THE WORLD OF USS BLOCK ISLAND CVE-21
Music (
Twilighttime)
(click on picture for a larger view)
A “Baby Flattop” and
4 Destroyer Escorts operating all over the vast Atlantic Ocean, as a Hunter/Killer task force, seeking out German
submarines which were creating havoc with Allied shipping. These five ships could sail for weeks without seeing
other ships or even aircraft other than those flying from the deck of the
carrier. The picture is a representation of how alone these ships were in the
early part of WW2.
An aircraft carrier operating as a defensive measure must rely on many other various type of ships to undertake it’s task. The picture shows how these escort ships must be protective and still remain offensive toward destroying the enemy ships, submarines and aircraft. The crews of all the ships in such a small task force must be welded together as one body. The ships themselves are only hunks of steel without a heart. The crews provide the heart and soul to undertake the task assigned to the ships.
USS Block Island CVE 21 leaving Norfolk, Jan. 1944 with VC 55 0n Board
(click on picture for larger view)
The picture provided by Bill Harris, son of William F. Harris who was Ships Navigator on both CVE 21 and CVE 106.
(click on picture for a
larger view)
CVE 21 pulling into harbor at Belfast Ireland with a load of Army Air Force P-47s and spare parts for B-24s and B-17s
With no flyable aircraft this little fellow (the landing signal officer) got to spend his time training back in the States with the hope that the Navy would see that this CVE could take on the German Sub-Packs instead of just being a ferry boat.
Note that underneath the wings are the five inch rockets first
used from aircraft in WW2.
When the Army and the Marines were having a tough go on Okinawa, and in
particular trying to break through the massive concrete walls of Shrui
Castle, Adm. Bull Halsey was giving Adm. King an urgent ordinance need and
sent this message "I need rockets for my Aerial
Wrecking Crews". While CVE 21 had the first 5 inch'ers CVE 106 got
the Tiny Tims that were as large as a torpedo and did in fact bring down those
walls.
A painting of USS Block Island CVE 21 as it hangs in the Island of Block Island
Historical Museum
