What does 'these' refer to? The so-called Jeep carriers were odd-looking ships. Some of them were converted merchant ships, built by Henry Kaiser, hence the ‘Jeep’ appellation. The navy designated these as CVL’s, light carriers. The rest had been purpose-built as escort carriers and were designated as CVE’s, escort carriers. Details: What does 'these' in the sentence 'The navy designated these as CVL's, light carriers' refer to? Does it refer to the Jeep carriers? Or refer to 'the rest' in the following sentence? But it is really weird as the Jeep carrier (also called CVE) and CVL are two different concepts that really confuse me. Any better explaination?