Escort aircraft carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, was a small aircraft carrier developed by the U.S. Navy in the early part of World War II to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic.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 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 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 things like 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.
Escort carriers were used to ferry aircraft, hunt submarines, for patrols, scouting, and the escorting of convoys. They were developed at the behest of the United Kingdom and many of the ships produced were assigned to the Royal Navy for the duration of the war under the Lend-lease act.
The ships sent to the Royal Navy were slightly modified, to suit the traditions of that service. Among other things the ice cream making machines were removed, since they were considered unnecessary luxuries. 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).
Over 100 escort carriers were launched during the war. Following the war, this class of ship was retired.
| Escort carrier | Fleet carrier | |
|---|---|---|
| Length: | 150 m | 260 m |
| Beam: | 20 m | 28 m |
| Displacement: | 7500 t | 25,000 t |
| Aircraft: | 30 or fewer | over 80 |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h) | 33 knots (61 km/h) |
| Crew: | 850 | 3000 and over |
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 MacArthur's army to complete the liberation of Leyte. The hero of the battle was Clifton Sprague.
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. There are no survivors of this class of ships: all were destroyed during the war or were gradually broken up in the decades following it.
See list of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy for a complete list.