Escort Carrier

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 used by the Royal Navy (RN), the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the United States Navy (USN) in World War II. 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 (hull classification symbol CVL) was a similar concept to escort carriers in most respects, however they were intended for higher speeds to be deployed alongside fleet carriers.

Most often built on a commercial ship hull, escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main forces consisting of fleet carriers, battleships, and cruisers. Instead, they were used to escort convoys, defending them from enemy threats such as submarines and planes. In the invasions of mainland Europe and Pacific islands, escort carriers provided air support 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-boats. 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.

In the Pacific theater, CVEs provided air support of ground troops in the Battle of Leyte Gulf. They lacked the speed and weapons to counter enemy fleets, relying on the protection of a Fast Carrier Task Force. However, at the Battle off Samar, one U.S. task force of escort carriers and destroyers known as "Taffy 3" was left unprotected after the powerful 3rd Fleet, under the command of Admiral William Halsey, Jr. was lured away to pursue decoy carriers. It found itself confronted by a massive Japanese force of battleships and cruisers. Nevertheless, the Japanese were turned back by a furious defense by screening U.S. destroyers and destroyer escorts, which made torpedo runs and accurate gun attacks, as well as aircraft which attacked without carrying effective anti-ship bombs and torpedoes. The U.S. sank three Japanese cruisers in that engagement, at the cost of one escort carrier, two destroyers and one destroyer escort.

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 holds the distinction of being the most numerous single class of aircraft carrier ever built, with 50 having been launched. The Bogue class comes in a close second, with 45 launched.