HMS Dasher (D37) was a Royal Navy aircraft carrier, of the Avenger class - converted merchant vessels - and one of the shortest lived escort carriers. The Royal Navy of the United Kingdom is the senior service of the British armed services, being the oldest of its three branches. ... An aircraft carrier is a warship whose main role is to deploy and recover aircraft—in effect acting as a sea-going airbase. ... The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, was a small aircraft carrier developed by the U.S. Navy in the early part of World War II to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic. ...

Dasher started out as the merchantman Rio de Janeiro built by Sun Shipbuilding (Maritime Commission contract (Hull Sun-62)). She was laid down 14 March 1940, launched 12 April 1941. Acquired by USN on the 20 May 1941 as AVG-5 (also known as BAVG-5). She was converted at Tietjen & Lang, transferred to the Royal Navy and finally commissioned into RN service as HMS Dasher (D37) 2 July 1942. Cargo ship or freighter is any sort of ship that carries goods and materials from one port to another. ... The United States Navy (USN) is the branch of the United States armed forces responsible for naval operations. ...

She participated in Operation Torch and saw limited service as convoy escort. After doing some aircraft ferry operations in the Mediterranean Dasher sailed to the Clyde in March 1943 and embarked a Fairey Swordfish squadron. Combatants Allies (United States, United Kingdom, French resistance forces in Algiers) Vichy France, Germany Commanders Dwight Eisenhower François Darlan Strength 73,500 Casualties 479 dead + 720 wounded 1346 dead + 1997 wounded {{{notes}}} Operation Torch was the Anglo-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the... The Mediterranean Sea is an intercontinental sea positioned between Europe to the north, Africa to the south and Asia to the east, covering an approximate area of 2. ... The River Clyde, looking eastwards upstream, as it passes beneath the Kingston Bridge. ... The Fairey Swordfish was a torpedo bomber used by the Fleet Air Arm of the Royal Navy during World War II. Affectionately known as the Stringbag by its crews, it was outdated by 1939, but achieved some spectacular successes during the war. ...

She escorted one convoy successfully, but shortly after leaving with the second, Dasher suffered engine trouble and turned back. Shortly after getting to the Firth of Clyde she suffered a major internal explosion and sank. Various possible causes have been suggested, including one of her aircraft crashing onto the flight deck and igniting petrol fumes from leaking tanks. Much of what happened will never be known due to an official cover up aimed at concealing what was the largest loss of life not in the face of the enemy of the war. Her death toll, despite rapid response and assistance from ships and rescue craft from Brodick and Lamlash on the Isle of Arran and from Ardrossan and Greenock on the Scottish mainland, was only exceeded in British home waters by the loss of HMS Royal Oak and HMS Hampshire. The Firth of Clyde forms a large area of coastal water, sheltered from the Atlantic ocean by the Kintyre peninsula which encloses the outer firth in Argyll and Ayrshire, Scotland. ... Brodick (meaning Broad Bay, the name is derived from Scandinavian roots) is the main village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. ... Lamlash Lamlash is the secondary village (after Brodick) on the Isle of Arran, situated in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. ... Arran shown within Argyll The Isle of Arran (Scots Gaelic: Eilean Arainn) is the largest island in the Firth of Clyde (430 km2). ... Ardrossan is a town located on the North Ayrshire coast in western Scotland. ... Greenock (Grianaig in Scottish Gaelic) is a large burgh and a burgh of barony in the unitary authority region of Inverclyde in western Scotland, forming part of a continuous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east. ... Seven (or eleven, depending on how one counts) vessels of the British Royal Navy have been named HMS Royal Oak. ... Several ships of the Royal Navy have been named HMS Hampshire after the county of Hampshire: Hampshire, launched in 1903, was a Devonshire-class armoured cruiser. ...

379 of Dasher's 528 man crew perished, many of them when the fuel from Dasher's stores which had leaked onto the surface of the water was subsequently ignited. Many of those who escaped the sinking ship were burnt to death, or succumbed to hypothermia before they could be rescued. Most of the dead were buried at Ardrossan or Greenock. Ardrossan is a town located on the North Ayrshire coast in western Scotland. ... Greenock (Grianaig in Scottish Gaelic) is a large burgh and a burgh of barony in the unitary authority region of Inverclyde in western Scotland, forming part of a continuous urban area with Gourock to the west and Port Glasgow to the east. ...

The government of the time, eager to avoid damage to morale, tried to cover up the sinking. The local media was ordered to make no reference to the tragedy, and authorities ordered the dead to be buried in a mass unmarked grave. Furious relatives protested and some of the dead were returned to their loved ones for burial. The survivors were ordered not to talk about what happened. This policy has subsequently attracted much criticism and now memorials to those lost exist at both Ardrossan and Brodick. The wreck site lies approximately half way on the Caledonian MacBrayne ferry route between Ardrossan and Brodick. Ardrossan is a town located on the North Ayrshire coast in western Scotland. ... Brodick (meaning Broad Bay, the name is derived from Scandinavian roots) is the main village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. ... Caledonian MacBrayne (usually shortened to Cal-Mac) is the major operator of passenger and vehicle ferries between the mainland of Scotland and all major islands on Scotlands West coast. ... Ardrossan is a town located on the North Ayrshire coast in western Scotland. ... Brodick (meaning Broad Bay, the name is derived from Scandinavian roots) is the main village on the Isle of Arran, in the Firth of Clyde, Scotland. ...

Further Reading

• Steele J&D They were never told. The tragedy of HMS Dasher