American escort carrier Winjah (1943-1944 and 1946-1947) later the British carrier HMS Reaper (D82) 1944-1946 (1967)

 Ron van Maanen

Of the Bogue-class escort carrier (other sources claimed the Ameer-class). Laid down as a so-called C3 mercantile hull the USS Winjah (in advance AVG-54, later ACV-54 and CVE-54) at Tacoma, Washington on the yard of Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding 5 June 1943 and 18 days later assigned to England via a lend-lease construction (the 1942 US?UK Lend Lease Agreement), became on 15 July the CVE-54, launched on 22 November of the same year and on 18 February a year later handed over to the Royal British Navy where she was commissioned as the Reaper. On 13 May 1946 decommissioned at Norfolk and transferred to the US Government which decided to dispose her on 14 June and she was on the 8^th of the next month stricken. On 12 February a year later was she sold to the Water Steamship Company of Mobile, Alabama which take her in service as the merchant ship South Africa Star. Broken up at Nikara, Japan in May 1967.

With a displacement of 7,800 tons were her dimensions 495’8”x 69’6”x 26. Her steam turbines and 2 boilers supplied 8,500 shp allowing a speed of 17, 5 knots. Her crew numbered 890 men. The armament consisted of 2-15” guns, 4x2-4cm Bofors guns, 10x1-2cm Oerlikon guns and 24-28 aircraft as Grumman Martlets and Avengers and Fairey Swordfishs. The aircraft were placed in a hangar of 260 x 62 feet situated below the flight deck and she was equipped with 2 aircraft lifts and one catapult.