Escort Carriers: Commencement Bay Class

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Point Cruz pictured off Japan,July 23rd 1953.
Originally named Trocadero Bay until June 5th 1944 when she was renamed. She was laid down on December 4th 1944 by Todd-Pacific Shipyards Incorporated, Tacoma, Washington; launched on May 18th 1945.Following acceptance and shakedown, she conducted pilot qualifications off the West Coast from October 1945 to March 1946. Thereafter she ferried aircraft to forward bases in WestPac. After the start of hostilities in Korea she was activated and recommissioned on July 26th 1951.Point Cruz departed Bremerton on January 4th 1953 after coastal operations and an extensive overhaul modifying her for use as an Anti-Submarine Warfare Hunter-Killer Group Carrier.
She returned to San Diego in November 1954, and deployed again on August 24th 1955.While in the Pacific operating with the 7th Fleet, she served as flagship of Carrier Division 15. Point Cruz departed Yokosuka on January 31st 1956 and arrived at Long Beach, California, in early February for inactivation at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Decommissioned on August 31st 1956, CVE-119 was placed in the Bremerton Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. While in a reserve status, she was redesignated an Aircraft Transport, AKV-19, on May 17th 1957.
Point Cruz was reactivated on August 23rd 1965 and placed under the operational control of the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) as USNS Point Cruz (T-AKV-19) in September 1965. Commencing service as an Aircraft Ferry for MSTS, Point Cruz provided logistical support for American forces in Vietnam
She was placed out of service on October 16th 1969, struck from the Navy list on September 15th 1970, and sold for scrap in 1971.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Rendova pictured departing San Diego, January 1954, with her ASW air group on the flight deck....(Fulton Class Submarine Tender USS Sperry in the background).

[Brian James]

An original colour shot of a Grumman TBM Avenger being positioned on Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Cape Goucester's catapult,during operations off Kyushu,September 8th 1945.

[Blackbat242]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Rendova pictured departing San Diego, January 1954, with her ASW air group on the flight deck....(Fulton Class Submarine Tender USS Sperry in the background).

And there is an interesting assortment of subs there - the differing sails show different levels of modernization (GUPPY-I/II/III).

The Greater Underwater Propulsion Power Program (GUPPY) was initiated by the United States Navy after World War II to improve the submerged speed, maneuverability, and endurance of its submarines. (The "Y" in the acronym was added for pronounceability.) Those upgrades proceeded in seven variants, in the following order: GUPPY I, GUPPY II, GUPPY IA, Fleet Snorkel, GUPPY IIA, GUPPY IB, and GUPPY III. Some boats that went through an early phase were then upgraded further in a later phase.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Mindoro pictured c1952.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Badoeng Strait pictured en route to Korea,July 14th 1950.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Rendova pictured with Vought F4U Corsairs of Marine Fighter Squadron (VMF) 235 embarked, underway off the coast of California,May 1952.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Sicily pictured at New York City,September 1947.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Block Island pictured as she departs Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on January 5th 1952,for Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, where she carried out flight operations and other training until mid-March She was the second ship to carry her name, done in honour of the first one, being launched 12 days after the original was sunk. She was launched on June 10th 1944 as Sunset Bay by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc. Tacoma, Washington. Block Island got underway for Pearl Harbor on March 20th 1945. Upon arrival she underwent a period of provisioning and training in preparation for the invasion of Okinawa. On April 17th, Block Island left Hawaii and steamed toward Okinawa, via Ulithi. Flight operations commenced immediately upon her arrival May 3rd and lasted until June 16th when she departed for Leyte. After a brief stay at San Pedro Bay, she steamed through the Straits of Makassar for Borneo. From June 26th until July 6th, she took part in the Balikpapan operation. She then proceeded to Guam where she was anchored at the time of the cessation of hostilities....She was scrapped on February 23rd 1960.

[Brian James]

Commencement Bay Class Escort Carrier USS Annapolis (Ex USS Gilbert Islands), pictured at Brooklyn Navy Yard undergoing an inclining experiment during her Communications Relay Ship conversion in 1964....Her new hull classification as AGMR (Auxiliary General Major Relay) reflected her ability to serve as a floating communications station on the move. This capability allowed Annapolis to position herself at any ocean global position to provide major communication services without the construction and expense of a ground-based, communications facilities. The flight deck was converted to an antenna array with two directional and two omnidirectional antennas. The aircraft hangar bay was converted into communication spaces although one aircraft elevator was retained to allow servicing of equipment and boat storage. In the communication spaces were installed 24 radio transmitters with low through ultra-high frequencies. To provide the necessary cooling of equipment in the communications spaces, three 120-ton air conditioning units were installed with 130 tons dedicated for the communications spaces. The remaining air conditioning tonnage was routed to the other interior spaces of the ship. She spent her entire 5-year active service at and around the DMZ of Vietnam, she was sold for scrap November 1st 1979.