USS Suwannee (CVE-27)
USS Suwannee underway, after repairs from the kamikaze attacks of October 1944.
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| History | |
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| Name: | SS Markay |
| Owner: | Keystone Tankship Corporation |
| Builder: | Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Kearny, New Jersey |
| Laid down: | 3 June 1938 |
| Launched: | 4 March 1939 |
| Sponsored by: | Mrs. Howard L. Vickery |
| Fate: | Purchased by the US Navy |
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| Name: | USS Suwannee |
| Acquired: | 26 June 1941 |
| Commissioned: | 16 July 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 21 February 1942 |
| Reclassified: | AVG-27, 14 February 1942 |
| Recommissioned: | 24 September 1942 |
| Decommissioned: | 8 January 1947 |
| Reclassified: |
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| Struck: | 1 March 1959 |
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| General characteristics as escort carrier | |
| Class and type: | Sangamon-class escort carrier |
| Displacement: | 22,400 long tons (22,800 t) (full load) |
| Length: | 553 ft (169 m) |
| Beam: | 114 ft 3 in (34.82 m) |
| Draft: | 32 ft 4 in (9.86 m) |
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| Speed: | 18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1080 officers and men |
| Armament: |
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| Aircraft carried: | 30 |
| Aviation facilities: | 2 × elevators |
| Service record | |
| Commanders: | Joseph J. Clark (1942-43) |
| Operations: | World War II |
| Awards: | 13 battle stars |
USS Suwannee (CVE-27) (originally an oiler AO-33, converted to an escort carrier AVG/ACV/CVE-27) was laid down on 3 June 1938 at Kearny, New Jersey, by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, under a Maritime Commission contract as Markay (MC hull 5); launched on 4 March 1939, sponsored by Mrs. Howard L. Vickery; delivered to the Keystone Tankship Corporation and operated by that company until acquired by the United States Navy on 26 June 1941; renamed Suwannee (AO-33); and commissioned on 16 July 1941, Commander Joseph R. Lannom in command.
After operating for six months as an oiler with the Atlantic Fleet, Suwannee was redesignated AVG-27 on 14 February 1942 and decommissioned on 21 February at Newport News, Virginia, for conversion to a Sangamon-class escort carrier. 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 air patrols, while her Grumman TBF Avengers joined Ranger's 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.
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