Editing Escort carrier (section)

{{short description|Type of WWII aircraft carrier}}
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[[Image:HMS Audacity (D10).jpg|thumb|300px|Escort carrier {{HMS|Audacity|D10|6}}]]

The '''escort carrier''' or '''escort aircraft carrier''' (U.S. [[hull classification symbol]] CVE), also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the [[United States Navy]] (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the [[Royal Navy]], was a small and slower type of [[aircraft carrier]] used by the Royal Navy, the [[Royal Canadian Navy]], the United States Navy, the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]] and [[Imperial Japanese Army Air Force#Army Escort-Aircraft Carriers|Imperial Japanese Army Air Force]] in [[World War II]]. They were typically half the length and a third the [[Displacement (ship)|displacement]] of larger [[fleet carrier]]s, more-lightly armed and armored, and carried fewer planes.  Escort carriers were most often built upon a commercial ship hull, so they were cheaper and could be built quickly. This was their principal advantage as they could be completed in greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce. However, the lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable, and several were sunk with great loss of life. The [[Light aircraft carrier|light carrier]] (U.S. hull classification symbol CVL) was a similar concept to the escort carrier in most respects, but was fast enough to operate alongside fleet carriers.

Escort carriers were too slow to keep up with the main forces consisting of fleet carriers, battleships, and cruisers. Instead, they were used to escort merchant ship [[convoy]]s, defending them from enemy threats such as submarines and planes. In the invasions of mainland Europe and Pacific islands, escort carriers provided [[air support]] to ground forces during [[amphibious operation]]s. Escort carriers also served as backup aircraft transports for fleet carriers, and ferried aircraft of all military services to points of delivery.

In the [[Battle of the Atlantic]], escort carriers were used to protect convoys against [[U-boat]]s. Initially escort carriers accompanied the merchant ships and helped to fend off attacks from aircraft and submarines. As numbers increased later in the war, escort carriers also formed part of hunter-killer groups that [[Anti-submarine warfare#Second World War|sought out submarines]] instead of being attached to a particular convoy.

In the Pacific theater, CVEs provided air support of ground troops in the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. They lacked the speed and weapons to counter enemy fleets, relying on the protection of a [[Fast Carrier Task Force]]. However, at the [[Battle off Samar]], 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.

Of the 151 aircraft carriers built in the U.S. during World War II, 122 were escort carriers, though no examples survive. The {{sclass|Casablanca|escort carrier|4}} was the most numerous class of aircraft carrier, with 50 launched. Second was the {{sclass|Bogue|escort carrier|4}}, with 45 launched.