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| (add image here) | |
| Career |   |
|---|---|
| Laid down: | 17 December 1942 |
| Launched: | 18 May 1943 |
| Commissioned (RN): | 17 January 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 7 February 1947 |
| Fate: | merchant ship; sold for scrap, 1975 |
| General Characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 9,800 tons |
| Length: | 492.25 ft |
| Beam: | 69.5 ft |
| Extreme width: | 111.5 ft |
| Draft: | 25.5 ft |
| Speed: | 17 knots |
| Complement: | 646 officers and men |
| Armament: | 2 x 5-inch guns, 16 x twin 40mm Bofors, 20 x single 20mm Oerlikon |
| Aircraft: | 24 |
The USS Prince (CVE-45) (originally named McClure, designated AVG-45 then later ACV-45) was an escort aircraft carrier laid down 17 December 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Co., Tacoma, Washington, renamed Prince 13 November 1942; launched 18 May 1943; sponsored by Mrs. J. L. McGuigan; reclassified CVE-45 on 15 July 1943; and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease 17 October 1943.
Prince served the United Kingdom as HMS Rajah (D-10). She was returned to the United States Navy at Norfolk, Virginia, 13 December 1946. Struck from the Naval Vessel Registry 7 February 1947, she was delivered to her purchaser, Waterman Steamship Corp., 7 July, and became the merchant ship Drente (later renamed Lambros, then Ulysses) in 1948. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1975.
