USS Attu (CVE-102) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Attu in the Aleutian Islands and was built for service during World War II. Launched in May 1944, and commissioned in June, she served as a transport carrier, ferrying aircraft, and as a replenishment carrier, supporting the Invasion of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in June 1946, and sold for scrapping in January 1947. After a failed acquisition attempt by the Jewish Agency, she was ultimately scrapped in 1949.
USS Attu after weathering Typhoon Connie. Several aircraft are in disarray on deck.
Gunnery drills aboard Attu, circa 1944.
Wrecked aircraft strewn about the flight deck of Attu following Typhoon Connie.
Casablanca-class escort carrier
The Casablanca-class escort carrier was a series of escort carriers constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. They are the most numerous class of aircraft carriers ever built. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years – 3 November 1942 through to 8 July 1944. Despite their numbers, and the preservation of more famous and larger carriers as museums, none of these modest ships survive today. Five were lost to enemy action during World War II and the remainder were scrapped.
USS Guadalcanal, 1944
Casablanca-class escort carriers fitting out, circa April 1944.
USS Lunga Point
USS Gambier Bay under fire at Samar, 1944