This article may re-awaken that World War Two historian in you. The Casablanca-class aircraft carrier is not the first warship that comes to mind when examining U.S. naval lore, but perhaps it’s time to look at this interesting vessel.
This carrier was more of an escort ship to bigger, more powerful flat-tops that steamed around the Pacific, looking to battle the Japanese. But the Casablanca-class fulfilled its role with aplomb and provides a fascinating historical footnote.
Casablanca-Class: The Rise of the ‘Kaiser Jeep’
The United States was trying to produce as many aircraft carriers as possible during World War Two, and sometimes, these had to be smaller and lightly armored—even built on commercial hulls. Due to their diminutive size and displacement, they were nicknamed “Jeep” carriers.
FDR Was a Naval Visionary
They were churned out quickly in several shipyards around the country. President Franklin D. Roosevelt, who served as Assistant Secretary of the Navy beginning in 1913 and considered himself a maritime expert, had the idea for these carriers. In 1940, he ordered the service branch to start producing the Casablanca class.
These were then known as “Special Escort Ships,” then renamed as “Aircraft Tender, General Purpose” in 1941. They were built on merchant ship hulls and transferred to the British in accordance with the Lend-Lease program. Fifty-four ships were built, and 38 were granted to the United Kingdom.
The Escort Carrier Was Born
By 1942, FDR was happy with this early construction and ordered 50 more escort carriers to be built exclusively for the U.S. Navy. The ships were initially nicknamed “Kaiser Jeeps” as an ode to famed shipbuilder, industrialist, and healthcare founder Henry J. Kaiser. Kaiser thought he could build an astounding eight ships per month. By 1943, the vessels were re-designated as escort carriers.
The first small carrier, CVE-55, was christened the USS Casablanca. It was the lead ship of the class and was commissioned in late 1943.
The Casablanca class could sail at 19 knots, a good rate of speed since the winds were often blowing more powerfully in the southern Pacific than in the Atlantic. The Casablanca class also had a twin-screw propulsion system.
Twenty-eight Airplanes On Board
The escort carriers featured 12 Avenger torpedo bombers and 16 Wildcat fighters. Sometimes, the Casablanca-class carriers simply ferried airplanes to airfields in the Pacific. In this mission, the ships transported several different types of aircraft, such as Hellcats, Lightnings, Corsairs, or Avengers.
When traveling at 15 knots, the Casablancas had a range of 10,200 nautical miles. There were 749 sailors on board.
The Carriers Had Some Critics
Casablancas were criticized for some shortcomings. “The poor arrangements for alongside refueling of other ships, the fitting of a single, lower-capacity Mk HII-1 catapult, poor magazine and bomb stowage access, inadequate propulsion machinery damage-control features, and the lack of steam line cross-connections [although the ships did have two separate combined boiler and engine rooms as compared to the single engineering space in the previous escort carriers],” according to the U.S. Naval Institute.
The carriers were 512 feet long and had a 474-foot flight deck. They had four boilers and “5-cylinder single-expansion reciprocating engines.”
They fought in both the Atlantic and Pacific theaters during World War Two. Five were lost due to Japanese gunfire and kamikaze attacks. Many were decommissioned and retired after that conflict. Five were used during the Korean War to transport aircraft to South Korea.
One innovation that kept the Casablancas top of mind during the early 1950s was the advent of the helicopter. The carriers were envisioned as a good way to deliver these new aircraft to combat theaters. They could assist the Marine Corps in amphibious operations, with the helicopter serving in overwatch for reconnaissance and medical evacuation missions. This would allow wounded marines to arrive at hospital ships faster.
One Casablanca carrier was re-fitted to carry “20 Sikorsky HRS (H-19) helicopters, 38 Marine officers and 900 enlisted Marines, and 75 tons of combat cargo,” USNI said. The ship was also outfitted with new radars.
However, the Casablanca-class was too slow and small to deliver modern jet fighters to combat. By the early 1960s, they had outlived their usefulness.
The Casablanca-class should be remembered fondly for doing important work for the Navy for 20 years. They had limitations, but sailors and marines would not have been so successful in the war effort without the 50 escort carriers. Shipbuilders should be saluted for producing so many, and FDR, the naval enthusiast, would have said, “I told you so,” had he lived longer.
About the Author: Dr. Brent M. Eastwood
Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for U.S. Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former U.S. Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
