Recounts the stories of the USS Block Island CVE-21 and CVE-106 and their crews, many of whom served on both ships in the Atlantic and Pacific theatres In
Valor and Courage: The Story of the USS Block Island
Escort Carriers in World War II, Benjamin J. Hruska explores the history and commemoration of the USS
Block Island--or, more properly, the
Block Islands, as two escort carriers bore that name during WWII. The first, CVE-21, was the only escort carrier sunk in the Atlantic theater after being torpedoed by German U-boats off the coast of North Africa.
Of the CVE-21's 957 crew members, six sailors were killed and eighteen injured in the strike, and four of the
Block Island's fighter pilots were lost later in the day searching for a safe place to land their planes. When the CVE-106 was commissioned to replace its predecessor, Captain Massie Hughes successfully persuaded the Navy to keep the CVE-21's crew together in manning the new ship. After resurrection as the CVE-106, the
Block Island was assigned to the Pacific theater where it fought until the end of the war. The saga of these two ships and the crew that navigated two very different theaters of war offers a unique lens on naval strategy and engineering as it evolved during WWII, especially as pertains to the escort carrier class--generally underappreciated both in naval studies and in public memory.
Using archival materials, dozens of oral histories, primary sources, and official records, Hruska traces the life of the
Block Island from the CVE-21's construction through its missions in the Atlantic, its work as an antisubmarine hunter, its destruction, and the lasting impact of those experiences on its crew. Hruska's study juxtaposes traditional military history with an examination of the acts of remembrance and commemoration by veterans who served on the escort carriers, how those practices evolved over time, and how the meanings of personal wartime experiences and memories gradually shifted throughout that process.
