Escort Carrier

The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier (popularly known as the jeep carrier or baby flattop), was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy and the United States Navy in World War II. They were typically half the length and one-third the displacement of the larger fleet carriers. While they were slower, less well armed and armored, and carried fewer planes, they were less expensive and built in much larger numbers. In the Atlantic, the escort carriers were employed to deal with the U-boat crisis of the Battle of the Atlantic, while in the Pacific they provided air support to ground forces during amphibious operations, served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and transported aircraft of all military services to points of delivery. In the Pacific, while they were too slow to keep up with fast carriers, they were tasked in the Battle of Leyte Gulf with bombing ground forces and sinking submarines. In the Battle off Samar, the Japanese Center Force stumbled across the small and completely unprepared task force known as "Taffy 3".... Mehr