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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS SUWANNEE (ACV-27)

**(formerly AO-33 and AVG-27; later CVE-27 and CVHE-27)**

Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Whiskey - Romeo - Lima

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: Presidential Unit Citation / American Defense Service Medal ("A" device) [AO]
2nd Row: American Campaign Medal / European-African-Middle Eastern Campaign Medal (?? stars) / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (?? stars)
3rd Row: World War II Victory Medal / Philippine Presidential Unit Citation / Philippine Liberation Medal (1 star)

Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Stricken
*Sangamon Class Escort Carrier*
3 Jan 1938	3 Jun 1938	4 Mar 1939	16 Jul 1941 24 Sep 1942	21 Feb 1942 8 Jan 1947	1 Mar 1959
Builder: Federal Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Kearney, N.J.

Named for a river which rises in Ware County, southeastern Georgia and flows southwest across Florida to empty into the Gulf of Mexico at Suwannee Sound. An earlier US warship had been named Suwanee, an alternate spelling.
Built under a Maritime Commission contract (hull number 5) as the civilian tanker Markay.
Acquired by the Navy on 26 June 1941; classified as a "Fleet Oiler", designated AO-33 and renamed Suwannee.
Designated for conversion to an "Aircraft Escort Vessel", was reclassified AVG-27 on 14 February 1942.
Converted to an aircraft carrier at Newport News, Va.
Reclassified as an "Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated ACV-27, 20 August 1942.
Reclassified as an "Escort Carrier" and redesignated CVE-27, 15 July 1943.
Placed in a reserve status with the 16th Fleet at Boston, 28 October 1946. Decommissioned as indicated above.
Reclassified as an "Escort Helicopter Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated CVHE-27, 12 June 1955, while in reserve.
Fate: Sold on 30 November 1959 for conversion to merchant service, but the project was subsequently canceled. Hulk resold in May 1961. Scrapped in Bilbao, Spain, starting in June 1962.

Specifications
(1942, as Converted)
Displacement (design): 11,400 tons standard; 24,275 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 525' x 75' x 30' 7.5" (full load) / 160 x 22.9 x 9.3 meters
Dimensions (max.): 553' x 114' 3" / 168.6 x 34.8 meters
Armor: None
Power plant: 4 boilers (450 psi); 2 steam turbines; 2 shafts; 13,500 shp (design)
Speed: 18+ knots
Endurance: 23,920 nm @ 15 knots (with 4,780 tons of oil fuel)
Armament: 2 single 5"/51 gun mounts; 4 twin 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; 12 single 20-mm/70-cal gun mounts
Aircraft: 25
Aviation facilities: 2 elevators; 1 hydraulic catapult
Crew: 830 (ship's company + air wing)

Click on Thumbnail for Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Source
World War II
NS0302726	32k	USS *Suwannee* underway, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
NS0302723	162k	Amidships looking aft plan view of USS *Suwannee* at Mare Island Navy Yard on 11 Oct 1943. Circled areas indicated additions or modifications at the shipyard between 11 Sep to 12 Oct 1943. US Navy photo # 7045-43.	Darryl Baker
NS0302724	161k	Amidships looking forward plan view of USS *Suwannee* at Mare Island Navy Yard on 11 Oct 1943. Circled areas indicated additions or modifications at the shipyard between 11 Sep to 12 Oct 1943. US Navy photo # 7047-43.	Darryl Baker
NS0302725	71k	Broadside view of USS *Suwannee* off Mare Island Navy Yard on 12 Oct 1943. US Navy photo # 7055-43.	Darryl Baker
NS0302702	67k	Port side underway, 1943-1944.	USN
NS0302704	20k	USS *Suwannee* (CVE-27) circa 1944 with F6F Hellcat fighters, SBD Dauntless dive bombers, and TBM Avenger torpedo bombers on her flight deck. Longer than most other World War II CVEs, these carriers of the Sangamon class could launch and recover F6Fs.	NHC
Kamikaze attacks, October 25-26, 1944
NS0302705	44k	Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Flight Deck as viewed from Bridge taken at time of explosion in hangar. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302706	54k	Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Hole in Flight Deck Frame 64 stbd. about 10 minutes after bomb hit. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302707	63k	Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Flight Deck as seen from Bridge 1½ hours after bomb hit at Frame 64 stbd. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302708	53k	Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Hole in Hangar Deck between Frames 63 & 64 port (looking aft.) (Photo taken after shredded plating was cut away.) Note extent of dished area. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302709	50k	Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Motor from Jap "Zeke" found in vicinity of hit at Frame 64 stbd. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302710	145k	Three-photo sequence of the kamikaze attack on USS *Suwannee* off Leyte, 26 October 1944. (1) As a returning American fighter (lower plane) approaches deck for landing, a Japanese suicide plane streaks out of clouds in an 80-degree dive. Photo taken from the USS Sangamon (CVE-26).	Don Schroeder, USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
NS0302711	185k	(2) The "Zeke" crashes *Suwannee's flight deck and careens into a torpedo bomber which has just been recovered. The two planes erupt upon contact as do nine other planes on her flight deck. Photo taken from the USS Sangamon* (CVE-26).	Don Schroeder, USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
NS0302712	86k	(3) Columns of smoke rise from the carrier, dead in water. Fires would burn for several hours, but were finally brought under control. Note survivors in water. Photo taken from the USS Sangamon (CVE-26).	Don Schroeder, USS Sangamon (CVE-26)
NS0302701	42k	October 26, 1944, flight deck in flames from Kamikaze hit.	USN
NS0302713	54k	Damage in action of 26 October 1944. Forward elevator as seen from Hangar Deck looking fwd. & to port. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302714	82k	Damage in action of 26 October 1944. Forward elevator as seen from Hangar Deck looking fwd. & to stbd. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302715	55k	Damage in action of 26 October 1944. View of Island Structure looking outboard. Note damage to Flying Bridge. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302716	68k	Puget Sound Navy Yard, 27 November 1944. Damage in action of 25 October 1944. Shrapnel holes in stbd. Hangar side plating, between Frames 63-65. Note: Roller curtains were blown out. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302720	32k	Puget Sound Navy Yard, 26 January 1945. USS *Suwannee* after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302721	39k	Puget Sound Navy Yard, 26 January 1945. USS *Suwannee* after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302722	37k	Puget Sound Navy Yard, 26 January 1945. USS *Suwannee* after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302717	26k	Puget Sound, Washington, 31 January 1945. Dead ahead view of USS *Suwannee* (CVE-27) underway at 17 knots, after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302718	29k	Puget Sound, Washington, 31 January 1945. Broad on port bow view of USS *Suwannee* (CVE-27) underway at 17 knots, after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
NS0302719	32k	Puget Sound, Washington, 31 January 1945. Dead astern view of USS *Suwannee* (CVE-27) underway at 17 knots, after repairs from the Kamikaze attacks of October 1944. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White
Ex-USS Suwannee
NS0302703	107k	In reserve "Mothballs" at South Boston Naval Annex, (Center) in this 1959 photo.	©Richard Leonhardt

View the USS Suwannee (ACV-27 / CVE-27 / CVHE-27)
DANFS History entry located on the Hazegray & Underway Web Site.

Crew Contact and Reunion Information

Date:	October 2007
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E-mail:	webmaster@usssuwannee.org
Web site:	U.S.S. Suwannee (CVE 27)
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Related Links

Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Official U.S. Navy Carrier Website
U.S.S. Suwannee (CVE 27)
Escort Carrier Sailors & Airmen Association

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Last update: 19 August 2007