Charger was built in USA at Chester Pennsylvania, and laid down as mercantile Rio de la Plata which was launched on 1 March 1941, after which she was converted to BAVG-4. She was transferred to the RN on completion but returned to the US Navy on 4 October 1941 just two days after being commissioned.

Following being commissioned as HMS Charger (BAVG-4), with Captain George Abel-Smith, RN, in command, she was subsequently transferred to the U.S. Navy on 4 October 1941, and later reclassified as AVG-30 on 24 January 1942 and commissioned into the USN on 3 March 1942, Captain T. L. Sprague in command.

After commisioning in 1942 she was reported to the Atlantic Fleet. Charger's area of operations throughout the war was Chesapeake Bay. Charger's role in the USN was the basic task of training pilots' and ships' crews in carrier operations. She was used for deck landing training of Royal Navy Fleet Air Arm pilots. Postwar she became liner Fairsea 1949 and scrapped 1969.