HMS Thane (D48)

HMS Thane (D48)

The USS Sunset (CVE-48) (previously AVG-48 then ACV-48) was assigned on 23 August 1942 to MC hull 259, a modified C3-S-A1 laid down on 23 February 1943 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding of Tacoma, Washington; launched on 15 July and redesignated CVE-48 the same day; sponsored by Mrs. C.E. Taylor; transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease agreement on 19 November; and commissioned the same day as HMS Thane (D48) in the Royal Navy.

HMS Thane operated in the North Atlantic protecting convoys and ferrying aircraft for use in the European Theater until she was torpedoed by U-1172 and severely damaged on 15 January 1945 while in the Irish Sea. Taken to Gare Loch in the Firth of Clyde, southwest Scotland, she was examined, declared a constructive total loss and decommissioned to reserve. She was returned to United States custody while in the United Kingdom on 12 May. Determined to be of no use to the United States Navy, she was slated for disposal in October; and she was subsequently scrapped.