by half hangar below the flight deck. Armament comprised three single mounted 4 inch dual purpose anti-aircraft guns and fifteen 20 mm cannons on single or twin mounts. She had the capacity for fifteen aircraft which could be a mixture of Grumman Martlet or Hawker Sea Hurricane fighter aircraft and Fairey Swordfish or Grumman Avenger anti-submarine aircraft. Service history Mormacland was . She was operated by Moore-McCormack Lines Inc., with New York as her homeport, until 6 March 1941 when she was requisitioned by the United States Navy and sent to Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Co, Newport News, Virginia, for conversion to an aircraft carrier. BAVG 1 When requisitioned by the US Navy,' Mormacland was designated BAVG-1, the first hull of the series intended for delivery to the Royal Navy. The conversion consisted of a lightweight wooden flight deck on a truss frame being added on top of the ship which covered about 70% of the ship's length. The deck was serviced by a single lift aft where the aircraft hangar was situated. The conversion was completed on 15 November 1941. As converted, she was transferred to the Royal Navy. Archer was a sister of the . Like the Long Island, the Archer had no island structure. Her original bridge was retained and extended at the sides to provide visibility. Her funnel was replaced by twin diesel vents to either side of the flight deck. Her Busch-Sulzer engines sometimes produced so much black smoke that landing aircraft couldn't see the batman or flight deck. HMS Archer Two days after the conversion was completed, BAVG-1 was transferred to and commissioned in the Royal Navy as part of the Lend-Lease program. On 23 December 1941, three US Navy Grumman F4F Wildcats landed on Archer for trials to the launch accelerator. The accelerator misfired, causing the first aircraft to dive into the sea as sufficient airspeed had not been gained. The remaining two aircraft were successfully flown off. Archer put into the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 24 December 1941 for repairs to the accelerator, which had been damaged in the misfire. On 2 January 1942, Archer successfully completed her sea trials. On 9 January, she sailed down the Delaware River bound for Norfolk, Virginia, where she was to load aircraft for ferrying to the United Kingdom. Her gyro compass failed near Goose Island and then her engines developed problems. After repairs were