Lunga Point (CVE 94) - Naval Cruise Book

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I l SUPPORT CARRIERS PASS BATTLE TEST l ASSOCIATED PRESS NEWS RELEASE LUZON fUndatedj-Americaas newest of- fensive weapon in the Pacific has passed its final test. The weapon is the commonplace. comparatively cheap, quickly built little escort or support carrier. There is a whole fieet of them in combat- not just convoying-in the Pacific under Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin of Palmyra, N. Never designed for anything but convoying ships and ferrying planes, the CVE's have come of age. They plunged hotly and successfully into the Luzon assault after having fought off vicious Japanese air attacks on our huge con- voys en route. Although they are slower and much more vulnerable than big Essex class carriers, almost all of them were able to continue on the job, protecting our ships and striking hard at the enemy in the air and ashore. Most of their 4,478 sorties in the twelve-day action were con- voy protection. Yet, despite the big task of covering hundreds of ships, their planes also destroyed fourteen ammunition dumps and damaged one, destroyed thirty-one fuel dumps, destroyed one supply dump and damaged five, destroyed 107 buildings and damaged seventy- one, destroyed 237 military trucks and dam- aged ninety-eight, destroyed or damaged twelve tanks, destroyed six bridges and damaged eight, destroyed seven armored cars and a half dozen railroad cars, destroyed pillboxes and strafed and bombed enemy troop concentra- tions and artillery positions. In Lingayen Gulf, where the Americans landed on Luzon, the support carriers sank eighty small craft and probably thirty-one others, and damaged fifty-five. In the air and aground more than loo japanese planes were destroyed. The carriers, plane losses have been only eighteen. Many carriers are still busy ferrying and con- voying. Yet an increasing number-several groups to date-are being used for combat under Admiral Durgin, who commands all combatant CVE activities in the Pacific. Thus the big class carrier force in the Third and Fifth fleet now has a counterpart in the new support carrier. Like big carriers, the support carriers can operate separately or united in one big striking force. They proved their seaworthiness in the Atlantic and in the stormy South China Sea, where iron sides buckled and boomed under the impact of forty-foot waves. Flight decks roll and pitch, but surprisingly few landing accidents occur. Several ships have come through typhoons, although sometimes even ordinary storms inflict minor damage. One of the Baby Flat Tops principal values is to permit a dispersing of forces so that no one attack can wipe out all. If one bomb strikes an Essex class flight deck, scores of planes are rendered immovable until the damage is re- paired. If the same bomb hits a support carrier less than half as many planes are made idle. Also, as the admiral pointed out, two support carriers can launch planes twice as quickly as one big flight deck in emergencies. Planes have to take off one at a time no matter how big the deck. The admiral and his staff are underno il- lusions about the support force, however. They realize the vulnerability inherent in every small ship. Although caution took a back seat for the Luzon assault, the admiral acknowledges that caution must always be a greater factor in planning a CVE strike than in using big carriers.