Town Point Park in Norfolk, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)
Navy Escort Carriers Based in Norfolk
| | City of Norfolk | |
Photographed by Laura Troy, November 4, 2007
1. Navy Escort Carriers Based in Norfolk Marker
Navy Escort Carriers based in Norfolk helped win the Battle of the Atlantic. They were the smallest, slowest, and most vulnerable of the Navy's aircraft carriers, but as noted World War II historian Samuel Eliot Morison wrote, "These escort carrier groups were probably the greatest single contribution of the United States Navy to victory over the enemy submarines."
The first Escort Carriers (CVEs) were converted oilers or built on merchant ship hulls and were originally used to train pilots, ferry aircraft, and provide air cover for ship convoys bound for Europe. Realizing their potential as an offensive weapon, these versatile little ships, their air squadrons, and destroyer escorts were formed into "hunter-killer" groups to search for German U-boats in the North Atlantic, including along the US Atlantic coast. The U-boat "wolf packs" were taking a heavy toll of ships, sinking 1,158 in 1942. The hunter-killer groups sank one enemy submarine in late 1942, twenty-seven in 1943, twenty-one in 1944 (plus the capture of U-505), and five through April 1945. The Germans surrendered May 7, 1945.
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Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: Military • War, World II. In addition, it is included in the Virginia, Norfolk Heritage Cannonball Trail series list. A significant historical year for this entry is 1942.
Location. 36° 50.699′ N, 76° 17.643′ W. Marker is in Norfolk, Virginia. It is in Town Point Park. It is on Waterside Drive near Boush Avenue. This marker is located in Town Point Park. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 113 Waterside Dr, Norfolk VA 23510, United States of America. Touch for directions.
Regionally, this marker is in Virginia’s Hampton Roads, specifically in Coastal Virginia, and in the Hampton Roads Metropolitan Area. It is also in the American South, specifically in the Upper South, and in the Tidewater. Globally, it is in the North Atlantic Region, North America, the Western Hemisphere, the Western World, and the Anglosphere. Historically, it finds itself in what was once the territory of the Mississippian Culture, one of the original Thirteen Colonies, one of the Confederate States of America, and the Antebellum South.
Photographed by Brandon D Cross, January 18, 2022
2. Navy Escort Carriers Based in Norfolk Marker
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Norfolk 1682 (about 300 feet away, measured in a direct line); Atlantic Intracoastal Waterway (about 400 feet away); The Underground Railroad (about 500 feet away); The First Battle of Ironclad Ships, 1862 (about 500 feet away); Armed Forces Memorial (about 700 feet away); Four Farthing or Town Point (about 700 feet away); Surveying the Land & Sea (about 700 feet away); The Customhouse, 1859 (about 700 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Norfolk.
More about this marker. This marker is part of the Norfolk Heritage Cannonball Trail.
Credits. This page was last revised on June 24, 2026. It was originally submitted on November 11, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. This page has been viewed 1,617 times since then and 25 times this year. Last updated on June 23, 2026, by Evan Dwyer of Richmond, Virginia. Photos: 1. submitted on November 11, 2007, by Laura Troy of Burke, Virginia. 2. submitted on January 18, 2022, by Brandon D Cross of Flagler Beach, Florida. • Devry Becker Jones was the editor who published this page.
