USS Cape Gloucester
_underway_in_1945.jpg) USS Cape Gloucester in 1945
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Cape Gloucester |
| Namesake | Battle of Cape Gloucester |
| Builder | Todd Pacific Shipyards |
| Laid down | 10 January 1944 |
| Launched | 12 September 1944 |
| Commissioned | 5 March 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 5 November 1946 |
| Reclassified | Helicopter Carrier, CVHE-109, 12 June 1955, Cargo Ship and Aircraft Ferry, AKV-9, 7 May 1959 |
| Stricken | 1 April 1971 |
| Fate | Sold and scrapped |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Commencement Bay-class escort carrier |
| Displacement | 10,900 long tons (11,100 t) (standard), 24,100 long tons (24,500 t) (full load)[1] |
| Length | 557 ft (170 m) |
| Beam | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draft | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Propulsion | 2-shaft Allis-Chambers geared turbines, 16,000 shp |
| Speed | 19 knots (22 mph; 35 km/h) |
| Complement | 1,066 |
| Armament | 2 × 5 in (130 mm) guns (2×1), 36 × 40 mm AA guns |
| Aircraft carried | 34 |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | United States Pacific Fleet (1945–1946), Pacific Reserve Fleet (1946–1971) |
| Operations: | Battle of Okinawa |
| Awards: | 1 Battle star |
USS Cape Gloucester (CVE-109) was a Commencement Bay-class escort carrier of the United States Navy, in service from 5 March 1945 to 5 November 1946. After spending another 25 years in the reserve fleet, the ship was scrapped in 1971.
Design[edit]
In 1941, as United States participation in World War II became increasingly likely, the US Navy embarked on a construction program for escort carriers, which were converted from transport ships of various types. Many of the escort carrier types were converted from C3-type transports, but the Sangamon-class escort carriers were instead rebuilt oil tankers. These proved to be very successful ships, and the Commencement Bay class, authorized for Fiscal Year 1944, were an improved version of the Sangamon design. The new ships were faster, had improved aviation facilities, and had better internal compartmentation.[2]
Cape Gloucester was 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) long overall, with a beam of 75 ft (23 m) at the waterline, which extended to 105 ft 2 in (32.05 m) at maximum. She displaced 21,397 long tons (21,740 t) at full load, of which 12,876 long tons (13,083 t) could be fuel oil (though some of her storage tanks were converted to permanently store seawater for ballast), and at full load she had a draft of 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m). The ship's superstructure consisted of a small island. She had a complement of 1,066 officers and enlisted men.[3]
The ship was powered by two Allis-Chalmers geared steam turbines, each driving one screw propeller, using steam provided by four Combustion Engineering-manufactured water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated to produce a total of 16,000 shp (12,000 kW) for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Given the very large storage capacity for oil, the ships of the Commencement Bay class could steam for some 23,900 nautical miles (44,300 km; 27,500 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3]
Her defensive anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns in single mounts, thirty-six 40 mm (2 in) Bofors guns, and twenty 20 mm (1 in) Oerlikon light AA cannons. The Bofors guns were placed in three quadruple and twelve twin mounts, while the Oerlikon guns were all mounted individually. She carried 33 planes, which could be launched from two aircraft catapults. Two elevators transferred aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck.[3]
Service history[edit]
Cape Gloucester (name changed from Willapa Bay on 26 April 1944) was launched on 12 September 1944 by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Washington; sponsored by Mrs. R. M. Griffin; commissioned on 5 March 1945, Captain J. W. Harris in command; and reported to the Pacific Fleet.
After operational training at Pearl Harbor, Cape Gloucester arrived at Leyte, P.I. on 29 June 1945 to join the 3rd Fleet. Her planes flew combat air patrol fighting off Japanese kamikazes attempting to attack minesweepers operating east of Okinawa from 5–17 July. They then took part in air raids and photographic reconnaissance of shipping and airfields along the China coast until 7 August. During this time, her aircraft shot down several Japanese planes, and aided in damaging a 700-ton cargo ship.
After a period covering minesweeping along the Japanese coasts, and just two weeks after the Japanese formally surrendered on board the U.S.S. Missouri on 2 September 1945, the Cape Gloucester sailed into Nagasaki, stripped of her planes, to serve as an early participant in the celebrated "Magic Carpet" fleet that returned thousands of ragged and half-starved prisoners of war from Australia, New Zealand, Britain and Holland, together with a handful of Americans, to their homes. Many of these POWs were from prison camps on Kyūshū. In that role, Cape Gloucester sailed to Okinawa to unload the allied POWs, and made four voyages returning U.S. servicemen from Okinawa and Pearl Harbor to the west coast. The escort carrier returned to Tacoma, Wash., 22 May 1946, and was placed out of commission in reserve there on 5 November 1946. Still in reserve, she was reclassified CVHE-109 on 12 June 1955, and further reclassified AKV-9 on 7 May 1959.
Awards[edit]
Cape Gloucester received one battle star for her World War II service.
Notes[edit]
- ^ Silverstone, Paul H. (1965). US Warships of World War 2. USA: Naval Institute Press. p. 444. ISBN 0-87021-773-9.
- ^ Friedman, pp. 107–111.
- ^ a b c Friedman, p. 111.
References[edit]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
- Friedman, Norman (1986). "United States of America". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 105–133. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- "Cape Gloucester (CVE-109)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 1 April 2020. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
