Articles
- Article by Peter Kimenai
- Published on January 18th, 2025
American escort carrier USS Long Island (CVE-1)
In the early years of the Second World War, and even prior to the USA itself joining this war, a huge demand for aircraft carriers stimulated a cost-effective alternative that could be delivered fast and in large numbers: the escort carrier converted from pre-selected hull structures of merchant vessels. This article focuses on the very first experiment of such a conversion: the USS Long Island. It describes the technical challenges of converting a merchant vessel into an escort carrier, the vessel's wartime exploits which illustrate the multi-purpose role of these type of vessels, and how she continued a rewarding civilian career soon after the war had ended.
- Article by Peter Kimenai
- Published on January 19th, 2025
American escort carriers of the Sangamon class (1942)
This article presents an overview of a particular class of US Navy escort aircraft carriers, introduced around the time the USA joined World War 2. The Sangamon class consisted of 4 vessels, commissioned in 1942 and converted from fleet oilers that had been requisitioned by the US government in 1940-1941 from civilian oil transport companies. Their original design as an oil tanker provided a rather perfect fit for a quick conversion into an auxiliary aircraft carrier.
The Sangamon class was the only class of escort carriers converted from oil tankers. However, it provided a blueprint for a much larger number of newly constructed escort carriers in the course of WW2.
Looking for reliable information or news facts about WW2? Do you want to create your own battlefield tour to sights of wars from the past? Or are you interested in war medals and their recipients? TracesOfWar.com tells you more!
More information
© STIWOT, 1999-2025. All rights reserved. Privacy statement, cookies, disclaimer and copyright