British Escort Carrier HMS Ruler

HMS Ruler was a Ruler-class escort carrier of the British Royal Navy during World War II. She was built in the United States as the Bogue-class carrier St. Joseph (AVG/CVE/ACV-50) for Lend-Lease to the United Kingdom.

She was laid down on 25 March 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Tacoma, Washington. Launched on 21 August 1943 the carrier was transferred to the UK on 22 December 1943 and commissioned the same day as HMS Ruler with the pennant number D72.

HMS Ruler served in the North Atlantic during 1944, protecting the vital flow of men and war materiel from the United States to Great Britain and to fighting fronts on the European continent. In early 1945, she transferred to the Pacific Theatre where she supported a raid on Truk and the campaign to take Okinawa.

From March to August 1945 was part of the British Pacific Fleet attached to the 30th Aircraft Carrier Squadron.

After the war ended, Ruler returned to the United States at Norfolk, Virginia, on 28 January 1946. She was decommissioned from RN service on 29 January, and was accepted by the US Navy the same day. In excess of the Navy’s needs, she was slated for disposal and struck from the Navy Register on 20 March 1946. The ship was sold on 13 May and scrapped within the year.