United States · CVE · class
Casablanca class
The Casablanca class was the escort-carrier class Kaiser built at Vancouver, Washington. Fifty were completed, from CVE-55 Casablanca to CVE-104 Munda, in 1943 and 1944. The Maritime Commission type was S4-S2-BB3.
A ship of the class was about 512 feet long, with a flight deck, a small island set aft, and one 5-inch gun. They were slower than the fleet carriers. They carried fighters and torpedo planes for convoys and for landings.
Off Samar on 25 October 1944, the six carriers of Taffy 3 were all of this class: Fanshaw Bay, St. Lo, White Plains, Kalinin Bay, Kitkun Bay, and Gambier Bay. Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague flew his flag in Fanshaw Bay. Gambier Bay was sunk by Japanese gunfire that morning. That loss is not pinned to one ship. The surface ships did not sink St. Lo. A kamikaze did, later that morning. White Plains was not sunk. Kalinin Bay was hit and not sunk. Kitkun Bay was not sunk.
Bismarck Sea, also of this class, was sunk off Iwo Jima on 21 February 1945. Two suicide planes started fires and her ammunition exploded. She went down in about ninety minutes, and 318 men were lost.
