text: Allied escort carriers were typically around  long, not much more than half the length of the almost  fleet carriers of the same era, but were less than  of the weight. A typical escort carrier displaced about , as compared to almost  for a full-size fleet carrier. The aircraft hangar typically ran only  of the way under the flight deck and housed a combination of 24–30 fighters and bombers organized into one single "composite squadron". By comparison, a late Essex-class fleet carrier of the period could carry 103 aircraft organized into separate fighter, bomber and torpedo-bomber squadrons.
  The island (superstructure) on these ships was small and cramped, and located well forward of the funnels (unlike on a normal-sized carrier, where the funnels were integrated into the island). Although the first escort carriers had only one aircraft elevator, having two elevators (one fore and one aft), along with the single aircraft catapult, quickly became standard. The carriers employed the same system of arresting cables and tail hooks as on the big carriers, and procedures for launch and recovery were the same as well.
  The crew size was less than  of that of a large carrier, but this was still a bigger complement than most naval vessels. U.S. escort carriers were large enough to have facilities such as a permanent canteen or snack bar, called a gedunk bar, in addition to the mess. The bar was open for longer hours than the mess and sold several flavors of ice cream, along with cigarettes and other consumables. There were also several vending machines available on board.