The name Sunset (ACV-48) was assigned on 23 August 1942 to MC hull 259, a modified C3-S-A1 laid down on 23 February 1943 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Tacoma, Wash.; launched on 15 July and redesignated CVE-48 the same day; sponsored by Mrs. C. E. Taylor; transferred to the United Kingdom under Lend-Lease agreement on 19 November; and commissioned the same day as Thane (D. 48) in the Royal Navy.
HMS Thane operated in the North Atlantic protecting convoys and ferrying aircraft for use in the European Theater until she was severely damaged by a German submarine torpedo in mid-January 1945 while in the Irish Sea. Taken to Gare Loch in the Firth of Clyde, southwest Scotland, she was examined and declared a constructive total loss. 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.
Sunset (CVE-106) was laid down on 25 October 1943 by the Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash.; launched on 10 June 1944; but was renamed Block Island (CVE-106) (q.v.) on 5 July 1944.
