USS Casablanca - Guide 351

The Casablanca class, escort carriers of the US Navy, are today's subject.

Read more about the ship here:

[Alex-cwrz]

Interesting fact the Polish navy asked if they could have a Casablanca-class escort carrier and when refused that and the British refused to give the Polish one of their carriers as well. Admiral Swirski in 1944 decided the most logical next step was to takeover the IJN Hosho aircraft carrier, not sure how they planned on doing this and that's all I know about it but that was such a fascinating story and I feel like I need more detail. Also after the war the Polish Navy had huge plans which included building 3 battleships and aquiring 6 Cassablanca-class escort carriers.

[martinmarheinecke]

One of the most underrated ship classes. Among their crews, CVE was sarcastically said to stand for "Combustible, Vulnerable, and Expendable", but in the end "Kaiser's coffins" were Indispensable.

[PeterOBraun]

My grandfather was an orphaned refugee from the Spanish Civil War, came to Portland and learned to weld building Casablancas. He later used those welding chops to become a successful artist. Very neat video.

[tobiasGRY]

Important to note. Doris Miller, Pearl Harbor-hero and Navy Cross recipient for actions aboard USS West Virginia, died on USS Liscome Bay in the Battle of Mankin.

He may have been assigned to something combustible, vulnerable, and expendable in his final hours...
*But his new namesake is a Gerald R. Ford-class supercarrier.*

[The_Sly_Potato]

My great-grandfather served aboard a Casablanca-class, the USS Kitkun Bay, from 1944 to 1946. He was there during the Battle of Guam, and was part of Taffy III. He was partly why i served in the Navy from 2017-2022. Thank you for covering her and her sisters Drach!

[wolftamer]

One of my favorite underrated ship classes. It’s a shame none were preserved as a museum ship considering it was the most numerous class of aircraft carrier ever.

[comentedonakeyboard]

"just" 50 carriers, more then any other navy could have dreamed of.

[busterdee]

I've been a fan of escort carriers for a long time. Bogues are my favorite (because of their multi-theater resume), but the 'Kaisers' deserve their own accolades. Nobody wanted them, 'til the US Navy decided to keep them all. You gotta' love that Kaiser engineers sorted an unwanted engine (even by triple-expansion standards) and gained speed over their turbine stable mates to boot. An escort carrier's only 'armor' was its boldness. Thanks for this Drach.

[benjaminnoakes]

Be worth noting that these have skinner unaflow steam engines not standard reciprocating type. Very modern efficient and reliable steam engines.

[Zephcas]

Oregonian here, I love the history of ship building in Portland and Vancouver during WW2. Vanport was a town built to house the workers but it sadly was destroyed by a flood in 1948. You can still see the remains of the Vancouver shipyard along the Columbia. The other two shipyards in Portland are near St John's and on Swan Island; the later being converted to a massive dry dock. We also had a few smaller shipyards that produced other vessels such as Tugs, Net Layers, Submarine Chasers, Landing Craft, etc.

[korbell]

A true workhorse, no flash no thunder, and the ding, ding, ding as they came out of the shipyards must have driven the Japanese crazy!😅😅

[matthewcasey]

My ex-wife’s grandfather was a radioman on Lipscome Bay. As he told it he’d been in the shack most of the day and his buddy finally convinced him to go outside and smoke out there instead of filling the radio shack with smoke. He agreed and as he was lighting up and exhaling his first drag of his smoke he saw the torpedo about a second or two before impact. Because he was outside it blew him overboard, so he was one of the few survivors of her sinking, similar incident happened when he was on the Mississippi, he said he never went on the weather deck after that unless ordered to do so!😂

[robertphillips]

My father served aboard the USS Block Island CVE-21 a Bogue-Class Carrier (The only US Aircraft Carrier sunk in the Atlantic Ocean during the War) and its replacement of the same name CVW- 106 a Commencement-Bay class Carrier that took place in Operation Magic Carpet at the end of the War.

[bkjeong]

Not only did they do much for landing operations, the Casablancas also served in anti-surface-ship roles far more often than most people realize, including for part of Samar where they pretty much decided the result of the battle (but that was hardly the only time they did anti-surface work).

The Little Giants covers CVE ops in significant detail.

[Maddog]

Also used to ferry replacement aircraft (and pilots) out to the fleets so they wouldn't have to go back to Hawaii or the West Coast to make up combat losses.

I've always had a soft spot for the Casablanca-class. Just something about the whole idea of an escort carrier and having them properly, purpose-designed and built for it tickles my fancy. Pity that they were so soon obsolete, but history is like that.

[patrickchase]

The beauty of the Sangamons was that as converted T3 tankers they could carry an absolutely massive fuel load. This served them well in the North Africa landings, where they continuously refueled the DDs on station. They carried a crazy amount of draft, though (32 ft for a fully-loaded Sangamon vs 20 for a Casablanca).

[RogCBrand]

My Grandpa came to Vanport, from Tennessee, and my Grandma from North Dakota. That's how they met, working on ships there. My Grandma would be suspended on the side of a ship, welding, and my Grandpa would come along, eating a sandwich, and chat with her as she worked! I wish I knew what ships they worked on!

[carlT]

Drach does the work and speaks with authority. No one is perfect. I doubt anyone thinks he is anymore than they might think that of any of us are perfect.

He does his homework and he has a broad and deep knowledge of what he speaks about.

I can learn from Drach. I have been a history nut for most of my life. That means I have a huge amount of data that I have absorbed. That doesn’t mean my database is accurate or in the proper context. My sense is that Drach has earned his eagles and I can benefit from his knowledge. This is how his channel should be- a source of digested knowledge that is clearly explained. If I were to disagree it is incumbent on me to prove any point I would want to put forward.

Well Done Drach - so far…. We now expect continuous excellence. I think you are good with that.

[johngregory]

After my family moved back to the Portland atea in '74, my Dad took my brother and me to what's left of the Kaiser shipyard in Vancouver. Even after that visit, we didn't know that the Cadablanca class had been built there. All we knew about was the Liberty ships. Even though it was only about 30 years after the last ship went down the ways into the Columbia, there was almost nothing left but broken concrete slabs where the ships were built and some pilings rotting in the river where the they were tied up after their launch.

Pity the shipyard wasnt preserved as a museum.

[staberinde]

I do a lot of sailing on the Columbia. The remnants of those dockyards are still pretty distinct over at the Washington side.