Calling all USN, RN Escort Carriers (CVE) fans

[Tracy White]

I'm wondering if that's a later addition added in a ShipAlt. The records I've been going through were for the Navy office in charge of accepting the CVEs from Kaiser, so a lot of the later details aren't mentioned at all.

[Tracy White]

Found some info at the San Francisco Archives that might be of use to the Royal Navy CVE Fans. This is a US Navy list of "allowed" and "installed" radars; if it is underlined it is installed, otherwise it was merely allowed. So, for example, Battler was ALLOWED a SP, but since it's not underlined, she wasn't actually carrying one. This was from an October 1943 report and doesn't cover the entire war:

http://www.specwarnet.net/MW/1943OctUSN ... nsCVEs.jpg

[Steve]

CVE in 350 scale by Hasegawa is a possibility based on comment over on SN.

[Russ2146]

Free Time Hobbies has placed USS Casablanca CVE 55 on its pre-order list. Price is unknown at this time.
HNSA just happens to have some plans of the Casablanca Class posted.

Looking around Navsource, I find that CVE 90, Thetis Bay, was converted to LHA 6 and a model conversion looks to be very feasible. Also, CVE 107, USS Gilbert Islands was converted to AGMR 1, and recommissioned as USS Annapolis in 1964. That looks to be a tougher conversion but I'm sure there are those here who are more than capable.

[Dick J]

Also, CVE 107, USS Gilbert Islands was converted to AGMR 1, and recommissioned as USS Annapolis in 1964. That looks to be a tougher conversion but I'm sure there are those here who are more than capable.

This has nothing to do with a Casablanca kit. Gilbert Islands was a Commencement Bay class CVE. The Fleetnet/Aki kit would be the appropriate starting point for her.

[Russ2146]

OOOOPs, You're so right. So I'll stick to the LHA.

[Tracy White]

Makes me glad I scanned in all those Thetis Bay photographs a couple of months ago! Majority are on Navsource, but a few aren't.

[Blue Devil]

I have the excellent Yankee Modelworks 1/350 Gambier Bay (finally!) and am planning to do the Guadalcanal (CVE 60) from it. From the somewhat scanty info I can find, it doesn't look too difficult except for the HF/DF antenna. It looks like it's mounted on a pole mast at the aft end of the second 40mm tub from the bow on the starbord side. Anyone have any good close-ups or drawings of what that mount looked like? I don't think it'll be too hard to scratch build, but I'd like to have some more info on how it looked.

Thanks!!

Michael

Morning all, and happy xmas!

I never received a reply to this and it's starting to look like this one's moving to the top of the pile. Any ideas about that mast?

Thanks!

Michael

[Russ2146]

http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... k/664.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... a/138.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... s/664.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... /5438.html
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... /5429.html

This shows a mast forward of the island:
http://www.historylink101.com/ww2_navy/ ... /5933.html
http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/0306004.jpg

http://news.webshots.com/photo/12686953 ... 4951mLHmLi

I really haven't found any indication of of an HF/DF antenna and the verticals forward of the island are two or three emergency antennas and a mast for the masthead light. You might want to check out the plans off the Thetis Bay (CVE 90) on the HNSA site: http://www.hnsa.org/doc/plans/index.htm

26 Dec 2009

I think this might be the object of your search.

Even better

[Tracy White]

First and third (Cowpens) are of a CVL, not CVE.

[Rick_H]

I'm looking for colors for the British Ruler class CVEs in the British East Indies fleet in 1945 - Emperor, Empress, Queen, Ameer, etc.

Looking at Warship Perspectives #4 I find two possibilities:
G45 with a hull panel of B20 (Standard Scheme A).
or
Alternatively, Scheme D, white upperworks with hull panel of B55.

Does anyone know?

Thanks,
Rick

[Sr. Gopher]

Wait a minute... the British CVEs actually saw action other than escort duties?!?!

[Gernot]

Wait a minute... the British CVEs actually saw action other than escort duties?!?!

Heck, yes. Attacks on the Tirpitz count for something! I dimply recall something about supporting landings in SE Asia at the end of the war also.

[Rick_H]

Plenty of action for the British CVEs in the Med, too, supporting the invasion of Sicily, Southern France and Crete.

In the the Indian Ocean and Southeast Asia, they put in a lot of miles.

No, not escort only.

[commodore4]

This seems to be question day for me.Weren,t some of the CVEs built on VICTORY type hulls? If so I am going to undertake to backdate the REVELL HAWAIIAN PILOT to a close victory match and then,here comes a carrier deck! Am I right or wrong??? Commodore4

[Sr. Gopher]

I'm pretty sure the Bogues or Casablancas were built on the Victory-type hulls.

[Russ2146]

Haze Grey says: "Concept/Program: Construction of this class was proposed by the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, owner of the Kaiser shipyards. He proposed that 50 ships be built in his yard using the S4 Special merchant hull, already in production at the Kaiser yard. All 50 ships would be completed in an amazing one year timeframe. The Navy immediately accepted the proposal. Initially it was intended that approximately half these ships would be transferred to RN, but the second batch of Bogues went to RN instead"

Wiki says: "Casablanca class carriers were built by Kaiser Company, Inc.'s Shipbuilding Division, Vancouver Yard on the Columbia River in Vancouver, Washington. The Vancouver yard was expressly built in 1942 to construct Liberty Ships, but exigencies of war soon saw the yard building LST landing craft and then Escort Aircraft Carriers all before the end of the yard's first year in operation."

[Bondoman]

This seems to be question day for me.Weren,t some of the CVEs built on VICTORY type hulls? If so I am going to undertake to backdate the REVELL HAWAIIAN PILOT to a close victory match and then,here comes a carrier deck! Am I right or wrong??? Commodore4

You are close! Bogue Class was based on the Maritime Commission C3 hull. Victory is VC2. Hawaiian Pilot is a C3, the VC2 was marketed by Revell in the famous flatbottomed series as the S.S. Doctor Lykes, later the Montrose and Randall attack transports.
I'm getting started on a Hawaiian Pilot conversion to an RN escort carrier, and I've read through this with interest. Thank you for the many good tips so far.

Another decent source for USN ships is the Squadron Escort Carriers in action book, if for the pics. Wikipedia also has a couple of good basic pages, and a page for most every ship in the class as well.
I do recommend the David Hobbs book, and the Squadron index is most useful.
I bought the bigger set of plans from Floatingdrydock and they have what I need, since I'm not building the hull.
One thing popped up right away- the flight deck is two feet higher at the bow than the stern, from loaded waterline. At 1/400 that's 0.06 inches, about 1/16". After some internal debate, I think it needs to be done.

[youngb]

Did Casablanca class carriers ever UNREP, and if so which side of the ship, port or starboard?

[Russ2146]