From blam’s wiki link, at end of article:
“Of the 151 aircraft carriers built in the U.S. during World War II, 122 were escort carriers.”
adding a little known fact.
“During World War II, the United States Navy purchased two Great Lakes side-wheel paddle steamers and converted them into freshwater aircraft carrier training ships. Both vessels were designated with the hull classification symbol IX and lacked hangar decks, elevators or armaments. The role of these ships was for the training of pilots for carrier take-offs and landings. Together Sable and Wolverine trained 17,820 pilots in 116,000 carrier landings.”
151, in three years.
It now takes nine years to build one.
As Stalin said, "quantity has a quality all its own".