Her merchant ship hull was laid down 27 October 1941. Originally intended as a C-3 cargo ship, she was acquired from the Maritime Commission while still in the yards of her builders and converted into an escort carrier. She was named for the waters of Card Sound, a continuation of Biscayne Bay, south of Miami Florida. The USS CARD was launched on 21 February 1942 under the sponsorship of Mrs. John Perry.

The CARD was reclassified ACV-11 on 20 August 1942. She had 9,800 tons displacement, 495 feet 8 inches in length, a beam of 69 feet 6 inches, and 26 feet draft. Carrying 890 men and officers it was capable of 17 knots and aside from its war planes carried two five-inch guns, eight twin 40 millimeter anti-aircraft and twenty-five 20 millimeter anti-aircraft guns. She was commissioned 8 November 1942 with Captain J. B. Sykes in command. Departing San Diego 18 January 1943, CARD arrived at Hampton Roads, Virginia on February 1st, then on to New York.  After having new guns installed in New York, the CARD and two sister ships the Bogue and Brenton were the most heavily armed of the escort carriers. The first cruise of the CARD was on 14 May. She departed New York enroute to Casablanca with DD's Wollsey, Ludlow and Bristol.  They were to protect the largest convoy ever assembled in the world up to that time. The convoy UGS-8A consisted of 78 merchant ships, 12 LST's and 9 escorts beside the Escort Carrier group, it was beefed up to 129 merchant vessels and 19 escorts off Gibraltar. It covered almost 70 sq. miles of ocean and in tonnage became the largest in history at that time. Departing Casablanca on 9 June she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia via British West Indies, arriving on 5th July 1943. She was reclassified CVE-11 on 15 July 1943.

CARD steamed from Norfolk as flagship of Task Group 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 U-117 on 7 August; U-644 on 9 August and U-847 on 27 August. Her second cruise from 25 September to November 1943 provided even more lucrative hunting. Planes from the CARD spotted a nest of four submarines refueling 4 October and sank two of them; U-460, and U-422. Nine days later U-402 fell victim to aircraft from CARD. Her airplanes added another submarine to their score on 31 October when they sank U-584. The fifth and final kill of the cruise was made on November 1st by one of CARD'S escorts The USS BORIE (DD-215). After a violent, close range surface action, BORIE rammed and sank U-405. Too badly damaged to be saved, BORIE had to be sunk by one of the other escorts.

For her outstanding anti-submarine activities from 27 July to 25 October, 1943 the CARD and her task group were awarded the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION. The Card became the first Escort Carrier to receive the Presidential Unit Citation for combating the enemy U-boats November 11, 1943.

The CARD began her third hunter-killer cruise 24 November 1943 heading for the North Atlantic. Late on 23 December the group ran into a wolf pack. CARD had 12 contacts in 5 hours. SCHENCK (DD-159) sank U-645, but one of the other escorts, LEARY (DD-158) was sunk by the combined efforts of three submarines. CARD dodged submarines all night with only DECATUR (DD-341) as screen, while SCHENCK rescued survivors from the LEARY. The task group returned to Norfolk 2 January 1944. From 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, Rhode Island to hold pilot qualification exercises.

CARD returned to Norfolk 21 June 1944 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, THOMAS (DD-102) and BAKER (DD-190) sank U-233. Thirty survivors including the wounded commanding officer of the submarine were taken on board the CARD. On 6 July 1944 there were no flight operations due to heavy fog and the task group proceeded toward Boston to transfer the prisoners of war ashore. At 1835 hours that date burial services at sea were held for Kapitanleutnant Hans Steen, German Navy Commander of the U-boat U-233 sunk the day before. He had died aboard the Card from wounds received in action. http://www.history.navy.mil/faqs/faq87-3o.htm

The CARD 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 on 12 October. These attacks were believed to have resulted in the possible sinking of the enemy vessel. After another patrol with TG- 22.2 from 1 December 1944 to 22 January 1945, Card entered Philadelphia Naval Shipyard for overhaul until 7 February. She then transported Army aircraft and Army and Navy personnel to Liverpool, England. She returned to Norfolk on 12 March 1945 and entered the yards for general overhaul. From 21 March to 24 May 1945 CARD was based at Quonset Point. She conducted pilot qualifications exercises until 25 May and returned to Norfolk. She ferried men and aircraft to Guantanamo Bay (21-24 June 1945), then transited the Panama Canal to transport material to Pearl Harbor and Guam. She returned to San Diego on 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 to bring troops home from the South Pacific.

The CARD departed Alameda, California 7 January 1946 for the east coast where she was placed out of commission in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Norfolk 13 May 1946. She also earned three battle stars for anti-submarine operations with Task Group 21.14. The first from 27 July to 10 September 1943, the second, 25 September to 9 November 1943 and the third, 2 December 1943 to 2 January 1944.

She was reclassified CVHE-11 on 12 June 1955. On 16 May 1958 the CARD became an active member of the Military Sea Transportation Service. USNS CARD was reclassified CVU-11 on 1 July 1958 and reclassified again to AKV-40 on 7 May 1959. But the CARD had more service to render. As the Vietnam conflict escalated the aging ship served with the Military Sea Transport Service under charter to the U.S. Navy. Manned by a civilian crew, she carried troops and aircraft to Vietnam.

Early on the morning of May 2, 1964, as she was moored at a Saigon dock, a North Vietnamese frogman planted a charge that blew a hole in her hull. The CARD sank in about 20 feet of water, but 17 days later, the CARD had been raised, pumped out and made ready for towing to a repair facility by two Navy tug boats. First to Subic Bay, P.I. then on to Yokosuka, Japan where the major work was finally accomplished. Work began on 11 July and by the first of December the repairs were completed. It took thousands of man-hours, much new equipment and considerable money. Once again the USNS CARD proudly sailed the seas again.

The old battles are just memories now, and the men and planes and guns that fought them have long since departed the converted aircraft carrier, U. S. Naval Ship CARD. The ship herself is an echoing ghost, slowly being laid to rest in the 30th year of her life by men with cutting torches. As the components of the old "baby flat-top" disappeared over a 7-9 month period, her existence will be remembered only by those who sailed on her. Her memorial will be the bare-bones statistics filed away in the Naval Registry as she was sold for scrap the 12th of September 1970 and dismantled at Port Westward, Oregon.