USS Bolinas (CVE-36) (originally AVG-36, then later ACV-36) was an escort carrier launched 11 November 1942 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding, Tacoma, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. G. B. Sherwood, wife of Commander Sherwood; and commissioned 22 July 1943, Captain H. L. Meadow in command.
These ships were all larger and had a greater aircraft capacity than all the preceding American built escort carriers. They were also all laid down as escort carriers and not converted merchant ships.[1] All the ships had a complement of 646 men and an overall length of Шаблон:Convert, a beam of Шаблон:Convert and a draught of Шаблон:Convert.[1] Propulsion was provided by a steam turbine, two boilers connected to one shaft giving 9,350 brake horsepower (SHP), which could propel the ship at Шаблон:Convert.[2]
On 2 August 1943 after being decommissioned Bolinas was transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease and renamed HMS Begum (D38). Begum served with the Royal Navy during World War II, doing anti-submarine sweeps in the Indian Ocean with 832 Squadron as her complement, participating in the sinking of the Шаблон:GS.
Begum ferried the following RN squadrons to the Far East April 1944:
1839: 10 F6F disembarked Madras 14 April
1844: 10 F6F disembarked Madras 14 April
815: 12 Barracuda II disembarked Madras 14 April
817: 12 Barracuda II disembarked Madras 14 April[3]
After her return she was declared surplus by the U. S. Navy. She was stricken for disposal 19 June 1946 and sold by the Navy into merchant service 16 April 1947 as Raki and later I Yung. She was scrapped in Taiwan in March 1974.