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USS Admiralty Islands (CVE-99)
Encyclopedia
USS Admiralty Islands (CVE-99) was a United States Navy
Casablanca-class
escort aircraft carrier
, named after the Admiralty Islands
group north of New Guinea
, scene of fighting early in 1944.
Laid down as USS Chaplin Bay, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1136) on 26 February 1944 by the Kaiser Shipyards
, Vancouver, Washington
, she was renamed Admiralty Islands on 26 April 1944, launched on 10 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Homer N. Wallin
, and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon
, on 13 June 1944, Captain
J. D. Barner in temporary command. Later that day, command of the ship passed to Captain M. E. A. Gouin.
and then sailed for San Francisco to take on fuel oil and aviation gas. She arrived at San Diego on 14 July for further training before becoming a unit of the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet
, with the task of transporting aircraft, material, and personnel to support front line carrier operations.
After a brief pause at Pearl Harbor
, Admiralty Islands got underway for the Marshall Islands
. She disembarked her cargo at Majuro
Atoll on 9 August and immediately returned to Pearl Harbor. The carrier then shuttled more planes and personnel back to San Francisco, arriving there on the 24th. She spent the month of September making a shuttle from the west coast to Finschhafen
, New Guinea, and back. Upon her arrival at San Diego on 7 October, the ship underwent alterations from the 8th through the 26th. On 29 October, Admiralty Islands sailed for Naval Air Station Alameda
, to load Army aircraft and personnel for transportation to New Guinea. She reached Finschhafen on 21 November, unloaded, and continued on to Manus Island
. After a brief pause at Seeadler Harbor
on 23 November, she touched at Pearl Harbor on 6–7 December before reaching San Diego a week later to load aircraft and military personnel. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 24 December and on the day after Christmas got underway for Guam
.
Admiralty Islands reached Guam on 6 January 1945. She conducted refresher aircraft landing operations off that island for two days, then sailed for Pearl Harbor on the 10th. The carrier reached Hawaii on the 20th and began repairs to her main engine. After the yard work was finished on 31 January, she took on 61 aircraft, slated to replace combat losses. Admiralty Islands left Pearl Harbor on 2 February to support carrier operations in the campaign to seize Iwo Jima
. After short stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi
, Admiralty Islands got underway on 16 February as part of Task Group 50.8 (TG 50.8), the logistics support group for Task Force 58
(TF 58). Throughout the rest of February Admiralty Islands launched aircraft and provided replacement pilots to make good the carriers' losses. She returned to Guam on 2 March for provisioning and to make minor hull repairs. On 13 March, she again sailed with TG 50.8, this time to support action against Okinawa. The carrier interrupted her logistics supply role only for brief returns to Guam for replenishment.
On 18 April 1945, Admiralty Islands suffered her first operational casualty near Okinawa. After sounding flight quarters at 1217, she began launching new replacement aircraft at 1352. The pilots delivered one F6F Hellcat
, two TBM Avengers and two SB2C Helldiver
s to . At 1406, Admiralty Islands began recovering the pilots and ten combat-fatigued Essex aircraft (commonly known as "Flyable Duds") for repair or disposal.
Ensign
Roy Edward Jones, piloting Grumman Hellcat F6F-5 #71332, was the first to return for landing. He was not able to respond well to "low" and "opposite slant" flag signals, received a late "wave off" from the Landing Signal Officer
(LSO) and applied full throttle for another go-around. The aircraft continued to settle and the tailhook caught the No. 5 arresting wire. The accelerating Hellcat impacted the ship's gun mount with terrific force, breaking in two. The forward part of the plane went over the port side with the trapped pilot. The tail of the aircraft remained hooked to the No. 5 wire, resting on the ship's catwalk. The LSO was forced to jump into the safety net, breaking his leg.
Ensign Jones was lost at sea and his name is inscribed at the Courts of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Admiralty Islands returned to Guam on 24 April to undergo repairs on her boilers two of which had become inoperative by the time she arrived. Her repairs completed, the escort carrier sailed on 14 May to rejoin TG 50.8 and operations off Okinawa. She delivered numerous aircraft to American forces before arriving, via Guam, at Saipan
, on 15 June. She remained there for approximately two weeks before she received orders to join TG 30.8 and support air and bombardment strikes on the Japanese home islands.
Admiralty Islands sustained another operational casualty on 20 July. An external fuel tank that would not release in flight detached on landing. The fuel tank exploded on the wooden flight deck. Three aircraft were burned, and one man died as a result of the ensuing fire.
On 21 July, the ship was detached from the 3rd Fleet and headed for Guam, where she unloaded her cargo while refueling for the trip back to the west coast. The carrier reached San Diego on 11 August, then sailed to San Pedro, California to undergo repairs and alterations. The majority of the alterations were canceled because of Japan's surrender and, following completion of essential repairs, Admiralty Islands sailed on 1 September to become a member of the Operation Magic Carpet fleet for assistance in the return of American troops to home. On 25 September, operational control of the carrier was transferred to the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet.
"Magic Carpet" duties occupied Admiralty Islands until she was decommissioned on 24 April 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
on 8 May 1946, and the ship was sold on 2 January 1947 to the Zidell Machinery and Supply Company, Portland, Oregon
. Zidell scrapped her only miles from the Kaiser shipyards where she had been built only a few years before.
United States Navy
The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...
Casablanca-class
Casablanca class escort carrier
The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...
escort aircraft carrier
Escort aircraft carrier
The escort aircraft carrier or escort carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the USN or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slow type of aircraft carrier used by the British Royal Navy , the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force, and the...
, named after the Admiralty Islands
Admiralty Islands
The Admiralty Islands are a group of eighteen islands in the Bismarck Archipelago, to the north of New Guinea in the south Pacific Ocean. These are also sometimes called the Manus Islands, after the largest island. These rainforest-covered islands form part of Manus Province, the smallest and...
group north of New Guinea
New Guinea
New Guinea is the world's second largest island, after Greenland, covering a land area of 786,000 km2. Located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, it lies geographically to the east of the Malay Archipelago, with which it is sometimes included as part of a greater Indo-Australian Archipelago...
, scene of fighting early in 1944.
Laid down as USS Chaplin Bay, under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1136) on 26 February 1944 by the Kaiser Shipyards
Kaiser Shipyards
The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located mostly on the U.S. west coast during World War II. They were owned by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, a creation of American industrialist Henry J...
, Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver, Washington
Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...
, she was renamed Admiralty Islands on 26 April 1944, launched on 10 May 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Homer N. Wallin
Homer N. Wallin
Vice Admiral Homer Norman Wallin was a Vice Admiral in the United States Navy, best known for his salvage of ships sunk in the attack on Pearl Harbor.-Biography:...
, and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon
Astoria, Oregon
Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...
, on 13 June 1944, Captain
Captain (naval)
Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....
J. D. Barner in temporary command. Later that day, command of the ship passed to Captain M. E. A. Gouin.
Service history
The escort carrier departed bayside on 2 July for shakedown training in Puget SoundPuget Sound
Puget Sound is a sound in the U.S. state of Washington. It is a complex estuarine system of interconnected marine waterways and basins, with one major and one minor connection to the Strait of Juan de Fuca and the Pacific Ocean — Admiralty Inlet being the major connection and...
and then sailed for San Francisco to take on fuel oil and aviation gas. She arrived at San Diego on 14 July for further training before becoming a unit of the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet
United States Pacific Fleet
The United States Pacific Fleet is a Pacific Ocean theater-level component command of the United States Navy that provides naval resources under the operational control of the United States Pacific Command. Its home port is at Pearl Harbor Naval Base, Hawaii. It is commanded by Admiral Patrick M...
, with the task of transporting aircraft, material, and personnel to support front line carrier operations.
After a brief pause at Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor
Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...
, Admiralty Islands got underway for the Marshall Islands
Marshall Islands
The Republic of the Marshall Islands , , is a Micronesian nation of atolls and islands in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, just west of the International Date Line and just north of the Equator. As of July 2011 the population was 67,182...
. She disembarked her cargo at Majuro
Majuro
Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...
Atoll on 9 August and immediately returned to Pearl Harbor. The carrier then shuttled more planes and personnel back to San Francisco, arriving there on the 24th. She spent the month of September making a shuttle from the west coast to Finschhafen
Finschhafen
Finschhafen is a district on the northeast coast of the Morobe province of Papua New Guinea. It is named after the port of the same name.The port was discovered in 1884 by the German researcher Otto Finsch. In 1885 the German colony of German New Guinea created a town on the site and named it...
, New Guinea, and back. Upon her arrival at San Diego on 7 October, the ship underwent alterations from the 8th through the 26th. On 29 October, Admiralty Islands sailed for Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda
Naval Air Station Alameda was a United States Navy Naval Air Station in Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay.NAS Alameda had two runways: 07-25 and 13-31...
, to load Army aircraft and personnel for transportation to New Guinea. She reached Finschhafen on 21 November, unloaded, and continued on to Manus Island
Manus Island
Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...
. After a brief pause at Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor
Seeadler Harbor, also known as Port Seeadler, is located on Manus Island, Admiralty Islands, Papua New Guinea and played an important role in World War II...
on 23 November, she touched at Pearl Harbor on 6–7 December before reaching San Diego a week later to load aircraft and military personnel. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 24 December and on the day after Christmas got underway for Guam
Guam
Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...
.
Admiralty Islands reached Guam on 6 January 1945. She conducted refresher aircraft landing operations off that island for two days, then sailed for Pearl Harbor on the 10th. The carrier reached Hawaii on the 20th and began repairs to her main engine. After the yard work was finished on 31 January, she took on 61 aircraft, slated to replace combat losses. Admiralty Islands left Pearl Harbor on 2 February to support carrier operations in the campaign to seize Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima
Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...
. After short stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi
Ulithi
Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...
, Admiralty Islands got underway on 16 February as part of Task Group 50.8 (TG 50.8), the logistics support group for Task Force 58
Fast Carrier Task Force
The Fast Carrier Task Force was the main striking force of the United States Navy in the Pacific Ocean theatre of World War II.The Fast Carrier Task Force was known under two designations. The Navy made use of two sets of upper command structures for planning the upcoming operations...
(TF 58). Throughout the rest of February Admiralty Islands launched aircraft and provided replacement pilots to make good the carriers' losses. She returned to Guam on 2 March for provisioning and to make minor hull repairs. On 13 March, she again sailed with TG 50.8, this time to support action against Okinawa. The carrier interrupted her logistics supply role only for brief returns to Guam for replenishment.
F6F Hellcat
The Grumman F6F Hellcat was a carrier-based fighter aircraft developed to replace the earlier F4F Wildcat in United States Navy service. Although the F6F resembled the Wildcat, it was a completely new design powered by a 2,000 hp Pratt & Whitney R-2800. Some tagged it as the "Wildcat's big...
, two TBM Avengers and two SB2C Helldiver
SB2C Helldiver
The Curtiss SB2C Helldiver was a carrier-based dive bomber aircraft produced for the United States Navy during World War II. It replaced the Douglas SBD Dauntless in US Navy service. Despite its size, the SB2C was much faster than the SBD it replaced...
s to . At 1406, Admiralty Islands began recovering the pilots and ten combat-fatigued Essex aircraft (commonly known as "Flyable Duds") for repair or disposal.
Ensign (rank)
Ensign is a junior rank of a commissioned officer in the armed forces of some countries, normally in the infantry or navy. As the junior officer in an infantry regiment was traditionally the carrier of the ensign flag, the rank itself acquired the name....
Roy Edward Jones, piloting Grumman Hellcat F6F-5 #71332, was the first to return for landing. He was not able to respond well to "low" and "opposite slant" flag signals, received a late "wave off" from the Landing Signal Officer
Landing signal officer
Landing Signal Officers are naval aviators specially trained to facilitate the "safe and expeditious recovery" of naval aircraft aboard aircraft carriers. Originally LSOs were responsible for bringing aircraft aboard ship using hand signals...
(LSO) and applied full throttle for another go-around. The aircraft continued to settle and the tailhook caught the No. 5 arresting wire. The accelerating Hellcat impacted the ship's gun mount with terrific force, breaking in two. The forward part of the plane went over the port side with the trapped pilot. The tail of the aircraft remained hooked to the No. 5 wire, resting on the ship's catwalk. The LSO was forced to jump into the safety net, breaking his leg.
The Admiralty Islands returned to Guam on 24 April to undergo repairs on her boilers two of which had become inoperative by the time she arrived. Her repairs completed, the escort carrier sailed on 14 May to rejoin TG 50.8 and operations off Okinawa. She delivered numerous aircraft to American forces before arriving, via Guam, at Saipan
Saipan
Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...
, on 15 June. She remained there for approximately two weeks before she received orders to join TG 30.8 and support air and bombardment strikes on the Japanese home islands.
Admiralty Islands sustained another operational casualty on 20 July. An external fuel tank that would not release in flight detached on landing. The fuel tank exploded on the wooden flight deck. Three aircraft were burned, and one man died as a result of the ensuing fire.
"Magic Carpet" duties occupied Admiralty Islands until she was decommissioned on 24 April 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval Vessel Register
Naval Vessel Register
The Naval Vessel Register is the official inventory of ships and service craft in custody of or titled by the United States Navy. It contains information on ships and service craft that make up the official inventory of the Navy from the time a vessel is authorized through its life cycle and...
on 8 May 1946, and the ship was sold on 2 January 1947 to the Zidell Machinery and Supply Company, Portland, Oregon
Portland, Oregon
Portland is a city located in the Pacific Northwest, near the confluence of the Willamette and Columbia rivers in the U.S. state of Oregon. As of the 2010 Census, it had a population of 583,776, making it the 29th most populous city in the United States...
. Zidell scrapped her only miles from the Kaiser shipyards where she had been built only a few years before.