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Escort Carriers

"The escort aircraft carriers of World War II were smaller and slower than the big fleet carriers used by the British Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, the United States Navy, and the Imperial Japanese Navy. They were about half the length and a third the displacement of fleet carriers, they were more lightly armed and armored, and carried fewer planes. Because they were most often built on hulls of commercial ships, they were cheaper and could be built quickly. Of the 151 carriers built in the U.S. during the war, 122 were escort carriers. They were vulnerable. Several were sunk by enemy action. But, museum docent John Lynch tells us in this video, the small carriers had a big impact in WWII. They were often employed to escort merchant ship convoys, defending them from enemy submarines and aircraft. In the Allied invasions of North Africa, France and in the Pacific, escort carriers provided air support to ground forces during amphibious operations. They also served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and ferried aircraft to and from overseas areas. Escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main naval task forces, so they were often used in independent efforts. As numbers increased later in the war, escort carriers also formed part of hunter-killer groups that sought out submarines instead of being attached to a particular convoy. In the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one U.S. task force of escort carriers and destroyers managed to successfully defend itself against a much larger Japanese force of battleships and cruisers. The Japanese met a furious defense of carrier aircraft, screening destroyers, and destroyer escorts. Retired Navy officer Lynch covers the history and origins of the escort carriers, their employment in anti-submarine operations, their typical aircraft complement, and the critical role they played at Leyte Gulf. Watch as one of the museum's two TBM Avenger torpedo bombers -- a type often deployed on escort carriers -- caps off John's presentation with a demonstration flight from Colorado Springs Airport."