USS Long Island ( CVE - 1 ) USS " Long Island " ( CVE - 1 ) ( originally AVG - 1 and then ACV - 1 ) was lead ship of her class and the first escort carrier of the United States Navy . She was also the second ship to be named after Long Island , New York . She was laid down on 7 July 1939 , as the C - 3 cargo liner " Mormacmail " , under Maritime Commission contract , by the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company , Chester , Pennsylvania as Yard No 185 , launched on 11 January 1940 , sponsored by Ms . Dian B . Holt , acquired by the Navy on 6 March 1941 , and commissioned on 2 June 1941 as " Long Island " ( AVG - 1 ) , Commander Donald B . Duncan in command . Service history . World War II . In the tense months before the attack on Pearl Harbor , " Long Island " operated out of Norfolk , Virginia , conducting experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations from converted cargo ships . The data gathered by her crew greatly improved the combat readiness of later " baby flattops " . Just after the Japan ese attack , she escorted a convoy to Newfoundland and qualified carrier pilots at Norfolk before departing for the West Coast on 10 May 1942 . Reaching San Francisco on 5 June , the ship immediately joined Admiral William S . Pye ' s four battleship s and provided air cover while at sea to reinforce Admiral Chester Nimitz ' s forces after their victory in the Battle of Midway . She left the formation on 17 June and returned to the West Coast to resume carrier pilot training . " Long Island " departed San Diego on 8 July and arrived Pearl Harbor on the 17th . After a training run south to Palmyra Island , she loaded two squadrons of Marine Corps aircraft and got underway for the South Pacific on 2 August . Touching at Fiji on 13 August , she then steamed to a point southeast of Guadalcanal and launched her aircraft ( 19 Grumman F4F Wildcat s and 12 Douglas SBD Dauntless dive bombers ) . These planes , the first to reach Henderson Field , were instrumental in the Guadalcanal campaign and went on to compile a distinguished war record . Her mission was accomplished . Reclassified ACV - 1 on 20 August , " Long Island " sailed for Efate Island , New Hebrides , and arrived on 23 August . " Long Island " ' s actions at Guadalcanal are mentioned and seen in the movie Flying Leathernecks . " Long Island " returned to the West Coast on 20 September , as the new " baby flattops " took up the slack in the Pacific war zones . For the next year , the escort carrier trained carrier pilots at San Diego , an unglamorous but vital contribution to victory . " Long Island " was reclassified CVE - 1 on 15 July 1943 . In 1944 – 1945 , she transported airplanes and their crews from the West Coast to various outposts in the Pacific . After V - J Day , she revisited many of these same bases while transporting soldiers and sailors back home during Operation Magic Carpet . Post - war . " Long Island " decommissioned on 26 March 1946 at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard . Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 12 April , she was sold to Zidell Ship Dismantling Company of Portland , Oregon on 24 April 1947 for scrapping . This was not to be . The old warrior still had some life left ; on 12 March 1948 , she was acquired by the Canada - Europe Line for conversion to merchant service . Upon completion of conversion in 1949 , she was renamed Nelly , and served as an immigrant carrier between Europe and Canada . In 1953 , she was renamed Seven Seas . In 1955 , she was chartered to the German Europe - Canada Line . In April 1963 , made her last voyage . On 17 July 1965 , she had a serious fire and was towed to St John ' s , Newfoundland . She was repaired and started her last voyage on 13 September 1966 . She was bought by Rotterdam University the same year and employed as a students ' hostel until 1977 , when she was scrapped in Belgium . Awards . " Long Island " received one battle star for her World War II service .