USS Salerno Bay

USS Salerno Bay in the early 1950s
History
United States
Name	USS Salerno Bay
Namesake	Landings at Salerno, Italy
Builder	Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	7 February 1944
Launched	26 September 1944
Commissioned	19 May 1945
Decommissioned	4 October 1947
Recommissioned	20 June 1951
Decommissioned	16 February 1954
Reclassified	Cargo Ship and Aircraft Ferry, AKV-10, 1959
Stricken	1 June 1961
Fate	Sold on 30 October 1961, Scrapped Bilbao, 1962 [1]
General characteristics
Class and type	Commencement Bay-class escort carrier
Displacement	21,397 long tons (21,740  t)
Length	557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) loa
Beam	75 ft (23 m)
Draft	32 ft (9.8 m)
Installed power	16,000  shp (12,000  kW) 4 × boilers
Propulsion	2 × Steam turbines 2 × screw propellers
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	1,066
Armament	2 × 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns 36 × 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns 20 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns
Aircraft carried	33
Aviation facilities	2 × aircraft catapults

USS Salerno Bay (CVE-110) (ex-Winjah Bay) was a Commencement Bay-class escort carrier laid down on 7 February 1944 by Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation, Tacoma, Washington; launched on 26 September 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Ward Gilbert; transferred to the Commercial Iron Works, Portland, Oregon, for completion on 29 September 1944; and commissioned on 19 May 1945, Captain W. C. Holt in command.

Design

Main article: Commencement Bay-class escort carrier

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]

Salerno Bay 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

World War II

The sixth of the line of Commencement Bay-class escort carriers with improvements dictated by that class's operating experience, Salerno Bay embarked her first air group, MCVEG-5, at the end of June. With that group, comprising Marine Fighter Squadron 514 (VMF-514) and Marine Torpedo Bombing Squadron 144 (VMSB-144), she trained off southern California. Two days after Japan's mid-August capitulation, she sailed west with Composite Squadron 68 (VC-68) embarked as passengers. She conducted further training operations, including night qualification of her Marine air group, in Hawaiian waters, then continued west. On 21 September, she anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa. Later shifting to the Hagushi anchorage, she put to sea in early October to ride out a typhoon. On 12 October, she returned to Hagushi only to depart again on 14 October to support the mid-month occupation of Formosa by troops of the Chinese Army. From that island, the escort carrier headed east, to Saipan. She remained at Saipan for three weeks; then, detached from the 7th Fleet, she shifted to Guam; embarked veterans as passengers; and set a course for Pearl Harbor and San Diego. She arrived at the latter in early December. At mid-month, she proceeded to the Panama Canal Zone, whence she continued on to Norfolk, Virginia, arriving on 23 December.

Assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and engaged primarily in qualifying carrier pilots, Salerno Bay operated along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean into 1947. In the spring of that year, she was ordered inactivated; and, in June, she sailed north, from Norfolk to Boston, to prepare for decommissioning and mothballing.

Korean War

Decommissioned on 4 October, she remained in the reserve fleet until recommissioned on 20 June 1951. Shakedown training followed; and, in October, she commenced operations with Carrier Division 18. During November and early December, she conducted exercises off the Virginia Capes and in the Caribbean. On 18 December, she returned to Norfolk. On 7 January 1952, she again sailed south for operations in the Caribbean. Back at Norfolk in early February, she operated off Puerto Rico in March and off the Virginia and Carolina coasts from April to July. She then prepared for European deployment. On 26 August, she departed Norfolk; joined TF 173 en route; and, during September, participated in NATO exercises off Norway. In early October, she proceeded to Gibraltar, thence sailed into the Mediterranean for operations with the 6th Fleet. At the end of November, she retransited the Strait of Gibraltar; and, on 7 December, she arrived back at Norfolk to resume local, western Atlantic, and Caribbean exercises, which she continued into 1953.

In the spring of that year, as the war in Korea moved toward a truce, the CVE was again ordered inactivated. On 8 June, she returned to Boston, where she was decommissioned a second time on 16 February 1954. Reclassified AKV-10 in 1959, Salerno Bay remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until struck from the Navy list on 1 June 1961. She was sold on 30 October to Revalorizacion de Materiales, S.A., through their agent Jacq. Pierot, Jr., and Sons, New York City, and removed from Naval custody on 14 December 1961.

Notes

1. Silverstone, Paul H. (1965). US Warships of World War 2. USA: Naval Institute Press. ISBN   0-87021-773-9.
2. Friedman, pp. 107–111.
3. Friedman, p. 111.

References

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.
• "Salerno Bay (CVE-110)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 20 June 2023. Retrieved 27 April 2024. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain .

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org