A History of HMS ARCHER

HMS ARCHER was laid down 1st August 11939 at Sun Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Chester PA as Maritime Commission hull number 46, Sun number 184, as a 11,900 ton C3 type freighter MORMACLAND for the US operator Moore-McCormack Lines. She was launched on 14 December 1939 and was completed on April 24th 1940. MORMACLAND was purchased by the US Navy 20 May 1941 for conversion into an Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier for transfer to the Britain upon completion as BAVG 1. She was to be converted in the same manner as the USS LONG ISLAND. Conversion work was to be carried out by the Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Virginia. [US Navy classification ‘BAVG’ designates her as ‘British Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier’ – her predecessor and sister ship, USS LONG ISLAND was AVG 1]

Her conversion consisted of installing a lightweight wooden flight deck on a truss work superstructure which covered 70% of the ship’s length, fitting a small enclosed hangar beneath the aft of the flight deck to be serviced by a single lift. ARCHER had no island superstructure; a small navigation bridge was built under the forward edge of the flight deck while the original bridge was retained under the flight deck with enlarged wings on either side to give adequate visibility. Her original funnel had been removed and replaced by a system which split the exhausts into to deck level vents which emerged amidships on either side of the flight deck. While this solution neatly concealed the funnel and reduced her silhouette it was soon found that when steaming at maximum speed, necessary for flying operations, ARCHER’s Busche-Sultzer diesel engine produced volumes of black smoke which could completely obscure the flight deck so much so that pilots could see neither the batsman nor the deck.

Upon the completion of her conversion into a carrier on November 15th 1941 she was transferred to the Admiralty and commissioned into the Royal Navy as HMS ARCHER (D78) at Norfolk, Virginia, on November 17th, Acting Captain J.I. Robertson RN in command.

After storing and manning ship ARCHER began her acceptance trials in Hampton Roads on Sunday December 23rd 1941; after ship handling runs and other acceptance trials three US Navy Wildcats flew out to her for deck landing and accelerator trials, safely landing aboard at 11:06 a.m. Tragedy was to strike however on the first catapult launch half an hour later; the hydraulic aircraft accelerator misfired causing the fighter to be released prematurely. Without sufficient airspeed the Wildcat dove into the sea off the bow; a quick thinking crew member, Able Seaman Giddings, dove over the side and made repeated attempts to find the pilot, Lieutenant-Commander J. J. McRoberts, USN but without success. Later the remaining two Martlets were flown off the deck while steaming at full speed into the wind as the accelerator was damaged beyond repair by the ship’s engineers. ARCHER putt into Philadelphia Navy Yard on Christmas Eve for repairs, she was not ready to continue her trials until the New Year.

HMS Archer pictured with a Martlet and two Swordfish on her flight deck.

On January 2nd, 1942 ARCHER safely catapulted three Martlets and completed her sea trials. A week later on January 9th ARCHER proceeded down the Delaware River bound for Norfolk, Virginia to embark a ferry load of aircraft before setting out on her maiden Atlantic crossing to the UK. . ARCHER’s bas luck with mechanical systems struck again before she even reached the open sea, her gyro compass failed near Goose Island. After steaming through the night at 14 knots her engine began to cause concern and she had to heave to in order to affect repairs at 07:20: she arrived at the Naval Operating Base at Norfolk at 12:47. On the morning of January 12th she embarked eleven Martlets (the Wildcat was named the Martlet when first in RN service) as cargo. ARCHER left Norfolk on the morning of the 13th and suffered more mechanical failures; first her steering broke down at 10:30, followed by the gyrocompass which failed again at 1140. After making repairs she resumed course for Kingston, Jamaica

Later that night ARCHER was involved in a serious incident while 200 miles east of Charleston, South Carolina when a ship loomed out of the darkness to port; ARCHER‘s engines were put into full reverse but too late to have any serious effect, the ships collided. ARCHER was struck on her port bow by the Peruvian merchantman S.S. BRAZOS tearing a large gash in her side; No 1 hold began to fill with water and the she began to settle by the bow, when damage control parties had stemmed the water ARCHER had settled with a 5-degree trim down by the bows. The BRAZOS was also down by the bows, and both ships were dead in the water; attempts to assist the BRAZOS were unsuccessful and at 0300 the following morning the ten officers and twenty-five men who were aboard transferred to ARCHER using their own boats ARCHER’s captain, who had contacted US coastguard authorities and requested assistance, started the ship moving towards the US coast at first light; the ship could only make minimal progress going astern because her single large screw was half out of the water. The BRAZOS was still afloat, but she later sank. The loss of the S.S. BRAZOS was to raise serious legal questions about which government (if any) should be sued for damages by her owners Agwilines Inc, New York [see extract Lauterpacht & Greenwood (1951)]

Two days later the US Coast Guard tug TALLAPOOSA rendezvoused with ARCHER at 02:40 on the 16th, and a tow was established by 07:50. The TALLAPOOSA however was not an ocean going tug and she struggled to reach a best speed was only 1 knot; after two hours it was decided that Archer would cast off the tow and contuse under her own power until a more powerful tug could reach her. Later the following day the sea going tug CHEROKEE arrived and took up the tow. On the after-noon of January 21st, eight days after the collision, Archer reached Columbus Pier, Charleston; it was to be another week before she went into dry dock for repairs. It was not until March 7th that Archer was moved to Pier 317 to begin storing and ammunitioning ship. Next she embarked twelve Martlets (the original 11 +1?) as cargo for delivery to the Fleet Carrier HMS ILLUSTRIOUS, and finally the four Swordfish aircraft of her own small Squadron, 834 Naval Air Squadron which had flown out form Jamaica to join her.

ARCHER’s new orders were to provide anti submarine patrols for a convoy bound for Sierra Leone and to deliver her cargo to ILLUSTRIOUS. She sailed from Charleston on Wednesday March 18th bound for San Juan, Puerto Rico, in company with the cruiser DEVONSHIRE and two destroyers of the 1st Support Group, in readiness to escort a fast convoy to West Africa. Convoy AS.2 sailed from Charleston for Freetown, Sierra Leone on the 19th and comprised of four merchant ships AGWILEON, BRAZIL, MONTEREY and MORMACTIDE. On the 22nd ARCHER’s steering gear again gave trouble, but this was rectified on passage, she arrived San Juan next day; she left with DEVONSHIRE, three escort vessels and joined up with the convoy for Freetown on Tuesday March 24th. Regular anti-submarine patrols were flown at intervals throughout the day from dawn until dusk, no U-Boats were spotted however and the squadron suffered one serious crash on March 30th when a returning Swordfish caught its tail hook on the lift edge, this ripped free of the aircraft which ended up in the barrier. The aircraft was seriously damaged but no-one was injured. The ship's engines and gyro compass both continued to give trouble during the crossing but ARCHER and her charges arrived safely at Freetown on April 3rd 1942.

HMS ILLUSTRIOUS was already in the harbour; on board this carrier was 882 Naval Air Squadron equipped with Martlet fighters, a detachment of six of these fighters and personnel were to be transferred to ARCHER to provide a fighter capability, in exchange ARCHER transferred the twelve new machines that she had brought from America. This new fighter capability was eroded almost overnight when Lieutenant-Commander (Flying), Lieutenant-Commander A. C. R. Duvall RN was informed that ILLUSTRIOUS was to retain four of the machines to bolster reserves for the upcoming invasion of Madagascar; two Martlets joined the ship on April 9th.

It was hoped that ARCHER’s next orders would be to proceed to the UK for refit and modification but before this could happen her engines let her down again. Her diesel engines were connected to the propeller shaft through a magnetic clutch mechanism, it was this piece of machinery that was most often giving trouble; as the clutch disengaged itself the engines raced out of control and a tremendous shuddering would be felt throughout the ship. Such an occurrence meant stopping both engines and attempting to fix the clutch, this was problematic if there were aircraft aloft, as well as the treat from any nearby enemy submarines.

On June 26th Archer left Freetown for New York, via Bermuda, where she was to undergo repairs to machinery and receive modifications to improve her aircraft ferrying capabilities. Work commenced n July 15th and were to take three and a half months to complete; Archer sailed from New York with convoy UGS2 on November 2nd 1942 operated a an aircraft ferry carrier carrying US personnel and 30 P-40 Warhawks from the USA to Casablanca, North Africa.

On completion of the voyage to Casablanca Archer arrived a Gibraltar on November 18th to await a UK bound convoy MKF3 which sailed on the 27th. Upon her arrival in the UK Archer was to enter dockyard facilities in Liverpool for a further two month refit and modification period. This work commenced on December 4th and included lengthening her flight deck. Work completed Archer was reassigned to Western Approaches Command on February 17th 1943 and began a period of workup operations in the Clyde and Scapa Flow areas. 892 squadron embarked on February 19th with 9 Martlet V fighters (reducing to 3 in June). They were joined by 819 squadron on February 28th 1943 operating 9 Swordfish IIs.

HMS Archer was inspected by His Majesty King George VI on March 20th before beginning another round of defect rectifications in shipyards on the Clyde and in Belfast. It was to be the start of May before Archer was ready to resume active duties, sailing from the Clyde to join the 4th Escort Group, operating off Hvalfjord, Iceland, on convoy support operations in the North Atlantic.

On May 5th both of Archer’s squadrons flew ashore to RN Air Section Kaldadarnes, Iceland, returning onboard the next day. On Sunday May 23rd a Swordfish from 819 squadron, made a rocket attack on, and sank the German U-boat U-752; the first U-boat to be sunk by rocket attack alone, and only the second to be destroyed by aircraft operating from an escort carrier.

While operating with EG 4 Archer covered convoys ON 182 and HX239 before being withdrawn for exercises in the Irish Sea from June 27th. On completion of these exercises Archer was allocated to the Commander-in-Chief Plymouth to undertake anti-submarine sweeps in the Bay of Biscay beginning July 19th 1943. This was a short lived patrol, further defects and a lack of U-Boat activity in the area saw Archer withdraw to Devonport Dockyard after only a week on station, arriving at Devonport on the 27th. The next day she began a defect rectification period before sailing to the Clyde to begin major engine repairs. Archer arrived in the Clyde on August 3rd,

Archer had been plagued by engine and machinery defects from the beginning, and these came to a head when work commenced on major engine repairs in August. It was found that her defects were extensive and the Admiralty decided to decommission her effective from on November 6th 1943. Archer was now employed as a stores hulk moored in the Gareloch; she was towed to Loch Alsh in March 1944 and was used as an accommodation ship from March 6th until being ordered to Belfast at he beginning of August 1944 for repairs, to replace main gearing and prepare her for service as an aircraft ferry.

This final bought of maintenance and conversion work was to take seven and a half months, upon completion on March 15th 1945 she emerged as the Empire Lagan, and was transferred to the Ministry of War Transport (MoWT) for use as a dedicated aircraft ferry carrier. During her time as a ferry carrier she was managed by the Blue Funnel Line for MoWT.

She was returned to the US Navy at Norfolk, Virginia on January 9th 1946 and was stricken for disposal on February 26th 1946. Purchased by Sven Salen of Stockholm and registered under the ownership of Rederi A/S Pulp Company as Anna Salen, she was rebuilt as a passenger ship with accommodation for 600 single class passengers. Used as an emigrant ship from 1949 on various routes, including Europe to Canada and Australia she was further sold on to Cia Nav SA Piraeus, Greece in 1955. Renamed Tasmania she operated on the Piraeus-Melbourne service of the Hellenic Mediterranean Line. In 1958 she was rebuilt to 7,638 gross tons and in 1961 was sold to China Union Lines, Taipei and renamed Union Reliance. On November 7 1961, the Union Reliance collided with the Norwegian tanker Beran in the Houston Ship Channel and was beached, on fire, to avoid blocking the waterway. She was towed to Galveston on November 11; she was sold for breaking in Jan 1962, work starting in March 1962 at New Orleans.

Content revised: July 2008