USS Card ( CVE - 11 ) USS " Card " ( AVG - 11 / ACV - 11 / CVE - 11 / CVHE - 11 / CVU - 11 / T - CVU - 11 / T - AKV - 40 ) was a " Bogue " - class escort aircraft carrier . Her hull was laid down on 27 October 1941 as a C - 3 cargo ship but it was acquired from the Maritime Commission while under construction and was converted into an escort carrier . She was launched as AVG 11 ( hull 178 ) on 27 February 1942 by Seattle - Tacoma Shipbuilding , Tacoma , Washington , sponsored by Mrs . J . Perry . Reclassified ACV - 11 on 20 August 1942 she was commissioned 8 November 1942 with Captain J . B . Sykes in command . Service history . World War II . Departing San Diego 18 January 1943 , " Card " arrived at Hampton Roads 1 February for training in Chesapeake Bay . She ferried aircraft and troops for the North African invasion from New York to Casablanca ( 14 May – 1 June ) returning to Norfolk 5 July . She was reclassified CVE - 11 on 15 July 1943 . " Card " steamed from Norfolk as flagship of TG 21 . 14 , one of the hunter - killer groups formed for offensive operations against German submarines . Her first cruise from 27 July to 10 September 1943 was very successful . Her planes sank on 7 August in . ; on 9 August in . ; on 11 August in . ; and on 27 August in . Her second cruise from 25 September to 9 November provided even more lucrative hunting . Planes from " Card " spotted a nest of four submarines refueling 4 October and sank two of them : in . , and in . Nine days later in . , fell victim to aircraft from " Card " . Her aircraft added another submarine to their score on 31 October when they sank , in . The fifth and final kill of the cruise was made on 1 November by one of " Card " ' s escorts . After a violent , close - range surface action , rammed and sank in . Too badly damaged to be saved , " Borie " had to be sunk by one of the other escorts . For her outstanding antisubmarine activities from 27 July to 25 October , " Card " and her task group were awarded the Presidential Unit Citation . " Card " began her third hunter - killer cruise 24 November heading for the North Atlantic . Late on 23 December the group ran into a wolf pack Borkum ; " Card " had 12 contacts in 5 hours . sank in . , but one of the other escorts , , was sunk by the combined efforts of three submarines in . " Card " dodged submarines all night with only as screen , while " Schenck " rescued survivors from " Leary " . The task group returned to Norfolk 2 January 1944 . From 18 March to 17 May " Card " operated on transport duty between Norfolk and Casablanca , then underwent overhaul until 4 June when she steamed for Quonset Point to hold pilot qualification exercises . She returned to Norfolk 21 June to serve as the nucleus of TG 22 . 10 . The hunter - killer unit departed Norfolk 25 June and on 5 July two of her escorts , and , sank in . Thirty survivors including the fatally wounded commanding officer of the submarine were taken on board " Card " who put them ashore at Boston the next day . Her next antisubmarine cruise was in the Caribbean and uneventful ( 10 July – 23 August ) . She sortied 18 September as flagship of TG 22 . 2 for patrol off the Azores during which she cooperated with British Escort Group 9 to attack a submarine 12 October . After another patrol with TG 22 . 2 ( 1 December 1944 - 22 January 1945 ) , " Card " entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for overhaul until 7 February , then transported Army aircraft and Army and Navy personnel to Liverpool , returning to Norfolk 12 March . From 21 March to 24 May , " Card " was based on Quonset Point , conducting carrier pilot qualifications . She ferried men and aircraft to Guantanamo Bay ( 21 June - 24 June ) , then transited the Panama Canal to transport materiel to Pearl Harbor and Guam , returning to San Diego 14 August 1945 . Assigned to " Magic Carpet " duty , she made two voyages to Pearl Harbor and one to the western Pacific from 21 August to 16 December 1945 , returning servicemen to the west coast . " Card " departed Alameda 7 January 1946 for the east coast where she was placed out of commission in reserve at Norfolk 13 May 1946 . She was reclassified as a helicopter escort carrier CVHE - 11 , 12 June 1955 ; a utility carrier CVU - 11 , 1 July 1958 ; and an aviation transport AKV - 40 , 7 May 1959 . Awards . In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation , " Card " received three battle star s for service in World War II . Vietnam War . The ship was reactivated on 16 May 1958 as USNS " Card " and operated with a civilian crew under Military Sea Transportation Service ( MSTS ) control as an aircraft transport . On December 15 , 1961 , the " Card " left Quonset Point , Rhode Island , with a cargo of H - 21 Shawnee helicopters and U . S . soldiers from Fort Devens , Massachusetts , bound for Vietnam . At Subic Bay in the Philippines , the cargo and troops were transferred to the USS Princeton , which arrived and unloaded off the coast of Da Nang on January 25 , 1962 . On 2 May 1964 , while moored dockside in Saigon , a North Vietnamese frogman , Lam Son Nao , planted an explosive charge that blew a hole in the hull . " Card " settled in of water . She was patched and pumped out , and raised on 19 May , and towed to Subic Bay , and then Yokosuka for repairs . " Card " returned to service on 11 December . During the latter part of 1967 & early part of 1968 the " Card " brought US military helicopters to the Republic of South Vietnam . These helicopters were assembled on board the ship by members of the 388th Transportation Company , 765th Transportation Battalion , and then flown to the US Army airfield at Vung Tau . From there the helicopters were assigned to aviation units . Eventually placed out of service on 10 March 1970 , " Card " was stricken for disposal on 15 September and sold for scrap in 1971 .