The United States Navy had acquired 22 C3 cargo ships shortly after the Attack on Pearl Harbor to be converted into the Bogue class.

With an increasing need for convoy escorts in the North Atlantic eleven of these were transferred to the Royal Navy, and reclassified as Attacker class, under the terms of the Lend-Lease program.

During successful use during the amphibious invasion of North Africa to cover advancing ground units until land airbases were secured, several ships were refit as strike carriers, equipped with just fighter aircraft.

Instead of food being prepared by separate messes, it was cooked in the galley and served cafeteria-style in a central dining area.

The traditional hammocks were replaced by three-tier bunk beds, with 18 to a cabin, which were hinged and could be tied up to provide extra space when not in use.

[11] The anti-submarine aircraft employed were initially Fairey Swordfish and later Grumman Avengers, which could be armed with torpedoes, depth charges, 250-pound (110 kg) bombs, or the RP-3 rocket projectile.

One squadron included fighters and the by then obsolete Fairey Swordfish equipped with air-to-surface vessel (ASV) radar for night patrols.

The first of six confirmed U-boats destroyed by aircraft flying off Attacker class ships was on 10 February 1944, when two Fairey Swordfish from the 842 Naval Air Squadron on board Fencer sank U-666 west of Iceland.

[13][16] On 4 March, while on Arctic convoy patrol, Fairey Swordfish from 816 Naval Air Squadron on board Chaser so severely damaged U-472 with a salvo of RP-3 rockets that she could not submerge and was sunk by HMS Onslaught.

On 1 December 1943, two Grumman Wildcats from 842 Naval Air Squadron on board Fencer shot down a Focke-Wulf Fw 200 that was shadowing Convoy OS 60.

[21] The next confirmed air-to-air success came on 24 February 1944, when four Grumman Wildcats from 881 Naval Air Squadron on board Pursuer were scrambled after the ship's radar had identified at least three aircraft approaching.

The approaching bombers consisted of a mixed force of seven Focke-Wulf Fw 200 and Heinkel He 177s carrying glider bombs.

On board Striker was 824 Naval Air Squadron with twelve Fairey Swordfish IIs, ten Grumman Wildcat Vs, and two spares.

For Operation Neptune from 5 June 1944 to the middle of the month, five all-fighter escort carriers, including Fencer, provided air cover to protect the anti-submarine groups on the flanks of the Normandy invasion fleet.

[25] During the Salerno landings, Force V, commanded by Admiral Philip Vian and consisting of Attacker, Battler, Hunter, and Stalker, along with the light fleet carrier Unicorn, provided air cover.

To counter this threat, a task force was formed with HMS Battler, the cruisers Suffolk and Newcastle, and the destroyers Quadrant and Roebuck.

[28] In April 1944, aircraft from Fencer and Pursuer took part in Operation Tungsten: the attack on the German battleship Tirpitz in the Kaafjord and at Tromsø.

[33]See also [34] On 6 May 1944, while on an anti-shipping sweep in the same area, Grumman Wildcats of 882 Naval Air Squadron from Searcher shot down two Blohm & Voss BV 138 seaplanes.

Firstly Attacker, Hunter, and Pursuer were sent to the Aegean Sea to conduct operations against Axis garrisons in the area.

Here they supported the Fourteenth Army amphibious landings and interdicted Japanese shipping in the Bay of Bengal and the Straits of Malacca.