The second USS Glacier (CVE-33) (originally designated AVG-33 then later ACV-33) was an escort aircraft carrier

Escort aircraft carrier

The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...

 built by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation

Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation

The Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation was a United States corporation which built ships for the US Navy and merchant marine during World War II ....

. (later Todd Pacific) of Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma, Washington

Tacoma is a mid-sized urban port city and the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. The city is on Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, and northwest of Mount Rainier National Park. The population was 198,397, according to...

, under Maritime Commission Contract. Glacier was launched 7 September 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Richard P. Luker, and commissioned 12 July 1943, Comdr. Ward C. Gilbert in command. Her designation was changed to CVE-33 on 15 July 1943.

Glacier was one of a large group of escort carriers transferred to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

 under lend-lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

. She was transferred on 31 July 1943 at Vancouver, British Columbia, and served during World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

 as HMS Atheling (D51). Atheling put in to Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk, Virginia

Norfolk is an independent city in the Commonwealth of Virginia in the United States. With a population of 242,803 as of the 2010 Census, it is Virginia's second-largest city behind neighboring Virginia Beach....

, 6 December 1946 for return to the United States

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

. Her name was stricken from the Naval Register 7 February 1947 and she was sold to National Bulk Carriers, Inc. as the merchant ship Roma 26 November 1947. She was scrapped in Italy

Italy

Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...

 in November 1967.
From October 1945 to April 1946, her commanding officer was Capt. John Inglis

John Gilchrist Inglis

Vice Admiral Sir John Gilchrist Thesiger "Tommy" Inglis KBE, CB was a British Royal Navy officer who became Head of Naval Intelligence. In this capacity, he attempted to cover-up the "Buster Crabb affair" in 1956....

, who was to become director of Naval Intelligence

Naval Intelligence Division

The Naval Intelligence Division was the intelligence arm of the British Admiralty before the establishment of a unified Defence Staff in 1965. It dealt with matters concerning British naval plans, with the collection of naval intelligence...

 in July 1954.

Design and description

These ships were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships. All the ships had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of 492 inch, a beam

Beam (nautical)

The beam of a ship is its width at the widest point. Generally speaking, the wider the beam of a ship , the more initial stability it has, at expense of reserve stability in the event of a capsize, where more energy is required to right the vessel from its inverted position...

 of 69 inch and a draught of 25 in 6 in (7.77 m). Propulsion was provided a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving 9,350 brake horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at 16.5 knots (9 m/s).

Aircraft facilities were a small combined bridge–flight control on the starboard side, two aircraft lifts 43 feet (13.1 m) by 34 feet (10.4 m), one aircraft catapult

Aircraft catapult

An aircraft catapult is a device used to launch aircraft from ships—in particular aircraft carriers—as a form of assisted take off. It consists of a track built into the flight deck, below which is a large piston or shuttle that is attached through the track to the nose gear of the aircraft, or in...

 and nine arrestor wires

Arresting gear

Arresting gear, or arrestor gear, is the name used for mechanical systems designed to rapidly decelerate an aircraft as it lands. Arresting gear on aircraft carriers is an essential component of naval aviation, and it is most commonly used on CATOBAR and STOBAR aircraft carriers. Similar systems...

. Aircraft could be housed in the 260 feet (79.2 m) by 62 feet (18.9 m) hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised: two 4 inch Dual Purpose

Dual purpose gun

A dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.-Description:Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...

 guns in single mounts, sixteen 40 mm Bofors

Bofors 40 mm gun

The Bofors 40 mm gun is an anti-aircraft autocannon designed by the Swedish defence firm of Bofors Defence...

 anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts and twenty 20 mm Oerlikon

Oerlikon 20 mm cannon

The Oerlikon 20 mm cannon is a series of autocannons, based on an original design by Reinhold Becker of Germany, very early in World War I, and widely produced by Oerlikon Contraves and others...

 anti-aircraft cannons in single mounts. They had a maximum aircraft capacity of twenty-four aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet, Vought F4U Corsair or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter

Fighter aircraft

A fighter aircraft is a military aircraft designed primarily for air-to-air combat with other aircraft, as opposed to a bomber, which is designed primarily to attack ground targets...

 aircraft and Fairey Swordfish

Fairey Swordfish

The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber built by the Fairey Aviation Company and used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during the Second World War...

 or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft.