Wreck of USS Block Island (CVE-21)

 Second World War 1939-1945, military, aircraft, shipwreck, aircraft carrier, watercraft, United States Navy

USS Block Island was the 8th member of the Bouge Class of Escort Carriers built for the US Navy, laid down in January 1942 and commissioned in March 1943. As was the case with her sisterships, the Block Island was constructed using a merchant cargo ship hull and was fitted with a flight deck and hangar space to make her a small aircraft carrier, capable of screening trans-Atlantic convoy's against the dangerous tactics of the German U-Boat fleet.

After steaming from her Seattle shipyard to Norfolk, the Block Island joined the US Atlantic Fleet in June 1943 and began making convoy escort trips between New York and Belfast. Operating strictly as a convoy escort in the beginning of her service, the arrival of more Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts from both US and British shipyards freed the Block Island to work as the center of a dedicated Anti-Submarine hunter-killer group, utilizing her aircraft and several Destroyers and Destroyer Escorts to track and attack German U-boats. In this new role, the Block Island's aircrews sank the U-220 and U-1059 themselves and shared credit with DE's for sinking the U-66, U-801, U-709 and U-603 by early May 1944.

Operating off the Canary Islands in May 1944 screening the regular convoys of merchantmen and warships heading for the Mediterranean in advance of the Invasion of France, the 'Fighting Block Island' as her crews called her, was the flagship of Task Group 21.11 formed around her and the Destroyer Escorts USS Barr (DE-576), USS Eugene E. Elmore (DE-686) and USS Ahrens (DE-575). As the group conducted regular anti-submarine patrols in their area of operations, the German U-549 sighted the group and began shadowing the ships on May 27th, waiting for an opportunity to attack. After stealthily maneuvering inside outer defense ring formed by the Destroyer Escorts on May 29th, the Captain of the U-549 found himself in firing position on the Block Island, and promptly sent three torpedoes at the Escort Carrier at 2010hrs.

Sonar operators on the Block Island and her escorts immediately picked up the sound of torpedoes which prompted the entire group into evasive maneuvering, but by the time lookouts on the Block Island sighted the incoming torpedoes it was too late. Two of the three shots slammed into the Block Island's Stern at 2013hrs, causing severe damage to her hull and propeller shaft bringing her to a dead stop. The Block Island began to ship massive amounts of water in her Stern before damage control teams could begin their work, and just as her Escorts closed in to assist a third torpedo struck her Stern at 2023hrs, opening seams and further damaging her unarmored merchant-ship hull steel. Fortunately for the Block Island's crew, the Destroyer Escorts quickly identified the U-549 underwater and began a savage depth charging assault of the U-boat, preventing her from attacking the Block Island further and eventually sinking the German Sub.

Damage control parties aboard the 'Fighting Block Island' fought to save their ship as other crew began to jettison any topside weight in order to check the ships' increasingly ominous pitch to Stern, however within an hour of the first torpedo strike it became clear that the Block Island was losing her fight against the Atlantic Ocean. After her radio plot informed six aircraft the Block Island had aloft at the time of the attack of her situation and gave them vectors to friendly airfields on the Canary Islands, the order was passed for all non-essential crew to abandon ship at 2120hrs. A half hour later and with the ships Stern gun tub beginning to swamp the remaining crew aboard the Block Island went over the side and left the Veteran Carrier to her fate. As more water poured into her Stern spaces the Block Island finally gave out and sank Stern-first at this location at 2155hrs on May 29th, 1944. Nine of her crew were lost with the ship, and four of the six pilots aloft at the time of her sinking never made the Canaries and were lost at sea.

For her service in the Atlantic Theatre during the Second World War, the USS Block Island received two Battle Stars.

www.navsource.org/archives/03/021.htm