HMS Premier (D23)

History
United States
Name	USS Estero
Namesake	Estero Island in Florida
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	31 October 1942
Launched	22 March 1943
Completed	October 1943
Fate	Transferred to Royal Navy
United Kingdom
Name	HMS Premier
Commissioned	3 November 1943
Decommissioned	21 May 1946
Identification	Pennant number:D23
Fate	Sold as merchant ship; for scrap 1974
General characteristics
Class and type	Bogue-class escort carrier (USA) Ruler-class escort carrier (UK)
Displacement	16,620 tons (full)
Length	495 ft 7 in (151.05 m)
Beam	69 ft 6 in (21.18 m)
Draught	26 ft (7.9 m)
Propulsion	Steam turbines, 1 shaft, 8,500 shp (6.3 MW)
Speed	18 knots (33 km/h)
Complement	890 officers and men
Armament	2 × 4"/50, 5"/38 or 5"/51 guns 8 × twin 40 mm Bofors 35 × single 20 mm Oerlikon
Aircraft carried	24

The first USS Estero (CVE-42) (previously AVG-42 then later ACV-42) was an escort aircraft carrier launched 22 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Seattle, Washington, and sponsored by Mrs. C. N. Ingraham. She was reclassified CVE-42 on 15 July 1943. Completed in October 1943, she was transferred to the Royal Navy on 3 November 1943 and commissioned the same day as HMS Premier.

She served in World War II as an ASW escort carrier in European waters and additionally as a ferry carrier. She was returned to United States custody 2 April 1946, she was stricken on 21 May 1946 and was sold into merchant service as the Rhodesia Star (later renamed Hong Kong Knight) in 1947. She was scrapped in Taiwan in 1974.