HISTORY

ablaze, and the largest ran aground. While the

attack was underway, other aircraft penetrated

the port of Bodo, where one supply ship was

bombed and set on fire amidst other vessels.

Subsequently, HMS Pursuer was damaged by

a storm and had to undergo repairs which took

a month.

During the D-Day landings in Normandy,

she served as anti-submarine protection, and

during Operation Dragoon, her aircraft once

again provided air cover. After the war, she was

returned to the United States and scrapped in

1946.

aforementioned classes, they were powered by

two Skinner Unaflow steam engines supplied by

steam from four Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Each

ship was driven by two propellers, achieving

a speed of 19 knots (35 km/h). The vessels

measured 156 meters in length, with a flight

deck that was 144 meters long and featured

one catapult and two elevators. The air groups

typically consisted of around 27 aircraft,

depending on the types and units. Given that 50

ships were built, let's focus on those relevant to

the Eduard FM-2 kit.

The Casablanca Class

This ship was essentially a hunter-killer,

specifically designed for submarine warfare,

and it spent its entire career in the Atlantic

theater during World War II. German submarines,

or U-boats, spent most of their time on the

surface during the war because they couldn't

remain submerged for more than approximately

72 hours due to the need to recharge their

batteries and exchange air. In 1944, they were

reluctant to surface during daylight hours for

fear of being spotted by patrol planes from

escort carriers. These carriers were effectively

covering the entire Atlantic, making daytime

attacks too risky. However, the pilots of the USS

Guadalcanal devised new tactics: they launched

their planes at sunset and only landed them at

dawn.

Thanks to the Ultra system, which involved

deciphering German messages, the Allies had

access to the positions of submarines while they

were refueling on the surface. On January 16,

1944, just before sunset, eight Avengers took off

and quickly located three U-boats. They swiftly

attacked with depth charges and successfully

destroyed U-544.

During a second anti-submarine mission

The largest number of escort aircraft carriers

built during World War II was the Casablanca

class. What was specific about the construction

of these ships was that, prior to the war, the

average construction time for an aircraft

carrier was about 38 months. However, due to

the wartime effort, this time was shortened to

20 months. Then there was industrial magnate

Henry J. Kaiser, who managed to reduce the

construction time for cargo ships (Liberty

ships) in his shipyards from over a year to less

than 90 days. Kaiser pledged to build a fleet

of 50 small aircraft carriers in less than two

years! American naval authorities were initially

skeptical and hesitant to approve the order. But

the Allies desperately needed aircraft carriers

to replace their initial wartime losses.

Kaiser managed to build them as quickly

as planned, and any opposition against these

vessels quickly vanished because they proved

their utility in defending convoys and providing

air support for amphibious operations. This

allowed larger aircraft carriers to focus on

offensive air operations. The construction of

these ships was highly efficient. Unlike the

CVE-60 USS Guadalcanal

on April 8, one of the patrolling Avengers

discovered U-515 recharging its batteries on

the surface northwest of Madeira. The Avenger

forced it to submerge by dropping depth charges.

Throughout the night, four Avengers circled

overhead, waiting for U-515 to surface again

to recharge its batteries. It finally surfaced at

14:00, and a subsequent attack left only sixteen

survivors out of a crew of sixty. Among the

survivors was the commander, Werner Henke,

who was captured but, sadly, was shot in June

1944 while attempting to escape from a secret

interrogation center known as P.O. Box 1142 in

Fort Hunt, Virginia.

The third and perhaps most famous action

involving USS Guadalcanal occurred on June 4,

1944, when a German submarine was detected

off the coast of Río de Oro. One Wildcat from

USS Guadalcanal joined a pair of TBM Avengers

and another Wildcat that were already on patrol

in the air. Through the combined efforts of

aircraft and ships, the submarine was severely

damaged, forcing it to surface. Both the ships

and planes opened fire, and when it became

clear that the submarine's crew was abandoning

the damaged vessel, an eight-man team from

the destroyer USS Pillsbury, led by Lieutenant

Albert David, boarded U-505. They secured

maps and codebooks, closed the sea strainers,

deactivated demolition charges, and stopped

the inflow of water, keeping the submarine

afloat. Subsequently, U-505 was towed by USS

Guadalcanal. Its engines were disconnected, and

the propellers spun freely, powered by electric

motors that provided the necessary energy to

operate the pumps that kept the submarine on

the surface. Despite the capture taking place

near French Morocco, the decision was made

to tow U-505 all the way to Bermuda, covering

1,700 nautical miles (3,150 km) due to concerns

about potential German spies. The operation

was kept secret until the end of the war, as it

yielded valuable intelligence, and it was crucial

to prevent the Germans from learning about it.

Today, U-505 is part of the Museum of Science

and Industry's exhibit in Chicago, Illinois. Prior

to this capture, the last time the U.S. Navy had

captured an enemy warship was in 1815.

Another German submarine was found

by Avengers from USS Guadalcanal at dawn

on April 10. U-68 was caught recharging its

batteries 300 miles south of the Azores. Three

Avengers attacked with depth charges and

rockets, resulting in the destruction of U-68.

Only one crew member, Hans Kastrup, survived.

CVE-61 USS Manila Bay

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) straddled by Japanese shells and falling behind the rest of her task group during the

battle off Samar, October 25, 1944. A Japanese cruiser is barely visible on the horizon at the right.

October 2023

The USS Manila Bay conducted all of its

operations exclusively in the Pacific theater. It

was deployed in the invasion of the Marshall

Islands in January 1944, and in March 1944,

its aircraft were sent against Kavieng and

INFO Eduard

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