Escort Carriers: USS Long Island CVE-1

[Brian James]

Escort Carrier USS Long Island pictured in Measure 12 (Modified) camouflage,November 10th 1941. Aircraft on her flight deck include seven Curtiss SOC-3A scout observation types and one Brewster F2A fighter.
USS Long Island CVE-1 was Lead Ship of her Class and the first Escort Carrier of the USN. She was laid down on July 7th 1939, as the C-3 cargo liner Mormacmail, under Maritime Commission contract, by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania as Yard No 185, launched on January 11th 1940.In the tense months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Long Island operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, conducting experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations from converted cargo ships. The data gathered by her crew greatly improved the combat readiness of later "baby flattops".

[designeraccd]

She served well for a "prototype". Here are some later photos of her.... The pier side pic appears to have a SANTEE class CVE in the background. DFO

[ivorthediver]

Well they certainly saved our bacon,.... and once put on convoy duties.... served well against the U boats by keeping their collective heads down.

Dennis ,the Long Island vessel,.... is presumably only transiting aircraft or could some be "struck down" to allow for take off of these aircraft

[Brian James]

The first USN Escort Carrier USS Long Island, the former Cargo Liner SS Mormacmail pictured under conversion at Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company Shipyards on April 1st 1941.She was laid down on July 7th 1939, as the C-3 Cargo Liner Mormacmail, under Maritime Commission contract, at Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania as Yard No 185, launched on January 11th 1940, acquired by the Navy on March 6th 1941, and commissioned on June 2nd 1941 as Long Island (AVG-1). In the tense months before the attack on Pearl Harbor, Long Island operated out of Norfolk, Virginia, conducting experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations from converted cargo ships. The data gathered by her crew greatly improved the combat readiness of later 'baby flattops'. Long Island departed San Diego on July 8th and arrived Pearl Harbor on July 17th. After a training run south to Palmyra Island, she loaded two squadrons of Marine Corps aircraft and got underway for the South Pacific on August 2nd. Touching at Fiji on August 13th, she then steamed to a point 200 miles southeast of Guadalcanal and launched her aircraft (19 Grumman F4F Wildcats and 12 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers).These aircraft, the first to reach Henderson Field, were instrumental in the Guadalcanal campaign and went on to compile a distinguished war record. Her mission was accomplished. Reclassified ACV-1 on August 20th, Long Island sailed for Efate Island, New Hebrides, and arrived on August 23rd...Long Island returned to the West Coast on September 20th, as the new 'baby flattops' took up the slack in the Pacific war zones. For the next year, the Escort Carrier trained Carrier pilots at San Diego. Long Island was reclassified CVE-1 on July 15th 1943. In 1944–1945, she transported airplanes and their crews from the West Coast to various outposts in the Pacific. After V-J Day, she revisited many of these same bases while transporting soldiers and sailors back home during Operation Magic Carpet..Long Island decommissioned on March 26th 1946 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on April 12th, she was sold to Zidell Ship Dismantling Company of Portland, Oregon on April 24th 1947 for scrapping. However, on March 12th 1948, she was acquired by the Canada-Europe Line for conversion to Merchant service. Upon completion of conversion in 1949, she was renamed Nelly, and served as an Immigrant Carrier between Europe, Australia and Canada. In 1953, she was renamed Seven Seas. In 1955, she was chartered to the German Europe-Canada Line. On July 17th 1965, she had a serious fire and was towed to St John's, Newfoundland. She was repaired and started her last voyage on September 13th 1966. She was purchased the same year and employed by Rotterdam University as a students' hostel until 1971 and as a migrant hostel until 1977, when she was scrapped in Belgium.

[Blackbat242]

Well they certainly saved our bacon,.... and once put on convoy duties.... served well against the U boats by keeping their collective heads down.

Dennis ,the Long Island vessel,.... is presumably only transiting aircraft or could some be "struck down" to allow for take off of these aircraft

Been away a while.

The caption on that photo (in designeraccd's post just above yours) in the Navsource archives is

Photographed on 10 June 1944 by a plane from Naval Air Station, Alameda, California. She has 21 F6F fighters, 20 SBD scout bombers and two J2F utility planes parked on her flight deck. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 9A.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-236393).

As a later photo (from late June 1944) notes her in Ulithi anchorage, that deck load of aircraft were being ferried to resupply the carriers of the US Pacific fleet.

[Blackbat242]

Pictures before her conversion to a carrier and after her re-conversion to civilian form:

SunShip fitting out piers 2 April 1940 Chester PA - Mormacmail and Mormacland left & right of drydock:

SunShip fitting out piers 2 April 1940 Chester PA - Mormacmail and Mormacland left & right of drydock.jpg

HMS Archer as built MV Mormacland:

HMS Archer as built MV Mormacland.jpg

Long Island post-war:

Long Island post-war.jpg

[ivorthediver]

Welcome back Denis , glad to see you're alive and kicking ......thanks for the belated reply