For that, it received more careful attention to the issues of damage resistance, being provided with the latest in damage control technology, from separated engine rooms to reduce the vulnerability to underwater hits, to increased structural strength.

The new ships received a much larger hangar, more crew spaces, faster elevators, a more powerful type of catapult, saddle tanks, a stronger flight deck.

Armament consisted of 2 5”L/38 guns aft, 28 40mm L/56 guns, 20 20mm L/70 guns and the airgroup, comprising 33 planes.

Only nineteen of the ordered 35 ships were completed, and only seventeen ever commissioned.

Modification History
None of the ships completed early enough to see modernization during the war.

Service
Only Block Island, Cape Gloucester and Gilbert Islands saw service in the war. All three operated off Okinawa until war’s end.

Ships in class:

CVE-105 Commencement Bay CVE-106 Block Island CVE-107 Gilbert Islands CVE-108 Kula Gulf CVE-109 Cape Gloucester CVE-110 Salerno Bay CVE-111 Vella Gulf CVE-112 Siboney CVE-113 Puget Sound CVE-115 Bairoko CVE-117 Saidor CVE-118 Sicily CVE-119 Point Cruz CVE-120 Mindoro CVE-121 Rabaul, never commissioned CVE-122 Palau CVE-123 Tinian, never commissioned