HMS Thane D48
Launched as USS Sunset (CVE-48) on 15 July 1943 and transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease agreement on 19 November and commissioned the same day as HMS Thane (D48), was a Ruler-class escort carrier in the Royal Navy.
HMS Thane operated in the North Atlantic protecting convoys and ferrying aircraft for use in the European Theatre. On 15 January 1945, while ferrying aircraft in the Irish Sea, she was torpedoed by the German submarine U-1172 and severely damaged, losing her starboard aft 5 inch gun and its sponson, disabling propulsion, and losing 10 men. 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.
Construction and Launch
July 15th 1943 the christening and launch of the USS Sunset at the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp. yard, Tacoma, Washington 
HMS Thane in Dry Dock at Esquimalt British Colombia 10th – 14th June 1944 during modification before entering active service 
HMS Patroller moored in berth 3 (nearest camera), and HMS Thane in berth 4 during their modification period before sailing for RN service. 
HMS Thane D48 in berth 5 and having her twin Oerlikon 20mm gun mounts installed. HMS Patroller is visible at berth 3
Aircraft Deck Handling Practise
Deck Handling practise with an old Blackburn Shark on HMS Thane 
Deck Handling practise with an old Blackburn Shark on HMS Thane 
Blackburn Shark on HMS Thane being disposed of over the side 
Blackburn Shark on HMS Thane being disposed of over the side
HMS Thane in the Royal Navy
June 28th 1944 – HMS Thane has just passed under Lions Gate Bridge returning to Lapointe pier, Vancouver after collecting ammunition 
HMS Thane leaving Chesapeake Bay heading for New York, October 5th 1944 with a ferry load of Grumman Hellcats 
HMS Thane D48 transiting the Suez Canal on her way to the military port of Adabiya in the Gulf of Suez 
HMS Thane unloads her cargo of aircraft onto the quayside at the military harbour at Adabiya on the Gulf of Suez
Torpedo Damage and Scrapping
HMS Thane at No. 1 Casualty Buoy on the Clyde, January 17 1945 
HMS Thane D48 after being torpedoed. The Port After gun sponson has been sheared off by the explosion and an enormous hole can be seen on the waterline 
Shrapnel and blast damage has peeled back sections of the flight deck walkway 
Torpedo damage to HMS Thane 
Torpedo damage to HMS Thane 
Torpedo damage to HMS Thane 
Torpedo damage to HMS Thane 
Ex-HMS Thane alongside at Faslane. Dismantling has not long begun — her armament has already been removed.
