Escort aircraft carrier - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier

Aircraft carrier

An aircraft carrier is a warship designed with a primary mission of deploying and recovering aircraft, acting as a seagoing airbase. Aircraft carriers thus allow a naval force to project air power worldwide without having to depend on local bases for staging aircraft operations...

used by the British

United Kingdom

The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

(RN), the Imperial Japanese Navy

Imperial Japanese Navy

The Imperial Japanese Navy was the navy of the Empire of Japan from 1869 until 1947, when it was dissolved following Japan's constitutional renunciation of the use of force as a means of settling international disputes...

and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

(USN) in World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

. They were typically half the length and 1/3 the displacement of the larger fleet carriers. While they were slower, less armed and armored, and carried fewer planes, they were less expensive and could be built in less time. This was their principal advantage, as escort carriers could be completed in greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce. However, the lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable and several were sunk with great loss of life. The light carrier

Light aircraft carrier

A light aircraft carrier is an aircraft carrier that is smaller than the standard carriers of a navy. The precise definition of the type varies by country; light carriers typically have a complement of aircraft only ½ to ⅔ the size of a full-sized or "fleet" carrier.-History:In World War II, the...

(hull classification symbol

Hull classification symbol

The United States Navy, United States Coast Guard, and United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration use hull classification symbols to identify their ship types and each individual ship within each type...

CVL) was a similar concept to escort carriers in most respects, however they were intended for higher speeds to be deployed alongside fleet carriers.

Escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main forces consisting of fleet carriers, battleships, and cruisers. Instead, they were used to defend convoys from enemy threats such as submarines and planes. In the invasions of mainland Europe and Pacific islands, escort carriers provided air support

Air Support

Air Support is a 1992 computer game for the Amiga and Atari ST. It is a top-down strategy game, with a first-person mode available for special missions. The game takes place during a retrofuturistic 21st century where all wars are fought in virtual reality. The game was given mostly positive...

to ground forces during amphibious operations. Escort carriers also served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and ferried aircraft of all military services to points of delivery.

In the Atlantic, the escort carriers were used to protect convoys against U-boat

U-boat

U-boat is the anglicized version of the German word U-Boot , itself an abbreviation of Unterseeboot , and refers to military submarines operated by Germany, particularly in World War I and World War II...

s. Initially escort carriers accompanied the merchant ships and fended off attacks from aircraft and submarines. Later in the war, escort carriers were part of hunter-killer groups which sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

During the Leyte Campaign

Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle of Leyte Gulf, also called the "Battles for Leyte Gulf", and formerly known as the "Second Battle of the Philippine Sea", is generally considered to be the largest naval battle of World War II and, by some criteria, possibly the largest naval battle in history.It was fought in waters...

, at the Battle off Samar

Battle off Samar

The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on 25 October 1944...

, the Japanese Center Force of cruisers and battleships, including , the largest battleship ever built, met the U.S. task force of escort carriers and destroyers known as "Taffy 3". The escort carriers and destroyers were not expected to put up much of a fight against major big-gun warships. Nonetheless, the Japanese were turned back by furious defence put up by "Taffy 3", with the Wildcat and Avenger planes playing a key role against the Japanese who had no air cover, as well as the U.S. destroyers who made torpedo runs. The U.S. sunk three Japanese cruisers in that engagement, at the cost of one escort carrier and three destroyers.

Of the 151 aircraft carriers built in the U.S. during World War II, 122 were escort carriers. Though no examples survive to this day, the Casablanca class

Casablanca class escort carrier

The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

holds the distinction of being the most numerous single class of aircraft carrier ever built, with 50 having been launched. The Bogue class

Bogue class escort carrier

The Bogue-class were a group of escort carriers built in the United States for service with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy during World War II....

comes in a close second, with 45 launched.

Development

The Washington Naval Treaty

Washington Naval Treaty

The Washington Naval Treaty, also known as the Five-Power Treaty, was an attempt to cap and limit, and "prevent 'further' costly escalation" of the naval arms race that had begun after World War I between various International powers, each of which had significant naval fleets. The treaty was...

imposed limits on the maximum size and total tonnage of aircraft carriers for the five main naval powers. Later treaties largely kept these provisions. As a result construction between the World Wars had been insufficient to meet operational needs for aircraft carriers as World War II expanded from Europe. Too few fleet carriers were available to simultaneously transport aircraft to distant bases, support amphibious invasions, offer carrier landing training for replacement pilots, conduct anti-submarine patrols, and provide defensive air cover for deployed battleships and cruisers. The foregoing mission requirements limited use of fleet carriers′ unique offensive strike capability demonstrated at the Battle of Taranto

Battle of Taranto

The naval Battle of Taranto took place on the night of 11–12 November 1940 during the Second World War. The Royal Navy launched the first all-aircraft ship-to-ship naval attack in history, flying a small number of obsolescent biplane torpedo bombers from an aircraft carrier in the Mediterranean Sea...

and the Attack on Pearl Harbor

Attack on Pearl Harbor

The attack on Pearl Harbor was a surprise military strike conducted by the Imperial Japanese Navy against the United States naval base at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on the morning of December 7, 1941...

. Conversion of existing ships (and hulls under construction for other purposes) provided additional aircraft carriers until new construction became available.

Conversions of cruisers, passenger liners, and fleet oilers with speed similar to fleet carriers were identified by the U.S. as "light aircraft carrier

Light aircraft carrier

s" (hull classification symbol

Hull classification symbol

CVL) able to operate at battle fleet speeds. Slower conversions were classified as "escort carriers" and were considered naval auxiliaries suitable for pilot training and transport of aircraft to distant bases.

The Royal Navy had recognized a need for carriers to defend its trade routes in the 1930s. No construction was undertaken until was converted from the captured German merchant ship MV Hannover and commissioned in July 1941. For defence from German aircraft, convoys were supplied first with Fighter catapult ship

Fighter catapult ship

Fighter catapult ships also known as Catapult Armed Ships were an attempt by the Royal Navy to provide air cover at sea. Five ships were acquired and commissioned as Naval vessels early in the Second World War and these were used to accompany convoys....

s and CAM Ship

CAM ship

CAM ships were World War II-era British merchant ships used in convoys as an emergency stop-gap until sufficient escort carriers became available. CAM is an acronym for catapult aircraft merchantman. A CAM ship was equipped with a rocket-propelled catapult launching a single Hawker Sea Hurricane,...

s which could carry a single (disposable) fighter. In the interim, before escort carriers could be supplied, they also brought in Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys...

s which could operate four aircraft.

In 1940, Admiral William Halsey recommended construction of naval auxiliaries for pilot training. On 1 February 1941, the United States Chief of Naval Operations gave priority to construction of naval auxiliaries for aircraft transport. U.S. ships built to meet these needs were initially referred to as auxiliary aircraft escort vessels (AVG) in February 1942 and then auxiliary aircraft carrier (ACV) on 5 August 1942. The first U.S. example of the type was . Operation Torch

Operation Torch

Operation Torch was the British-American invasion of French North Africa in World War II during the North African Campaign, started on 8 November 1942....

and North Atlantic anti-submarine warfare proved these ships capable aircraft carriers for ship formations moving at the speed of trade or amphibious invasion convoys. U.S. classification revision to escort aircraft carrier (CVE) on 15 July 1943 reflected upgraded status from auxiliary to combatant. They were informally known as "Jeep carriers" or "baby flattops". It was quickly found that the escort carriers had better performance than light carriers, which tended to pitch badly in moderate to high seas. The Commencement Bay-class was designed to incorporate the best features of American CVLs on a more stable hull with a less expensive propulsion system.

Among their crews, CVE was sarcastically said to stand for "Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable". Magazine protection was minimal in comparison to fleet aircraft carriers. was sunk within minutes by a single torpedo, and exploded from undetermined causes with very heavy loss of life. Three escort carriers—, and —were destroyed by kamikaze
Kamikaze
The were suicide attacks by military aviators from the Empire of Japan against Allied naval vessels in the closing stages of the Pacific campaign of World War II, designed to destroy as many warships as possible....

s, the largest ships to meet such a fate.

Allied escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (152.4 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (274.3 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than 1/3 of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about 8000 LT (8,128.4 t), as compared to almost 30000 LT (30,481.5 t) for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar

Hangar

A hangar is a closed structure to hold aircraft or spacecraft in protective storage. Most hangars are built of metal, but other materials such as wood and concrete are also sometimes used...

typically ran only 1/3 of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24-30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier could carry a total of 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.

The island on these ships was small and cramped, and located well forward of the funnel

Chimney

A chimney is a structure for venting hot flue gases or smoke from a boiler, stove, furnace or fireplace to the outside atmosphere. Chimneys are typically vertical, or as near as possible to vertical, to ensure that the gases flow smoothly, drawing air into the combustion in what is known as the...

s (unlike on a normal-sized carrier where the funnels were integrated into the island). Although the first escort carriers had only one aircraft elevator, two elevators, one fore and one aft, quickly became standard, so did the one aircraft catapult. The carriers employed the same system of arresting cables and tailhooks as on the big carriers, and procedures for launch and recovery were the same as well.

The crew size was less than 1/3 of that of a large carrier, but this was still a bigger complement than most naval vessels. It was large enough to justify the existence of facilities such as a permanent canteen or snack bar, called a gedunk bar

Gedunk bar

A Gedunk bar or geedunk bar is the canteen or snack bar of a large vessel of the United States Navy. A service member who works in the geedunk is traditionally referred to only as that "geedunk guy" or "geedunk girl", or more informally as a "geedunkaroo". The term was popular during World War II...

, in addition to the mess. The bar was open for longer hours than the mess and sold several flavors of ice cream

Ice cream

Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...

, along with cigarettes and other consumables. There were also several vending machine

Vending machine

A vending machine is a machine which dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, alcohol, cigarettes, lottery tickets, consumer products and even gold and gems to customers automatically, after the customer inserts currency or credit into the machine....

s, which made a "gedunk" sound when operated.

In all, 130 Allied escort carriers were launched or converted during the war. Of these, six were British conversions of merchant ships: , , , , and . The remaining escort carriers were U.S.-built. Like the British, the first U.S. escort carriers were converted merchant vessels (or in the Sangamon class

Sangamon class escort carrier

The Sangamon class were a group of four escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy that served during World War II.-Overview:These ships were originally MARAD type T3-S2-A1 oilers, launched in 1939 for civilian use. They were acquired and commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1940-41...

, converted military oilers). The Bogue class carriers were based on the hull of the Type C3 cargo ship

Type C3 ship

Type C3 ships were the third type of cargo ship designed by the United States Maritime Commission in the late 1930s. As it had done with the Type C1 ships and Type C2 ships, MARCOM circulated preliminary plans for comment...

. The last 69 escort carriers of the Casablanca

Casablanca class escort carrier

and Commencement Bay

Commencement Bay class escort carrier

The Commencement Bay-class escort aircraft carriers were based on the Maritime Commission T3 type tanker hull, which gave them a displacement of approximately 23,000 tons and a length of 557 feet...

classes were purpose-designed and purpose-built carriers drawing on the experience gained with the previous classes.

Royal Navy

Originally developed at the behest of the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

to operate as part of a North Atlantic convoy

Convoy

A convoy is a group of vehicles, typically motor vehicles or ships, traveling together for mutual support and protection. Often, a convoy is organized with armed defensive support, though it may also be used in a non-military sense, for example when driving through remote areas.-Age of Sail:Naval...

escort rather than as part of a naval strike force, many of the escort carriers produced were assigned to the Royal Navy

Royal Navy

The Royal Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the British Armed Forces. Founded in the 16th century, it is the oldest service branch and is known as the Senior Service...

for the duration of the war under the Lend-lease

Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease was the program under which the United States of America supplied the United Kingdom, the Soviet Union, China, Free France, and other Allied nations with materiel between 1941 and 1945. It was signed into law on March 11, 1941, a year and a half after the outbreak of war in Europe in...

act. They supplemented and then replaced the converted merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carrier

s which were put into service by the British and Dutch as an emergency measure until the escort carriers became available. As convoy escorts, they were used by the Royal Navy to provide air scouting, to ward off enemy long-range scouting aircraft and, increasingly, to spot and hunt submarines. Often additional escort carriers also joined convoys, not as fighting ships but as transporters, ferrying aircraft from the U.S. to Britain. In this case, the aircraft cargo could be doubled by storing aircraft on the flight deck as well as in the hangar.

The ships sent to the Royal Navy were slightly modified, partly to suit the traditions of that service. Among other things the ice cream making machines were removed, since they were considered unnecessary luxuries on ships, which served grog

Grog

The word grog refers to a variety of alcoholic beverages. The word originally referred to a drink made with water or "small beer" and rum, which British Vice Admiral Edward Vernon introduced into the Royal Navy on 21 August 1740. Vernon wore a coat of grogram cloth and was nicknamed Old Grogram or...

and other alcoholic beverage

Alcoholic beverage

An alcoholic beverage is a drink containing ethanol, commonly known as alcohol. Alcoholic beverages are divided into three general classes: beers, wines, and spirits. They are legally consumed in most countries, and over 100 countries have laws regulating their production, sale, and consumption...

s. The heavy duty washing machine

Washing machine

A washing machine is a machine designed to wash laundry, such as clothing, towels and sheets...

s of the laundry room were also removed since "all a British sailor needs to keep clean is a bucket

Bucket

A bucket, also called a pail, is typically a watertight, vertical cylinder or truncated cone, with an open top and a flat bottom, usually attached to a semicircular carrying handle called the bail. A pail can have an open top or can have a lid....

and a bar of soap

Soap

In chemistry, soap is a salt of a fatty acid.IUPAC. "" Compendium of Chemical Terminology, 2nd ed. . Compiled by A. D. McNaught and A. Wilkinson. Blackwell Scientific Publications, Oxford . XML on-line corrected version: created by M. Nic, J. Jirat, B. Kosata; updates compiled by A. Jenkins. ISBN...

" (quoted from Warrilow).

Other modifications were due to the need for a completely enclosed hangar when operating in the North Atlantic and in support of the Arctic convoys.

U.S. Navy Service

Meanwhile the U.S. discovered their own use for the escort carriers. In the North Atlantic, they supplemented the escorting destroyer

Destroyer

In naval terminology, a destroyer is a fast and maneuverable yet long-endurance warship intended to escort larger vessels in a fleet, convoy or battle group and defend them against smaller, powerful, short-range attackers. Destroyers, originally called torpedo-boat destroyers in 1892, evolved from...

s by providing air support for anti-submarine warfare. One of these escort carriers, , was instrumental in the capture of off North Africa in 1944.

In the Pacific theater

Pacific War

The Pacific War, also sometimes called the Asia-Pacific War refers broadly to the parts of World War II that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands, and in East Asia, then called the Far East...

, escort carriers lacked the speed to sail with fast carrier attack groups, so were often tasked to escort the landing ships and troop carriers during the island-hopping campaign. In this role they provided air cover for the troopships and flew the first wave of attacks on beach fortifications in amphibious landing operations. On occasion, they even escorted the large carriers, serving as emergency airstrips and providing fighter cover for their larger sisters while these were busy readying or refueling their own planes. They also transported aircraft and spare parts from the U.S. to remote island airstrips.

Battle off Samar

Perhaps the finest moment for these escort carriers was the Battle off Samar

Battle off Samar

in the Philippines on 25 October 1944. Aircraft from 16 escort carriers in three task groups (many unarmed or armed only for harassment), along with their hopelessly outmatched defending destroyers and destroyer escort

Destroyer escort

A destroyer escort is the classification for a smaller, lightly armed warship designed to be used to escort convoys of merchant marine ships, primarily of the United States Merchant Marine in World War II. It is employed primarily for anti-submarine warfare, but also provides some protection...

s, faced a Japanese task force of four battleship

Battleship

A battleship is a large armored warship with a main battery consisting of heavy caliber guns. Battleships were larger, better armed and armored than cruisers and destroyers. As the largest armed ships in a fleet, battleships were used to attain command of the sea and represented the apex of a...

s, including , eight cruiser

Cruiser

A cruiser is a type of warship. The term has been in use for several hundreds of years, and has had different meanings throughout this period...

s, and 11 destroyers. The American escort carriers not only fended off but turned back the attackers. The slow carriers could not hope to outrun 30 kn (36.5 mph; 58.8 km/h) cruisers. They launched their aircraft and maneuvered to avoid shellfire for over an hour. They endured dozens of hits, mostly from armor piercing rounds which passed right through their thin, unarmored hulls without exploding. , lost in this action, was the only U.S. carrier lost to gunfire in the war. The carriers′ only substantial armament—aside from their aircraft—was a single 5 in (127 mm) dual purpose gun

Dual purpose gun

A dual purpose gun is a naval artillery mounting designed to engage both surface and air targets.-Description:Second World War-era capital ships had four classes of artillery: the heavy main battery, intended to engage opposing battleships and cruisers ; a secondary battery for use against enemy...

mounted on the stern, but the pursuing Japanese cruisers closed to within range of these guns. One of the guns caused critical damage to the burning Japanese heavy cruiser and a subsequent bomb dropped from one of the task force′s aircraft hit the heavy cruiser′s forward machinery room, leaving her dead in the water. Several kamikaze aircraft were shot down by carrier gunners, with only lost to air attack. In the costly victory, the small task force had suffered a number of ships and men lost comparable to the Battle of Coral Sea and Battle of Midway

Battle of Midway

The Battle of Midway is widely regarded as the most important naval battle of the Pacific Campaign of World War II. Between 4 and 7 June 1942, approximately one month after the Battle of the Coral Sea and six months after Japan's attack on Pearl Harbor, the United States Navy decisively defeated...

combined.

Escort carrier tactics when escorting convoys

There were three basic tactics for operating an escort carrier in defence of a convoy

Convoy

Within the convoy, which gave it the protection of the convoy′s escort but limited the space to turn into the wind to operate aircraft.
Near the convoy, which gave the carrier freedom of manoeuvre, but put it outside the screen provided by the convoy′s escort, making it necessary for the carrier to have its own separate escort. The carrier was also likely to be spotted by enemy forces approaching the convoy, making it vulnerable to attack.
Some distance away from the convoy. This increased the time required for aircraft to reach the convoy but reduced the risk of being spotted by forces attacking the convoy.

HMS Audacity was sunk while operating in the second position which was later banned by the Admiralty

Admiralty

The Admiralty was formerly the authority in the Kingdom of England, and later in the United Kingdom, responsible for the command of the Royal Navy...

as too risky.

The ships

Many escort carriers were Lend-Lease

Lend-Lease

d to the United Kingdom

United Kingdom

, this list specifies the breakdown in service to each navy.

Long Island class
Long Island class escort carrier
The Long Island-class escort carrier was a two-ship class, originally listed as "AVG" . They were converted from merchant ships....

: Two ships, one in USN service and one in British service .
Avenger class
Avenger class escort carrier
There were three Avenger class escort carriers in service with the Royal Navy during the Second World War. All three were originally American merchant ships in the process of being built at the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company Chester, Pennsylvania...

: Four ships, one mainly in USN service (as ) and three in British service.
Sangamon class
Sangamon class escort carrier
The Sangamon class were a group of four escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy that served during World War II.-Overview:These ships were originally MARAD type T3-S2-A1 oilers, launched in 1939 for civilian use. They were acquired and commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1940-41...

: Four ships, all in USN service.
Bogue class
Bogue class escort carrier
The Bogue-class were a group of escort carriers built in the United States for service with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy during World War II....

: 45 ships, 11 in USN service, 34 in British service as Attacker class (first group) and Ruler class (second group).
Casablanca class
Casablanca class escort carrier
The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

: 50 ships, all in USN service.
Commencement Bay class
Commencement Bay class escort carrier
The Commencement Bay-class escort aircraft carriers were based on the Maritime Commission T3 type tanker hull, which gave them a displacement of approximately 23,000 tons and a length of 557 feet...

: 19 ships, all in USN service, including two which were accepted but not commissioned and laid up for many years after the war. Four more units were canceled and scrapped on the building slips. The Commencement Bay-class ships were seen as the finest escort carriers ever built, and several units continued in service after the war as training carriers, aircraft ferries and other auxiliary uses.

In addition, six escort carriers were produced by the British during the war (all converted from other vessels).

The table below lists escort carriers and similar ships performing the same missions. The first four were built as early fleet aircraft carriers. Merchant aircraft carrier

Merchant aircraft carrier

s (MAC) carried trade cargo in addition to operating aircraft. Aircraft transports carried larger numbers of planes by eliminating accommodation for operating personnel and storage of fuel and ammunition.

Name	Date	Nation	Displacement	Speed	Aircraft	Notes
	1918	UK	14,000 tons (net)	20 knots	18	converted liner
	1922	United States	11,500 tons	15 knots	30	converted collier
	1923	Japan	7,500 tons (standard)	25 knots	12	early fleet carrier
	1924	UK	10,850 tons (standard)	25 knots	12	early fleet carrier
	1941	UK	5,500 tons	15 knots	6	merchant conversion
,	1941	United States and UK	9000 tons	17 knots	15–21	merchant conversions
, , ,	1941	United States and UK	8,200 tons	17 knots	15–21	merchant conversions
, ,	1941	Japan	17,830 tons (standard)	21 knots	27	converted liners
, ,	1941	United States	8,100 tons	17 knots		merchant conversion aircraft ferries
	1942	UK	11,800 tons (standard)	18 knots	10–15	merchant conversion
Bogue class Bogue class escort carrier The Bogue-class were a group of escort carriers built in the United States for service with the U.S. Navy and the Royal Navy during World War II....	1942	United States and UK	9,800 tons	18 knots	15–21	45 conversions of C-3 merchant hulls
, , ,	1942	United States	11,400 tons (standard)	18 knots	31	converted oilers
	1943	UK	12,400 tons (standard)	18 knots	18	merchant conversion
	1943	UK	13,400 tons (standard)	16 knots	15–20	merchant conversion
	1943	UK	14,000 tons (standard)	16 knots	15–20	merchant conversion
Rapana class (Acavus MV Acavus MV Acavus was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana Class.... , Adula MV Adula MV Adula was one of nine Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... , Alexia MV Alexia MV Alexia was one of nine Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... , Amastra MV Amastra MV Amastra was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... , Ancylus MV Ancylus MV Ancylus was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... , Gadila MV Gadila MV Gadila was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... , Macoma MV Macoma MV Macoma was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana Class.... , Miralda, Rapana MV Rapana MV Rapana was one of nine Anglo Saxon Royal Dutch/Shell oil tankers converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . The group is collectively known as the Rapana class.... )	1943	UK	12,000 tons	12 knots	3	tankers converted to Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys... s
Casablanca class Casablanca class escort carrier The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...	1943	United States	7,800 tons	19 knots	28	50 built as escort aircraft carriers
	1943	Japan	13,600 tons (standard)	23 knots	24	converted liner
	1943	UK	17400 tons (standard)	18 knots	21	merchant conversion
Empire MacAlpine MV Empire MacAlpine MV Empire MacAlpine was a grain ship converted to become the first Merchant Aircraft Carrier .MV Empire MacAlpine was built at the Burntisland Shipbuilding Co Ltd, Burntisland, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport and was delivered on 14 April 1943... , Empire MacAndrew MV Empire MacAndrew MV Empire MacAndrew was a grain ship converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier or MAC ship.MV Empire MacKendrick was built at William Denny and Brothers Dumbarton Scotland under order from the Ministry of War Transport... , Empire MacRae MV Empire MacRae MV Empire MacRae was a grain ship converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier or MAC ship.MV Empire MacRae was built at Lithgows shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport... , Empire MacKendrick MV Empire MacKendrick MV Empire MacKendrick was a grain ship converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier or MAC ship.She was built by the Burntisland Shipbuilding Company Ltd, Fife, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport and was delivered on 12 December 1943... , Empire MacCallum MV Empire MacCallum MV Empire MacCallum was a grain ship converted to become a Merchant Aircraft Carrier or MAC ship.MV Empire MacCallum was built at Lithgows shipyard, Glasgow, Scotland, under order from the Ministry of War Transport. As a MAC ship, only her air crew and the necessary maintenance staff were naval... , Empire MacDermott MV Empire MacDermott MV Empire MacDermott was a bulk grain ship built as a Merchant Aircraft Carrier . She served with the British Merchant Navy during the Second World War, with rudimentary aircraft handling facilities operated by a Fleet Air Arm "air party"....	1943	UK	8,000 tons (gross)	12 knots	4	grain carrying Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys... s
Empire MacCabe MV Empire MacCabe MV Empire MacCabe was an oil tanker converted to a merchant aircraft carrier or MAC ship.MV Empire MacCabe was built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend under order from the Ministry of War Transport. She entered service as a MAC ship in December 1943, however only her air crew and the necessary maintenance... , Empire MacKay MV Empire MacKay MV Empire MacKay was an oil tanker constructed with rudimentary aircraft handling facilities as a merchant aircraft carrier .MV Empire MacKay was built by Harland and Wolff, Govan under order from the Ministry of War Transport. She entered service as a MAC ship in October 1943, however only her air... , Empire MacMahon MV Empire MacMahon MV Empire MacMahon was an oil tanker converted to a merchant aircraft carrier or MAC ship.MV Empire MacMahon was built by Swan Hunter, Wallsend under order from the Ministry of War Transport. She entered service as a MAC ship in December 1943, however only her air crew and the necessary maintenance... , Empire MacColl MV Empire MacColl MV Empire MacColl was an oil tanker converted to a merchant aircraft carrier ship.MV Empire MacColl was built by Laird, Son & Co., Birkenhead under order from the Ministry of War Transport. She entered service as a MAC ship in November 1943, however only her air crew and the necessary maintenance...	1943	UK	9,000 tons (gross)	11 knots	3	tanker Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carrier Merchant aircraft carriers were bulk cargo ships with minimal aircraft handling facilities, used during World War II by Britain and the Netherlands as an interim measure to supplement British and United States-built escort carriers in providing an anti-submarine function for convoys... s
Commencement Bay class Commencement Bay class escort carrier The Commencement Bay-class escort aircraft carriers were based on the Maritime Commission T3 type tanker hull, which gave them a displacement of approximately 23,000 tons and a length of 557 feet...	1944	United States	10,900 tons	19 knots	34	19 built as escort aircraft carriers
	1944	Japan	17,500 tons	22 knots	33	converted liner

Relative carrier sizes in World War II

	Bogue class Escort carrier	Independence class light carrier	Essex class fleet carrier	Illustrious class carrier Illustrious class aircraft carrier The Illustrious class was a class of aircraft carrier of the Royal Navy that were some of the most important British warships in World War II...
Length:	495 ft (151 m)	625 ft (190 m)	875 ft (266 m)	675 ft (205 m)
Beam:	69 ft (21 m)	72 ft (22 m)	92 ft (28 m)	95 ft (29 m)
Displacement:	9,800 t	11,000 t	27,100 t	23,000 t
Armament	1x 127 mm, light AA	light AA	8x 127 mm, light AA	16x 114 mm
Armor	None	50–125 mm	150–200 mm	75 mm deck
Aircraft:	24	33	90	72
Speed:	17 knots (32 km/h)	31 knots (58 km/h)	33 knots (61 km/h)	30 knots
Crew:	850	1,569	3,448	817 + 390

Post-World War II

The years following World War II brought many revolutionary new technologies to the navy, most notably the helicopter

Helicopter

A helicopter is a type of rotorcraft in which lift and thrust are supplied by one or more engine-driven rotors. This allows the helicopter to take off and land vertically, to hover, and to fly forwards, backwards, and laterally...

and the jet fighter, and with this a complete rethinking of its strategies and ships′ tasks. Although several of the latest Commencement Bay-class

Commencement Bay class escort carrier

The Commencement Bay-class escort aircraft carriers were based on the Maritime Commission T3 type tanker hull, which gave them a displacement of approximately 23,000 tons and a length of 557 feet...

CVE were deployed as floating airfields during the Korean War

Korean War

The Korean War was a conventional war between South Korea, supported by the United Nations, and North Korea, supported by the People's Republic of China , with military material aid from the Soviet Union...

, the main reasons for the development of the escort carrier had disappeared or could be dealt with better by newer weapons. The emergence of the helicopter meant that helicopter-deck equipped frigates could now take over the CVE's role in a convoy while also performing their own traditional role as submarine hunters. Ship-mounted guided missile

Guided Missile

Guided Missile is a London based independent record label set up by Paul Kearney in 1994.Guided Missile has always focused on 'the underground', preferring to put out a steady flow of releases and developing the numerous GM events around London and beyond....

launchers took over much of the aircraft protection role, and in-flight refueling abolished the need for floating stopover points for transport or patrol aircraft. As a result, after the Commencement Bay class, no new escort carriers were designed, and with every downsizing of the navy, the CVEs were the first to be mothballed.

Several escort carriers were pressed back into service during the first years of the Vietnam War

Vietnam War

The Vietnam War was a Cold War-era military conflict that occurred in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia from 1 November 1955 to the fall of Saigon on 30 April 1975. This war followed the First Indochina War and was fought between North Vietnam, supported by its communist allies, and the government of...

because of their ability to carry large numbers of aircraft. Redesignated AKV (air transport auxiliary), they were manned by a civilian crew and used to ferry whole aircraft and spare parts from the U.S. to Army, Air Force and Marine bases in South Vietnam

South Vietnam

South Vietnam was a state which governed southern Vietnam until 1975. It received international recognition in 1950 as the "State of Vietnam" and later as the "Republic of Vietnam" . Its capital was Saigon...

. However, CVEs were only useful in this role for a limited period. Once all major aircraft were equipped with refueling probes, instead of shipping a plane overseas to its pilot, it became much easier to fly the aircraft directly to its base.

The last chapter in the saga of the escort carriers consisted out of two conversions: As an experiment, was converted from an aircraft carrier into a pure helicopter carrier

Helicopter carrier

Helicopter carrier is a term for an aircraft carrier whose primary purpose is to operate helicopters. The term is sometimes used for both ASW carriers and amphibious assault ships....

(CVHA-1) and used by the Marine Corps to carry assault helicopters for the first wave of amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare

Amphibious warfare is the use of naval firepower, logistics and strategy to project military power ashore. In previous eras it stood as the primary method of delivering troops to non-contiguous enemy-held terrain...

operations. Later, Thetis Bay became a full amphibious assault ship (LHP-6). Although in service only from 1955 (the year of her conversion) to 1964, the experience gained in her training exercises greatly influenced the design of today′s amphibious assault ship

Amphibious assault ship

An amphibious assault ship is a type of amphibious warfare ship employed to land and support ground forces on enemy territory by an amphibious assault...

s.

In the second conversion, in 1961, had all her aircraft handling equipment removed and four tall radio antennas installed on her long, flat deck. In lieu of aircraft, the hangar deck now had no less than 24 military radio transmitter trucks bolted to its floor. Rechristened USS Annapolis (AGMR-1), the ship was used as a communication relay ship and served dutifully through the Vietnam War as a floating radio station, relaying transmissions between the forces on the ground and the command centers back home. Like Thetis Bay, the experience gained before she was stricken in 1976 helped develop today′s purpose-built amphibious command ship

Amphibious Command Ship

Amphibious Command Ships in the United States Navy are large, special purpose ships, originally designed to command large amphibious invasions, however, as amphibious invasions have become unlikely, they are now used as general command ships, and serve as floating headquarters for the various...

s of the Blue Ridge class.

Unlike almost all other major classes of ships and patrol boats from World War II, most of which can be found in a museum or port, no escort carrier or American light carrier

Light aircraft carrier

has survived: all were destroyed during the war or broken up in the following decades. The last escort carrier—USS Gilbert Islands—was broken up for scrap starting in 1976. The last American light carrier (the escort carrier′s faster sister type) was , which was broken up in 2002 after a decade-long attempt to preserve the vessel.

The U.S. designed the Sea Control Ship

Sea Control Ship

The Sea Control Ship was a small aircraft carrier developed and conceptualized by the United States Navy under Chief of Naval Operations Elmo Zumwalt during the 1970s. Currently the term refers to naval vessels that can perform similar duties. The SCS was intended as an escort vessel, providing...

to serve a similar role, whilst none where actually built the Spanish aircraft carrier Principe de Asturias

Spanish aircraft carrier Principe de Asturias

The Príncipe de Asturias , originally named Almirante Carrero Blanco, is an aircraft carrier, the flagship of the Spanish Navy...

and HTMS Chakri Naruebet are all based on the concept.

Development

Royal Navy

U.S. Navy Service

Battle off Samar

Escort carrier tactics when escorting convoys

The ships

Relative carrier sizes in World War II

Post-World War II

See also