Эскортный авианосец типа "Сангамон" (Escortnyy avianosets tipa "Sangamon")

Sangamon class escort carrier

USS Suwannee (CVE 27), was built as the civilian oiler Markay, in 1939, before being acquired by the US Navy, in 1941, and renamed Suwannee (AO 33), after the tradition of naming fleet oilers after rivers. In 1942, she was converted to a Originally classified as an "Aircraft Escort Vessel", AVG 27, on 14 February 1942, she was reclassified an "Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier", ACV 27, 20 August 1942, before finally being classified as an "Escort Carrier", CVE 27, 15 July 1943. After the war, she was later classified an "Escort Helicopter Aircraft Carrier" and again redesignated, CVHE 27, 12 June 1955.

Markay was laid down on 3 June 1938, at Kearney, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., under a Maritime Commission contract (MC Hull 5); launched on 4 March 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Marguerite Vickery (née Blanchard), wife of Howard L. Vickery; delivered to the Keystone Tankship Corporation, and operated by that company until acquired by the Navy, on 26 June 1941. Keystone Tankship Corp., in turn delivered the vessel at Baltimore, Maryland. Renamed Suwannee (AO 33), the ship was commissioned "in ordinary", an inactive status, on 9 July 1941, then placed in commission, on 16 July 1941.

After operating for six months as an oiler with the Atlantic Fleet, Suwannee was designated an "Aircraft Escort Vessel", AVG 27, on 14 February 1942, and decommissioned, on 21 February, at Newport News, Virginia, for conversion to a On 20 August, she was redesignated an "Auxiliary Carrier", ACV 27, and was recommissioned as such on 24 September 1942, Captain Joseph J. Clark in command.

Less than a month after commissioning, Suwannee was underway from Hampton Roads, for the invasion of North Africa. She joined Ranger as the other carrier attached to the Center Attack Group whose specific objective was Casablanca, itself, via Fedhala, just to the north. Early in the morning of 8 November, she arrived off the coast of Morocco, and for the next few days, her Grumman F4F Wildcats maintained combat and anti submarine (ASW) air patrols, while her Grumman TBF Avengers joined Rangers in bombing missions. During the Naval Battle of Casablanca from 8–11 November, Suwannee sent up 255 air sorties and lost only five planes, three in combat and two to operational problems. On 11 November, off Fedhala Roads, her ASW patrol sank what was reported to be a German U boat, but which was later determined to have been French submarine Sidi Ferruch, one of the three French submarines which sortied from Casablanca, on the day of the assault. She was the first escort carrier to score against an enemy submarine, and she helped to prove the usefulness of her type in ASW. Suwannee remained in North African waters until mid November, then sailed, via Bermuda, for Norfolk, Virginia. She arrived back at Hampton Roads, on 24 November, and stayed until 5 December, when she got underway for the South Pacific.

The auxiliary carrier transited the Panama Canal, on 11–12 December, and arrived at New Caledonia, on 4 January 1943. For the next seven months, she provided air escort for transports and supply ships replenishing and bolstering the Marines on Guadalcanal, as well as for the forces occupying other islands in the Solomons group. During that span of time, she visited Guadalcanal, Efate, and Espiritu Santo in addition to New Caledonia. She was reclassified as an "Escort Carrier", CVE 27, on 15 July 1943. She returned to the United States at San Diego, California, in October, and by 5 November, was back at Espiritu Santo. On 13 November, she departed to participate in the Gilbert Islands operation. From 19–23 November, she was a part of the Air Support Group of the Southern Attack Force, and her planes bombed Tarawa, while the ships in the Northern Attack Force engaged the enemy at Makin. Following the occupation of the Gilberts, the escort carrier returned to the US, via Pearl Harbor, arriving in San Diego on 21 December.

She remained on the west coast for two weeks, into the new year, then set a course for Lahaina Roads in the Hawaiian Islands. She departed Hawaii, on 22 January 1944, and headed for the Marshalls. During that operation, Suwannee joined the Northern Attack Force, and her planes bombed and strafed Roi and Namur Islands, in the northern part of Kwajalein Atoll, and conducted anti submarine patrols for the task force. She remained in the vicinity of Kwajalein for the first 15 days of February, then spent the next nine days helping out at Eniwetok. On 24 February, she headed east again and arrived at Pearl Harbor, on 2 March for a two week stay. By 30 March, she was in the vicinity of the Palau Islands as the 5th Fleet subjected those islands to two days of extensive bombing raids. A week later, she put into Espiritu Santo, for four days. After short stops at Purvis Bay, in the Solomons, and at Seeadler Harbor, Manus, the escort carrier headed for New Guinea. For two weeks, she supported the Hollandia landings by shuttling replacement aircraft to the larger fleet carriers actually engaged in air support of the landings. She returned to Manus on 5 May. Following two voyages from Espiritu Santo, one to Tulagi and the other to Kwajalein, Suwannee arrived off Saipan, in mid June. For the next one and a half months, she supported the invasion of the Marianas, participating in the campaigns against Saipan and Guam. On 19 June, as the Battle of the Philippine Sea began to unfold, Suwannee was one of the first ships to draw enemy blood when one of her planes flying combat air patrol attacked and sank the Suwanees planes did not actually become engaged in the famous battle of naval aircraft, because they remained with the invasion forces in the Marianas providing ASW and combat air patrols (CAPs). On 4 August, she cleared the Marianas for Eniwetok and Seeadler Harbor, reaching the latter port on 13 August. Almost a month later, on 10 September, she put to sea to support the landings on Morotai in the Netherlands East Indies. Those landings went off without opposition on 15 September, and Suwannee returned to Seeadler Harbor, to prepare for the invasion of the Philippines. On 12 October, the escort carrier got underway from Manus, in Rear Admiral Thomas L. Sprague's Escort Carrier Group to provide air support for the landings at Leyte Gulf. She reached the Philippines several days later, and her planes began strikes on enemy installations in the Visayas until 25 October. She provided air support for the assault forces with ASW and CAPs and strikes against Japanese installations ashore. On 24–25 October 1944, the Japanese launched a major surface offensive from three directions to contest the landings at Leyte Gulf. While Admiral Jisaburo Ozawa's Mobile Force sailed south from Japan and drew the bulk of Admiral William Halsey's 3d Fleet off to the north, Admiral Shima's 2nd Striking Force, along with Admiral Shoji Nishimura's Force, attempted to force the Surigao Strait from the south. This drew Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf's Bombardment Group south to meet that threat in the Battle of Surigao Strait. With Admiral Oldendorf's old battleships fighting in Surigao Strait and Halsey's 3rd Fleet scurrying north, Suwannee, with the other 15 escort carriers and 22 destroyers and destroyer escorts, formed the only Allied naval force operating off Leyte Gulf when Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's 1st Striking Force sneaked through the unguarded San Bernardino Strait into the Philippine Sea. Just before 07:00, on 25 October, one of Kadashan Bays planes reported a Japanese force of four battleships, eight cruisers, and 11 destroyers. This force, Kurita's, immediately began a surface engagement with Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague's "Taffy 3", the northernmost group of escort carriers. Suwannee was much farther south as an element of Rear Admiral Thomas Sprague's "Taffy 1". Consequently, she did not participate in the running surface Battle off Samar. Her problems came from another quarter. At 07:40, on 25 October, "Taffy 1" was jumped by land based planes from Davao in the first deliberate kamikaze attack of the war. The first one crashed into Santee; and, 30 seconds later, Suwannee splashed a kamikaze during his run on Petrof Bay. Her gunners soon shot down another enemy plane, then bore down on a third circling in the clouds at about 8000 feet (2438 m). They hit the enemy, but he rolled over, dove at Suwannee and crashed into her at 08:04 about 40 feet (12 m) forward of the after elevator, opening a 10 feet (3 m) hole in her flight deck. His bomb compounded the fracture when it exploded between the flight and hangar decks, tearing a 25 feet (8 m) gash in the latter and causing a number of casualties. After a stop in Hawaii, Suwannee was sent to Long Beach, and had a short dry dock period. Then it was back to Operation Magic Carpet, on 4 December. This trip was to be a non stop return to Okinawa, to pick up 1,500 troops on an overnight stop, and then return to Seattle. Because of bad weather they did not arrive in Okinawa until 21 December. In mid January Suwannee unloaded many grateful troops in Los Angeles, and then headed north. After a few days off San Francisco, she headed for Pier 91, in Seattle, and then on to Bremerton. On 28 October, the carrier was placed in a reserve status with the 16th Fleet, at Boston, and just over two months later, on 8 January 1947, she was placed out of commission. Suwannee remained in reserve at Boston, for the next 12 years. She was designated an "Escort Helicopter Aircraft Carrier", CVHE 27, on 12 June 1955, while in reserve. Her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 March 1959. Her hulk was sold to the Isbrantsen Steamship Company, of New York City, on 30 November 1959, for conversion to merchant service. The project was subsequently canceled and in May 1961, her hulk was resold to the J. C. Berkwit Company, also of New York City. She was finally scrapped in Bilbao, Spain, in June 1962.

Suwannee earned 13 battle stars during World War II.