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Sangamon-class escort carrier

{{short description|Aircraft carrier class of the US Navy}}

{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}

{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}

{{Infobox ship begin}}

{{Infobox ship image

|Ship image=USS Santee (CVE-29) at anchor 1942.jpg

|Ship caption=USS Santee (ACV-29) at anchor, 1942

}}

{{Infobox ship class overview

|Name=Sangamon-class escort carrier

|Builders=*Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company: Sangamon & Suwannee

|Operators={{naval|United States}}

|Class before={{sclass|Bogue|escort carrier|4}}

|Class after={{sclass|Casablanca|escort carrier|4}}

|Subclasses=

|Cost=

|Built range=1942

|In service range=

|In commission range=1942–1947

|Total ships building=

|Total ships planned=

|Total ships completed=4

|Total ships cancelled=

|Total ships active=

|Total ships scrapped=4

|Total ships lost=

|Total ships retired=4

|Total ships preserved=

}}

{{Infobox ship characteristics

|Hide header=

|Header caption=

|Ship type= Escort carrier

|Ship displacement=*{{cvt|11400|LT|lk=on}} (standard load)

  • {{cvt|24275|LT|0}} (full load)

|Ship length=*{{cvt|525|ft}} wl

  • {{cvt|553|ft}} oa
  • {{cvt|502|ft}} fd

|Ship beam=*{{cvt|75|ft}}

  • {{cvt|114|ft}} extreme width

|Ship draft= {{cvt|32|ft}}

|Ship power= {{convert|13500|shp|0|abbr=on}}

|Ship propulsion=*4 × Boilers ({{cvt|450|psi}}

|Ship speed= {{convert|18|kn|lk=in}}

|Ship range=

|Ship complement=860-1080 officers and men

|Ship sensors=

|Ship EW=

|Ship armament=*2 × Single 5-inch/51-caliber gun

|Ship armor=

|Ship aircraft=25-32 Grumman F4F Wildcat & Grumman TBF Avenger or Douglas SBD Dauntless

|Ship aircraft facilities=* 1 × Catapult (One additional catapult added later)

|Ship notes=

}}

The Sangamon class were a group of four escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy that served during World War II.

Overview

These ships were originally {{sclass|Cimarron|oiler|0||1939}} oilers, launched in 1939 for civilian use. They were acquired and commissioned by the U.S. Navy in 1940–1941. Due to the shortage of MARAD type C3 ships for conversion to desperately needed escort carriers, it was decided in early 1942 to convert four oilers to escort carriers. The conversion took around six months.Terzibaschitsch 1979 p. 31

File:Sangamon class CVE drawings.png

These ships were the largest escort carrier conversions built for the U.S. Navy. The late-war {{sclass|Commencement Bay|escort carrier|1}}s were about as large, but were built as carriers from keel up. Being built as T3 tanker oilers, the machinery space was located aft, resulting in the placing of the smokestacks on both sides aft of the flight deck. They were excellent examples of the type, roomy and tough with a large flight deck and good stability on even high seas. The Sangamons could operate about 30 aircraft, and were the only escort carriers to operate dive bombers.Terzibaschitsch 1979 p. 67

The Sangamon class were all renamed for rivers following the contemporary U.S. Navy practice for oilers when taken into naval service and retained those names following their conversions to carriers.

Service history

From late 1942 until the end of the war the ships saw active duty in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific Campaigns. Three of the class were damaged by Japanese kamikaze attacks at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but all survived the war. In the Pacific, the carriers often operated together as Carrier Division 22.Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships of World War II. Ian Allan, London 1965 (reprint 1982), p. 55. {{ISBN|0-7110-0157-X}}

The ships were withdrawn from active service shortly after the end of the war. Some of them were kept in reserve and reclassified as helicopter escort carriers (CVHE). All had been sold or scrapped by the early 1960s.Paul H. Silverstone: US Warships since 1945. Ian Allan, London 1986, p. 23. {{ISBN|0-7110-1598-8}}

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Ships

class="sortable wikitable plainrowheaders"

|+ List of Sangamon-class escort carriers

scope="col" | Ship name

! scope="col" | {{abbr|Hull no.|Hull number}}

! scope="col" | Builder

! scope="col" | Laid down

! scope="col" | Launched

! scope="col" | Recommissioned as escort carrier

! scope="col" | Decommissioned

! scope="col" | Fate

scope="row" | {{USS|Sangamon|CVE-26|2}}

! scope="row" style="white-space: nowrap;" | CVE-26

|rowspan=2|Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company,
Kearny, New Jersey

|13 March 1939

|4 November 1939

|25 August 1942

|24 October 1945

|Struck 1 November 1945; Scrapped in Osaka, Japan, August 1960

scope="row" | {{USS|Suwannee|CVE-27|2}}

! scope="row" | CVE-27

|3 June 1938

|4 March 1939

|24 September 1942

|8 January 1947

|Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 30 November 1959

scope="row" | {{USS|Chenango|CVE-28|2}}

! scope="row" | CVE-28

|rowspan=2|Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company,
Chester, Pennsylvania

|10 July 1938

|1 April 1939

|19 September 1942

|14 August 1946

|Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 12 February 1960

scope="row" | {{USS|Santee|CVE-29|2}}

! scope="row" | CVE-29

|31 May 1938

|4 March 1939

|24 August 1942

|21 October 1946

|Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 5 December 1959

See also

Notes

{{reflist}}

References

{{Commons category|Sangamon class escort carrier}}

  • {{cite book| title=U.S. Aircraft Carriers |author=Friedman, Norman |publisher=Naval Institute Press |year=1983| isbn=0-87021-739-9}}
  • {{cite book| last=Terzibaschitsch|first=Stefan|year=1979|title=Flugzeugtraeger der U.S. Navy. Geleitflugzeugtraeger|publisher=Bernard & Graefe|location=Munich|isbn=978-3-7637-5212-6}}

{{Sangamon class escort carrier}}

{{WWII US ships}}

Category:Escort aircraft carrier classes

Sangamon-class escort carriers

Sangamon-class escort carriers