AVG-25 was named Croatan, for a sound of the North Carolina coast.

The name Croatan had been previously, but briefly, borne by AVG-14.

(Map courtesy of Google Maps.)

USS Croatan (ACV-25) underway off Restoration Point, 20 May 1943.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

USS Croatan (ACV-25) underway off Restoration Point, 20 May 1943.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

USS Croatan (ACV-25) underway off Restoration Point, 20 May 1943.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

USS Croatan (ACV-25) underway off Restoration Point, 20 May 1943.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

USS Croatan (ACV-25) underway off Restoration Point, 20 May 1943.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.

USS Barnes (ACV-20), 1 July 1943, and USS Croatan (ACV-25), 20 May 1943. ONI 54-CV, Division of Naval Intelligence, Identification and Characteristics Section, 11-43.

The Bogue-class escort carrier Croatan (ACV-25), May 1943, armed with two 5-in/51, eight twin 40-mm, and twenty-seven single 20-mm guns. The three booms projecting to starboard were aircraft outriggers. Radars were the SG and SC-3.

Drawing and text from U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman.

Barrier crash of a U.S. Navy Grumman TBF-1 Avenger from Composite Squadron (VC) 6 aboard the escort carrier USS Croatan (CVE-25). Date is usually given as "August 1943," but VC-6 was still designated VC-25 in that month. Actual date may be 13 September 1943—the ship's War Diary reads:

1103 recovered TBF #9 which crashed into barrier #2.

National Naval Aviation Museum photo, # 1986.150.003.019.

Undated (probably March–May 1944) photo of an FM-2 Wildcat and TBM-1C Avengers from Composite Squadron (VC) 42 spotted on the flight deck of USS Croatan (CVE‑25) in rough Atlantic Ocean seas.

National Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.253.1435.

Crew of German U-boat U-490. POW giving his name, rank & service No. Left to right: BMK1/c A.C. Stellic; H.E. CSE. F.R. Schottstedt (POW), and LCDR R.A. Letts aboard USS Croatan (CVE-25), 12 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270261.

German survivors from U-boat U-490, aboard USS Croatan (CVE-25) after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146), 12 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270263.

German survivor from U-boat U-490, being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146) to USS Croatan (CVE-25) by breeches buoy, 12 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270264.

German survivors from U-boat U-490, aboard USS Croatan (CVE-25) after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146), 12 June 1944. Shown: Conversing with interpreter on flight deck shortly after transfer.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270269.

German survivors from U-boat U-490, aboard USS Croatan (CVE-25) after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146), 12 June 1944. Shown: Singing on forward elevator.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270274.

German survivors from U-boat U-490, aboard USS Croatan (CVE-25) after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146), 12 June 1944. Shown: German submarine commander addressing his men on forward elevator. Commander B.S. Custer (Executive Officer) is at the extreme right.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-270276.

Survivors of U-490 coming up the forward elevator after being transferred from USS Inch (DE-146) on 14 June 1944. The U-boat was sunk by the aircraft of USS Croatan (CVE‑25), and destroyer escorts USS Frost (DE-144), USS Huse (DE-145), and Inch.

Source: National Archives II, College Park, MD. Photo # 80-G-270278.

USS Croatan (CVE-25) seen from USS Thomas (DE-102), circa 1944-1945. The DE was pulling away from the CVE after mail pass.

Night fighter-training on USS Croatan (CVE-25). Lieutenant Harold D. Hoon, flight deck officer, ducks under wing as plane shoots away in response to his signal. Photograph received 4 May 1945.

US Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-317150.

USS Croatan (CVE-25), July 1945.

USS Croatan (CVE-25). Date unknown, but probably taken shortly after the war.

USS Croatan (CVE-25) anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City, at the time of the Navy Day Fleet Review, circa late October 1945.

Collection of Warren Beltramini, donated by Beryl Beltramini, 2007.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (# NH 105559).

Equipment for locating the source of high frequency radio transmissions plays a major role in defeating the German submarine menace. Direction finders at coastal stations and onboard ships proved themselves capable of pin-pointing the exact location of any submarine using high frequency transmissions. The finder is shown on USS Croatan (CVE-25). In this cross deck view on the ship, the antenna of high frequency direction finder appears at the top of the small mast near the center. Photograph released 13 January 1946.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-701702.

USNS Croatan (T-AKV 43) underway in the English Channel, circa the early 1960s.

© Skyfotos.

The U.S. Naval Ship Croatan being used by NASA as a sea-going launch platform for sounding rockets. Launchers for Nike-Cajun and Nike-Apache rockets are positioned on each side of the wide deck elevator. Special telemetry and tracking antennas are installed on both sides of the flight deck along with instrumented trailers, forward, near superstructure. Forty or more sounding rockets with scientific payloads were scheduled for launch during a three-month expedition. Project management was assigned to NASA's Wallops Station, Wallops Island, Virginia. The photograph is from 1964.

Equipment for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration Shipboard Sounding Rocket Experiments program is loaded aboard the U.S.N.S. Croatan in preparation for a shakedown cruise to test the equipment and operational procedures. The photograph is from 1964.

Instrument trailers for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration's Shipboard Sounding Rocket Experiments are positioned aboard the U.S. Naval Ship Croatan in preparation for a shakedown cruise to test the equipment and operational procedures. The mobile launch platform permitted rocket soundings in areas not accessible from land-based launch sites, particularly in the region of the magnetic equator. The experiments were part of the International Quiet Sun Year 1964–1965. The photograph is from 1964.

National Aeronautics and Space Administration Project Engineer James Grey talks with Captain Gunnar J. Johnson, USN, on the positioning of the equipment trailers aboard the USNS Croatan in preparation of a shakedown cruise to test the equipment, and operational procedures for the Shipboard Sounding Rockets Experiments program. The photograph is from 1964.

A total of 77 Nike-Cajuns, Nike-Apaches, and small Arcas meteorological rockets were launched from Wallops' mobile range facility on the USNS Croatan (T-AKV 43), while she steamed along the west coast of South America between March 8 and April 22, 1965. The experiments were aimed at determining the states of the upper atmosphere and ionosphere during solar sunspot minimum, particularly the so-called "equatorial electrojet." The instrumentation was provided by the Universities of Michigan and New Hampshire, Goddard Space Flight Center, and others. These shipboard firings were part of NASA's contribution to the International Year of the Quiet Sun (IQSY).

This stern view shows the Nike launchers next to the after elevator and the vertical lauch tube for the Arcas meteorological rocket.

US Army official image of the USNS Croatan (T-AKV 43) at a US dock with a load of helicopters heading to Vietnam. Date unkown.

USNS Croatan (T-AKV 43) at Alameda, CA, around 22 April 1967. "The deck load were F-5's, Hueys and what looks like an F-106 is actually a TF-102 with a portion of its tail removed."

USNS Croatan (T-AKV 43) at Okinawa, Japan, May 1967. U.S. Army photo. National Archives and Records Administration.