List of escort carriers of the United States Navy explained

The United States Navy had a sizable fleet of escort aircraft carriers during World War II and the early Cold War era that followed.

Historical overview

Prior to the creation of the escort carrier hull classification symbol (CVE) on 15 July 1943, these ships were designated as Auxiliary aircraft escort vessels (AVG) until 20 August 1942 and then Auxiliary aircraft carriers (ACV).

These ships were both quicker and cheaper to build than larger fleet carriers and were built in great numbers to serve as a stop-gap measure when fleet carriers were too few. However, they were usually too slow to keep up with naval task forces and would typically be assigned to amphibious operations, often seen in the Pacific War's island hopping campaign, or to convoy protection in the war in the Atlantic.

To that end, many of these ships were transferred to the Royal Navy as part of the US-UK lend-lease program. Note that many of the lower-numbered carriers were transferred to the Royal Navy, where they received new names but retained their original BAVG hull symbols. The new names are mentioned in each article individually. While some of these ships were kept for a time in reserve after the war, none survive today, as they have all since been sunk or retired and scrapped. The following are the classes and stand-alone ships of the US Navy's escort carriers:

Name	Hull number	Class	Laid Down	Launched	Commissioned	Notes
			7 July 1939	11 January 1940	2 June 1941	Built as Mormacmail (I)
Unnamed			7 June 1939	14 December 1939	17 November 1941	Built as Mormacland Became
			28 November 1939	27 November 1940	2 March 1942	Built as Rio Hudson Became Sunk by, 15 November 1942
			28 December 1939	18 December 1940	6 May 1942	Built as Rio Parana Became
			19 January 1940	1 March 1941	2 October 1941	Built as Rio de la Plata Became Returned to USN, 4 October 1941 Redesignated, 20 August 1942
			14 March 1940	12 April 1941	2 July 1942	Built as Rio de Janeiro Became Sunk by aviation fuel explosion, 27 March 1943
			3 November 1941	7 March 1942	31 January 1943	Built as Mormacmail (II) Became
			15 April 1941	4 April 1942	31 October 1942	Built as Mormacmail (III) Became
			17 April 1941	27 September 1941	30 September 1942	Built as Steel Artisan Became
			15 May 1941	22 May 1942	9 January 1943	Built as Mormacpenn Became
			1 October 1941	15 January 1942	26 September 1942	Built as Steel Advocate
			28 June 1941	15 February 1943	9 April 1943	Built as Mormacgulf Became
			27 October 1941	27 February 1942	8 November 1942
			18 June 1941	21 October 1941	15 June 1942
			2 January 1942	15 May 1942	10 December 1942
			5 September 1941	4 April 1942	20 February 1943	Became
			6 October 1941	5 March 1942	21 December 1942	Became
			27 November 1941	4 April 1942	20 August 1942
			31 July 1941	18 July 1942	14 June 1943	Became
			19 December 1941	22 May 1942	15 September 1942
			15 December 1941	7 May 1942	28 April 1943	Became
			19 January 1942	2 May 1942	20 February 1943
			19 January 1942	1 May 1942	8 March 1943
Unnamed			20 February 1942	20 June 1942	7 April 1943	Became
			25 February 1942	27 June 1942	12 April 1943
Unnamed			11 April 1942	16 July 1942	25 April 1943	Became
			15 April 1942	1 August 1942	28 April 1943
			13 March 1939	4 November 1939	25 August 1942	Lead ship of her class (converted from oiler)
			3 June 1938	4 March 1939	24 September 1942
			10 July 1938	1 April 1939	19 September 1942
			31 May 1938	4 March 1939	24 August 1942
			19 January 1940	1 March 1941	3 March 1942	Same ship as "BAVG-4" and
			18 May 1942	23 August 1942	9 April 1943	Last ship, first group of Bogue-class, sometimes referred to as Prince William-class
			25 May 1942	19 September 1942	11 August 1943	Became First ship, second group of Bogue-class
			9 June 1942	7 September 1942	28 October 1943	Became HMS Atheling (D51)
			23 June 1942	7 October 1942	6 August 1943	Became
			18 July 1942	18 October 1942	20 July 1943	Became
			3 August 1942	11 November 1942	2 August 1943	Became
			25 August 1942	15 December 1942	4 August 1943	Became
			9 September 1942	30 December 1942	12 August 1943	Became
			22 September 1942	30 January 1943	25 August 1943	Became
			9 October 1942	20 February 1943	20 November 1943	Became
			20 October 1942	22 March 1943	7 September 1943	Became
			31 October 1942	22 March 1943	3 November 1943	Became
			13 November 1942	21 April 1943	27 September 1943	Became
			27 November 1942	6 May 1943	25 October 1943	Became
			17 December 1942	18 May 1943	17 January 1944	Became
			5 January 1943	2 June 1943	8 November 1943	Became
			1 February 1943	16 June 1943	31 January 1944	Became
			23 February 1943	15 July 1943	19 November 1943	Became
			12 March 1943	2 August 1943	7 December 1943	Became
			25 March 1943	21 August 1943	22 December 1943	Became HMS Ruler (D72)
			26 April 1943	9 September 1943	31 December 1943	Became HMS Arbiter (D31)
			10 May 1943	27 September 1943	20 January 1944	Became
			21 May 1943	8 November 1943	5 February 1944	Became
			5 June 1943	22 November 1943	18 February 1944	Became, last ship of Bogue-class
			3 November 1942	5 April 1943	8 July 1943	Lead ship of her class
			9 December 1942	19 April 1943	7 August 1943
			1 May 1943	27 August 1943	5 August 1946	Originally named Alikula Bay, commissioned as Coral Sea (1943-1944), renamed Anzio (1944-1959)
			17 December 1942	12 May 1943	31 August 1943
			28 December 1942	26 May 1943	13 September 1943
			5 January 1943	5 June 1943	25 September 1943
			15 January 1943	10 July 1943	5 October 1943
			17 January 1943	20 July 1943	14 October 1943
Midway			23 January 1943	17 August 1943	23 October 1943	Originally named Chapin Bay, commissioned as Midway (1943-1944), renamed St. Lo (1944)
			1 February 1943	13 July 1943	31 October 1943
			6 February 1943	15 September 1943	7 November 1943
			11 February 1943	27 September 1943	15 November 1943
			19 March 1943	6 October 1943	21 November 1943
			26 April 1943	15 October 1943	27 November 1943
			May 1943	24 October 1943	4 December 1943	Laid down as Type S4-S2-BB3 oiler, completed as CVE-69
			18 May 1943	1 November 1943	9 December 1943
			3 May 1943	8 November 1943	15 December 1943
			7 June 1943	15 November 1943	21 December 1943
			10 July 1943	22 November 1943	28 December 1943	Only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy surface gunfire during World War II at the Battle off Samar.
			20 July 1943	28 November 1943	3 January 1944
			17 August 1943	4 December 1943	11 January 1944
			2 September 1943	11 December 1943	18 January 1944
			15 September 1943	16 December 1943	26 January 1944
			27 September 1943	22 December 1943	3 February 1944
			6 October 1943	29 December 1943	11 February 1944
			15 October 1943	5 January 1944	18 February 1944
			24 October 1943	12 January 1944	25 February 1944
			1 November 1943	19 January 1944	2 March 1944
			8 November 1943	31 January 1944	9 March 1944
			15 March 1943	4 February 1944	15 March 1944
			22 November 1943	12 February 1944	21 March 1944
			23 November 1943	19 February 1944	28 March 1944
			4 December 1943	26 February 1944	4 April 1944
			11 December 1943	3 March 1944	9 April 1944	Name changed from Tananek Bay 6 November 1943
			16 December 1943	10 March 1944	15 April 1944
			22 December 1943	16 March 1944	12 April 1944
			29 December 1943	22 March 1944	27 April 1944
			5 January 1944	29 March 1944	3 May 1944
			12 January 1944	5 April 1944	9 May 1944
			19 January 1944	11 April 1944	14 May 1944
			31 January 1944	17 April 1944	20 May 1944
			4 February 1944	22 April 1944	26 May 1944	Originally named Anguilla Bay
			12 February 1944	28 April 1944	1 June 1944
			19 February 1944	4 May 1944	7 June 1944
			26 February 1944	10 May 1944	13 June 1944
			3 March 1944	16 May 1944	18 June 1944
			10 March 1944	22 May 1944	24 June 1944
			16 March 1944	27 May 1944	30 June 1944
			22 March 1944	2 June 1944	6 July 1944
			29 March 1944	27 May 1944	8 July 1944	Last ship of Casablanca-class
			23 September 1943	9 May 1944	27 November 1944	Lead ship of her class
			25 October 1943	10 June 1944	30 December 1944
			29 November 1943	20 July 1944	5 February 1945
			16 December 1943	15 August 1944	12 May 1945
			10 January 1944	12 September 1944	5 March 1945
			7 February 1944	26 September 1944	19 May 1945
			7 March 1944	19 October 1944	9 April 1945
			1 April 1944	9 November 1944	14 May 1945	Laid down as Frosty Bay, renamed Siboney 26 April 1944
			12 May 1944	20 September 1944	18 June 1945
			15 June 1944	29 December 1944	22 October 1945
			25 July 1944	25 January 1945	16 July 1945
			18 August 1944	15 February 1945	14 November 1945
			29 September 1944	17 March 1945	4 September 1945
			23 October 1944	14 April 1945	27 February 1946
			4 December 1944	18 May 1945	16 October 1945
			2 January 1945	27 June 1945	4 December 1945
			29 January 1945	14 June 1945		Acquired by the Navy 30 August 1946, never commissioned.
			19 February 1945	6 August 1945	15 January 1946
			20 March 1945	5 September 1945		Acquired by the Navy 30 July 1946, never commissioned.
			2 April 1945			Laid down, cancelled before launch
			20 April 1945
			1 May 1945
			22 May 1945
Unnamed						Cancelled
			Cancelled / Last ship of Commencement Bay-class

See also

• List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
• List of aircraft carrier classes of the United States Navy
• List of United States Navy ships
• - abbreviated list
• - detailed list
• List of aircraft carriers
• List of aircraft carriers in service
• Timeline for aircraft carrier service
• List of aircraft carriers by configuration
• List of sunken aircraft carriers
• List of amphibious warfare ships
• List of escort aircraft carriers of the Royal Navy
• List of seaplane carriers of the Royal Navy

Notes and references

• The Ships and Aircraft of the U.S. Fleet, by James C. Fahey, Associate, United States Naval Institute, 1945 (Victory Edition)