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Ehud Neor's avatar

My brother served on the Iwo Jima (LPH-2). That seems to have been the natural progression from these escort carriers.

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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

Well, USS Iwo Jima wasn’t a converted CVE. She was the first purpose-built amphibious assault ship designed to operate helicopters and the name ship of a class of seven constructed between 1959 and 1968. They began to leave active service in 1992 and the last of the class, USS Inchon, was decommissioned in 2002. Since 1995 she had been serving as a mine countermeasures ship, having been modified for that tole in 1995-96

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Ehud Neor's avatar

Yes, I know. I was thinking since at the tail end some of those escort carriers were in use as helicopter carriers, that were found to be useful, so there was a decision to design helicopter carriers. That’s what I meant. That in the end that size of flattop evolved into helicopter carriers.

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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

That’s correct. The “Iwo Jima” class was comparable in displacement, beam, and length to the “Commencement Bay”-class CVEs. They were, however, 2-3 knots faster and, having been designed from the keel up as helicopter carriers, their facilities were better arranged.

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Jun 21
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Thomas M Gregg's avatar

You just directed this stupid comment at a guy who served in the US Army for 28 years. How about you…?

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