just arrived
from Tacoma on completion of Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co builder’s trials). |
Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal
Navy Escort Carriers |
NS0305308 |
71k |
HMS Puncher underway in June 1944, with a Blackburn Shark
on the aft flight deck, location unknown. |
Robert Hurst |
NS0305310 |
212k |
HMS Puncher (D79), ex-Willapa (CVE-53), underway
on 27 August 1944, while off the Chesapeake Bay en route to Norfolk, Virginia, from Casablanca, Morocco.
Note: This image was originally filed in 1944, apparently on the basis of the number painted
on the ship's bow, as USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79). Her general configuration,
pattern camouflage and bow number confirm the ship's identity as Puncher.
Official U.S. Navy photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command (# NH 106583). |
Robert Hurst |
NS0305318 |
60k |
HMS Puncher (D79) at Greenock, Scotland, 21 September 1944.
Imperial War Museums, Admiralty Official Collection, by Coote,
R.G.G. (Lt), photo # ©IWM (A 25714). |
Mike Green |
NS0305309 |
88k |
Barracudas of 821 Squadron ranged on deck off Norwegian coast, with
Force 2, during Operation Shred, February 21, 1945. The cruiser HMS Dido is astern. |
Courtesy of Tony Drury, Royal
Navy Escort Carriers |
NS0305311 |
55k |
HMS Puncher (D79), ex-Willapa (CVE-53), at anchor,
April 1945, location unknown. Photo taken by an unknown Royal Navy official photographer. Imperial
War Museum, photo No. FL 17755. |
Robert Hurst |
NS0305317 |
79k |
Port side view of HMS Puncher (D79) at sea, May–June
1945.
Source: Imperial War Museums, Admiralty Official Collection,
Photo No. ©IWM (A 29604). |
Mike Green |
The Crew
|
NS0305312 |
460k |
"On the far left [...] is a photo of my father, Caven Carmichael. (I have
no idea who the other two men are.) He was a member of the Canadian Navy during WWII and part of the
crew of the HMS Puncher."
If you know who the other men are, please contact
us. |
Nancy MacDonald (nee Carmichael). |
NS0305319 |
392k |
"Officers and Crew of HMS Puncher at San Francisco, [June] 1944."
If you can identify any of them, please contact
us. |
Stephen J. Arnold. |
NS0305320 |
876k |
"Photograph of my late father, Walter Raddings (far left), annotation on
rear states HMS Puncher 1944."
Walter was born in May 1925, joined the Fleet Air Arm in 1942 and left in 1946. He also served aboard
HMS Slinger in the Far East. |
Trevor Raddings,
son of Walter Raddings. |
Commercial Service
|
NS0305305 |
117k |
Ex-Willapa, ex-HMS Puncher, as Bennevis
(British flag), in the Malacca Straits. |
Original photo by Airfoto Malacca. Submitted by Gerhard Mueller-Debus |
NS0305314 |
60k |
Ex-Willapa, ex-HMS Puncher, as Bennevis,
Ben Line cargo ship. |
Tommy Trampp |
NS0305321 |
689k |
The Ben Line cargo steamer SS Bennevis (Ex-HMS Puncher)
underway at Southampton in August 1964. Photo courtesy of Nick Robins.
Image taken from Wartime
Standard Ships, by Nick Robins. Pub. by Seaforth
Publishing, a division of Pen & Sword
Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley S70 2AS. ISBN 9781848323766. |
Robert Hurst |
NS0305303 |
70k |
Ex-Willapa, ex-HMS Puncher, as Bennevis
(British flag), in Hamburg, Germany, July 1968. This ship was scrapped in Kaohsiung, Taiwan, in 1973. |
Photos by Gerhard Mueller-Debus |
NS0305304 |
80k |
