HMS Biter (D97)

HMS Biter underway March 1943
History
United Kingdom
Name	Biter
Ordered	C3-P&C
Builder	Sun Shipbuilding
Laid down	28 December 1939
Launched	18 December 1940
Commissioned	6 May 1942
In service	1942–1945
Homeport	HMNB Clyde
Fate	Sold to France 1945
France
Name	Dixmude
Acquired	1945
Commissioned	9 April 1945
Decommissioned	24 January 1951
Out of service	1956
Honours and awards	Indo-China 1946
Fate	Sunk as target 10 June 1966
General characteristics
Class and type	Avenger-class escort carrier
Displacement	8,200 long tons (8,332 t) (normal) 9,000 long tons (9,144 t) (deep load)
Length	492 ft (150 m)
Beam	66 ft 3 in (20.19 m)
Height	23 ft 3 in (7.09 m)
Installed power	8,500 hp (6,300 kW)
Propulsion	4 × diesel engines 1 × shaft
Speed	16.5 kn (19.0 mph; 30.6 km/h)
Complement	555
Armament	3 × 4 in (100 mm) guns 15 × 20 mm (0.79 in) anti-aircraft cannons on single and twin mounts
Aircraft carried	15–21; a mixture of Grumman Martlets Hawker Sea Hurricane Fairey Swordfish Grumman Avenger
Aviation facilities	Hangar: 190 ft × 47 ft (58 m × 14 m) by 47 ft (14 m) 1 × lift: 42 ft × 34 ft (13 m × 10 m) 9 arrester wires

HMS Biter was a Royal Navy escort carrier during the Second World War. She was laid down as a merchant ship at the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company yard at Chester, Pennsylvania. Laid down on 28 December 1939, she was converted to an escort carrier and commissioned in the Royal Navy on 6 May 1942. She was returned to the United States in 1945 and subsequently lent to France.