Peeter I

The Sangamon class were a group of four escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy that served during World War II.

Overview

Originally built as Cimarron-class fleet oilers, and launched in 1939, for civilian use, the ships were acquired by the US Navy and commissioned in 1940. Due to the shortage of Type C3-class ships for conversion to Bogue-class escort carriers, it was decided in early 1942, to convert four oilers to escort carriers.^[1] Following the US Navy practice during WWII, for fleet oilers, these vessels had been renamed after rivers, though this was later changed to "Indian rivers in oil-producing regions". They retained those names following their conversions to carriers.^[2] The conversion took around six months.^[1]

These ships were the largest escort carrier conversions built for the US Navy. The late-war Commencement Bay-class escort carriers were about as large, but were built as carriers from keel up. Being built as T3 tanker oilers, the machinery space was located aft, resulting in the placing of the smokestacks on both sides aft of the flight deck. They were excellent examples of the type, roomy and tough with a large flight deck and good stability on even high seas. The Sangamons could operate about 30 aircraft, and were the only escort carriers to operate dive bombers.^[1]

Service history

From late 1942 until the end of the war the ships saw active duty in the Mediterranean, Atlantic and Pacific Campaigns. Three of the class were damaged by Japanese kamikaze attacks at the Battle of Leyte Gulf, but all survived the war. In the Pacific, the carriers often operated together as Carrier Division 22.^[3]

The ships were withdrawn from active service shortly after the end of the war. Some of them were kept in reserve and reclassified as helicopter escort carriers (CVHE). All had been sold or scrapped by the early 1960s.^[4]

Ships

List of *Sangamon*-class escort carriers
Ship name	Hull no.	Builder	Laid down	Launched	Recommissioned as escort carrier	Decommissioned	Fate
Sangamon	CVE-26	Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey	13 March 1939	4 November 1939	25 August 1942	24 October 1945	Struck 1 November 1945; Scrapped in Osaka, Japan, August 1960
Suwannee	CVE-27		3 June 1938	4 March 1939	24 September 1942	8 January 1947	Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 30 November 1959
Chenango	CVE-28	Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania	10 July 1938	1 April 1939	19 September 1942	14 August 1946	Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 12 February 1960
Santee	CVE-29		31 May 1938	4 March 1939	24 August 1942	21 October 1946	Struck 1 March 1959; Sold for scrap 5 December 1959

References

1 2 3 Terzibaschitsch 1979, p. 31.
↑ Ship Naming 2011, p. 64.
↑ Silverstone 1965, p. 55.
↑ Silverstone 1986, p. 23.

Bibliography

A Report on Policies and Practices of the U.S. Navy for Naming the Vessels of the Navy (PDF) (Report). Washington, DC: Department of the Navy. 31 December 2011. Retrieved 11 August 2025.
Silverstone, Paul H. (1965). US Warships of World War II. London: Ian Allan. p. 55. ISBN 9780711001572.
Silverstone, Paul H. (1986). US Warships since 1945. London: Ian Allan. p. 23. ISBN 0-7110-1598-8.
Terzibaschitsch, Stefan (1979). Flugzeugtraeger der U.S. Navy. Geleitflugzeugtraeger. Munich: Bernard & Graefe. ISBN 978-3-7637-5212-6.

External links

[FOOTNOTETerzibaschitsch197931-1] 1 2 3 Terzibaschitsch 1979, p. 31.

[FOOTNOTEShip_Naming201164-2] Ship Naming 2011, p. 64.

[FOOTNOTESilverstone196555-3] Silverstone 1965, p. 55.

[FOOTNOTESilverstone198623-4] Silverstone 1986, p. 23.

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Sangamon-class escort carriers
Sangamon Suwannee Chenango Santee
Preceded by: Bogue class Followed by: Casablanca class
List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy

United States Navy aircraft carrier hull numbers
Fleet carrier (CV)¹	CV-1 CV-2 CV-3 CV-4 CV-5 CV-6 CV-7 CV-8 CV-9 CV-10 CV-11 CV-12 CV-13 CV-14 CV-15 CV-16 CV-17 CV-18 CV-19 CV-20 CV-21 CVL-22 CVL-23 CVL-24 CVL-25 CVL-26 CVL-27 CVL-28 CVL-29 CVL-30 CV-31 CV-32 CV-33 CV-34 CV-35^X CV-36 CV-37 CV-38 CV-39 CV-40 CV-41 CV-42 CV-43 CV-44^X CV-45 CV-46^X CV-47 CVL-48 CVL-49 CV-50 to CV-55^X CVB-56^X CVB-57^X CVA-58^X CV-59 CV-60 CV-61 CV-62 CV-63 CV-64 CVN-65 CV-66 CV-67 CVN-68^C CVN-69^C CVN-70^C CVN-71^C CVN-72^C CVN-73^C CVN-74^C CVN-75^C CVN-76^C CVN-77^C CVN-78^C CVN-79^P CVN-80^P CVN-81^P CVN-82^P CVN-83^P
Escort carrier (CVE)²	CVE-1 CVE-2 to CVE-5^X CVE-6^NC CVE-7 CVE-8 CVE-9 CVE-10^NC CVE-11 CVE-12 CVE-13 CVE-14 CVE-15^NC CVE-16 CVE-17^NC CVE-18 CVE-19 CVE-20 CVE-21 AVG-22^NC CVE-23 CVE-24^NC CVE-25 CVE-26^L CVE-27 CVE-28 CVE-29 CVE-30 CVE-31 ACV-32^NC CVE-33 CVE-34 CVE-35^NC ACV-36 ACV-37^NC ACV-38^NC ACV-39^NC CVE-40 CVE-41^NC ACV-42^NC CVE-43^NC CVE-44^NC CVE-45^NC CVE-46^NC CVE-47 CVE-48 CVE-49^NC CVE-50^NC CVE-51^NC CVE-52^NC CVE-53^NC CVE-54^NC CVE-55 CVE-56 CVE-57 CVE-58 CVE-59 CVE-60 CVE-61 CVE-62 CVE-63 CVE-64 CVE-65 CVE-66 CVE-67 CVE-68 CVE-69 CVE-70 CVE-71 CVE-72 CVE-73 CVE-74 CVE-75 CVE-76 CVE-77 CVE-78 CVE-79 CVE-80 CVE-81 CVE-82 CVE-83 CVE-84 CVE-85 CVE-86 CVE-87 CVE-88 CVE-89 CVE-90 CVE-91 CVE-92 CVE-93 CVE-94 CVE-95 CVE-96 CVE-97 CVE-98 CVE-99 CVE-100 CVE-101 CVE-102 CVE-103 CVE-104 CVE-105 CVE-106 CVE-107 CVE-108 CVE-109 CVE-110 CVE-111 CVE-112 CVE-113 CVE-114 CVE-115 CVE-116 CVE-117 CVE-118 CVE-119 CVE-120 CVE-121^X CVE-122 CVE-123 CVE-124 to CVE-139^X
British escort carrier (BAVG/BACV)³	BAVG-1^NC BAVG-2^NC BAVG-3^NC BAVG-4^DC BAVG-5^NC BACV-6^NC
Aircraft carrier, helicopter assault (CVHA)	CVHA-1
Drone aircraft catapult control craft (YV)	YV-1 YV-2 YV-3
¹ The hull number sequence for fleet carriers has used many variations of the original "CV" classification symbol, which sometimes changed throughout a ship's service. The most relevant symbol is listed for each ship. ² Prior to July 1943, escort carriers were classified as auxiliary vessels with the "AVG" and "ACV" hull classification symbols. Aside from the symbol, hull numbers did not change. ³ Hull numbers with the "BAVG" and "BACV" symbols were used for American-built escort carriers intended for the Royal Navy. Italics Active • ^C Currently commissioned • ^P Planned/under construction • ^NC Never commissioned • ^X Canceled/not assigned • ^DC Commissioned with a different hull number Underline Sangamon-class escort carriers • ^L Lead ship