USS Kwajalein (CVE-98)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
|
| Career |  |
|---|---|
| Name: | USS Kwajalein |
| Builder: | Kaiser Shipyards |
| Launched: | 4 May 1944 |
| Commissioned: | 7 June 1944 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 August 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 April 1960 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrapping 11 January 1961 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Casablanca-class escort carrier |
| Displacement: | 7,800 tons (light) 10,400 tons (full load) |
| Length: | 512 ft 3 in (156.1 m) overall |
| Beam: | 65 ft 2 in (19.9 m) 108 ft 1 in (32.9 m) maximum width |
| Draft: | 22 ft 6 in (6.9 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2 × 5-cylinder reciprocating Skinner Unaflow engines 4 × 285 psi boilers 2 shafts, 9,000 shp |
| Speed: | 19 knots (35 km/h) |
| Range: | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km) at 15 kn (28 km/h) |
| Complement: | 860 officers and men Embarked Squadron: 50 to 56 officers and men Total: 910 to 916 officers and men. |
| Armament: | 1 × 5-inch/38 cal. DP gun 16 × 40 mm AA cannon in 8 twin mounts 20 × 20 mm AA machine guns in single mounts |
| Aircraft carried: | 28 |
| Service record | |
| Part of | United States Pacific Fleet (1944-1946) Pacific Reserve Fleet (1946-1960) |
| Operations | Philippines campaign Operation Magic Carpet |
| Awards | 2 Battle stars |
USS Kwajalein (CVE-98), formerly Bwcareli Bay, was a Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.
It was launched 4 May 1944, by the Kaiser Co., Inc., Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. Rudolf L. Johnson; acquired by the Navy 7 June 1944, and commissioned the same day, Comdr. R. C. Warrack in command.
After shakedown along the West Coast, Kwajalein cleared San Pedro 19 July 1944, bound for Espiritu Santo with passengers and a cargo of fuel and planes. Arriving 3 August, she sailed 4 days later to transport aircraft to Guam and pick up salvaged Japanese equipment for intelligence studies in the United States.
Following repairs at San Diego, Kwajalein got underway 7 October for operations as replenishment carrier. She loaded combat-ready aircraft at Manus and sailed for Eniwetok 5 November to replenish the carriers of Task Force 38 as they prepared for raids on Manila and the Visayas. Continuing operations from Ulithi, Kwajalein furnished the big carriers with the planes needed to drive the Japanese out of the Philippines. During January 1945, replacement aircraft roared from her decks to Task Force 38 flat tops for strikes on enemy air bases on Formosa and the China coast. Kwajalein returned San Diego 23 February for overhaul and additional aircraft before resuming operations 9 March.
From March to August Kwajalein carried aircraft on three cruises from Pearl Harbor to the western Pacific keeping carrier-based air groups at full strength for the massive carrier raids on the Japanese home islands. With the cessation of hostilities 14 August 1945, the carrier was assigned the task of returning Pacific veterans to the United States. She made four cruises to the Pacific Islands before arriving San Pedro 2 February 1946, from her final "Magic-Carpet" mission. On 23 April Kwajalein cleared San Pablo Bay for Mukilteo, Wash., arriving there 3 days later. She decommissioned at Tacoma, Washington, 16 August 1946, and joined the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Her name was struck from the Navy List 1 April 1960, and she was scrapped in Japan the following year.
Kwajalein received two battle stars for World War II service.
[edit] References
This article includes text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships.
|
||||||||
