Escort aircraft carrier
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Escort carrier redirects here. To see the fictional Star Wars 500-meter Escort Carrier by Kuat Drive Yards, see: Escort Carrier (Star Wars).
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, was a small aircraft carrier utilized by the Royal Navy and the United States Navy in World War II. In the Atlantic the escort carriers were employed to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic, while in the Pacific they provided air support to ground forces during amphibious operations, served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and transported aircraft of all military services from the United States to points of delivery.
World War II
The first escort carrier was HMS Audacity which was converted from the captured German merchant ship MV Hannover and commissioned in July 1941. She was followed by Activity, Pretoria Castle, etc. Subsequently, Audacity became the model for later U.S. built escort carriers, the first example of which was the USS Long Island (AVG-1).In US service, they were initially referred to as auxiliary aircraft escort vessels and then auxiliary aircraft carrier before the Navy settled on escort aircraft carrier. They were informally known as Jeep carriers and baby flat tops. Escort carriers were given the US Navy hull classification symbol CVE — this was sarcastically said by their crews to stand for Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable.
Escort carriers were typically around 500 ft (150 m) long, not much more than half the length of the almost 900 ft (300 m) fleet carriers of the same era, but actually less than one-third of the size: a typical escort carrier displaced about 8,000 tons, as compared to almost 30,000 tons for a full-size fleet carrier. They had a single hydraulic catapult instead of the 2 present on medium and large carriers, but the system of tail hook and arresting cable was the same. The aircraft hangar ran only a third of the way under the flight deck and there was only one aircraft elevator. Procedures for launch and recovery were the same as on the big carriers. The islands of these ships were small and cramped, located well forward of the funnels (unlike on a normal-sized carrier where the funnels were integrated into the island).
The crew size was less than a third 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, in addition to the mess. The bar was open at longer hours than the mess and sold several flavors of ice cream, along with cigarettes and other consumables. There were also several vending machines, which made a "gedunk" sound when operated.
They were developed at the behest of the United Kingdom to operate as part of a North Atlantic convoy escort rather than as part of a naval strike force. Many of the escort carriers produced were assigned to the Royal Navy for the duration of the war under the Lend-lease act. They supplemented and then replaced the converted merchant aircraft carriers which were put into service by the British and Dutch as an emergency measure until the escort carriers became available. They were used by the Royal Navy, to hunt submarines, for the interception of long range enemy aircraft, for patrols and scouting, and to ferry aircraft.
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 and other alcoholic beverages. The heavy duty washing machines of the laundry room were also removed since "all a British sailor needs to keep clean is a bucket and a bar of soap" (quoted from Warrilow).
Other modifications were due to the need for an enclosed hangar when operating in the North Atlantic and in support of the Arctic convoys.
Perhaps the finest moment for the escort carriers was the Battle of Leyte Gulf's Battle off Samar, where three escort carrier groups fended off the battleships of the Japanese Combined Fleet, allowing General Douglas MacArthur's Army to complete the liberation of Leyte. The hero of the battle was Rear Admiral Clifton "Ziggy" Sprague.
One of these escort carriers, the USS Guadalcanal, was instrumental in the capture of the German submarine (U-boat) U-505 off North Africa in 1944. The Guadalcanal, and her task force, was commanded by Captain (later Admiral) Daniel V. Gallery. In 1955 the U-505 was moved to Chicago, restored, and made a permanent exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry.
130 escort carriers were launched or converted during the war. Of these, six (HMS Nairana, HMS Campania, HMS Activity, HMS Pretoria Castle, HMS Vindex, and HMS Audacity) were British conversions of merchant ships, the rest being new construction in the USA (the first US escort carriers were conversion of unfinished merchant vessels).
For complete lists see:
Escort carrier tactics when escorting convoys
There are three basic tactics for operating an escort carrier in defence of a convoy:
- Within the convoy, which gives it the protection of the convoy's escort but limits the space to turn into the wind to operate aircraft.
- Near the convoy, which gives the carrier freedom of manoeuvre, but puts it outside of the screen provided by the convoy's escort, necessitating the carrier to have its own escort. The carrier is also likely to be spotted by enemy forces approaching the convoy, making it vulnerable to attack.
- Some distance away from the convoy. This increases the time required for aircraft to reach the convoy but reduces the risk of being spotted by forces attacking the convoy.
USN Escort Carrier (AVG/ACV/CVE series)
Many escort carriers were Lend-Leased to the United Kingdom, this list specifies the breakdown in service to each navy.
CVE-1 Long Island class - 2 ships, 1 in USN service (Long Island and HMS Archer (BAVG-1)).
CVE-9 Bogue class - 49 ships, 24 in USN service, 25 in British service as HMS Attacker class (first batch) and HMS Ameer class (second batch).
CVE-26 Sangamon class - 4 ships, all in USN service.
CVE-30 Charger class - 4 ships, 1 in USN service (USS Charger), 3 in British service as Avenger class.
CVE-55 Casablanca class - 50 ships, all in USN service.
CVE-105 Commencement Bay class - 19 ships, all in USN service. 4 units were canceled and scrapped on the building slips at the end of World War II, two more were accepted but not commissioned and laid up for many years after the war. 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.
Relative carrier sizes in World War II
| Escort carrier | Fleet carrier | |
|---|---|---|
| Length: | 150 m | 260 m |
| Beam: | 20 m | 28 m |
| Displacement: | 7500 t | 25,000 t |
| Aircraft: | 15 - 30 | over 80 |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h) | 33 knots (61 km/h) |
| Crew: | 850 | 3000 and over |
Post World War II
Following the war, this class of ship was retired, primarily because as the navies were reduced in size it was better to keep the larger and more useful fleet carriers in preference to them.Just about every important class of ship or patrol boat from World War II can be found in a museum or in a port, somewhere in the United States, except for the escort carrier and the light carrier. There are no survivors from either type of ship: all were destroyed during the war or broken up in the decades following it. The last escort carrier, USS Gilbert Islands (CVE-107) was broken up for scrap starting in 1976.
See also
References
- Galuppini, Gino. Le guide des porte-avions. Paris: Fernand Nathan, 1981
- Poolman, Kenneth. Escort carrier 1941-1945: An account of British Escort Carriers in Trade Protection. London: Ian Allan, 1972
- Warrilow, Betty. Nabob, the first Canadian-manned aircraft carrier. Owen Sound, Ont. : Escort Carriers Association, 1989.
- Gallery, Daniel V. 20 Million Tons Under The Sea. Ballantine, 1965.
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