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This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (July 2008) |
 USS Commencement Bay |
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| Class overview | |
|---|---|
| Builders: | Todd Pacific Shipyards Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Preceded by: | Casablanca class escort carrier |
| Succeeded by: | None |
| Built: | 1943–1945 |
| In commission: | 1945–1971 |
| Planned: | 33 |
| Completed: | 19 |
| Cancelled: | 14 |
| General characteristics | |
| Type: | Escort carrier |
| Displacement: | 10,900 long tons (11,100 t) standard 24,100 long tons (24,500 t) full load |
| Length: | 557 ft (170 m) |
| Beam: | 75 ft (23 m) 105 ft 2 in (32.1 m) flight deck |
| Draft: | 30 ft 8 in (9.3 m) |
| Propulsion: | 2-shaft geared turbines, 16,000 shp |
| Speed: | 19 knots (22 mph/35 km/h) |
| Complement: | 1,066 officers and men |
| Armament: | 2 × 5"/38 caliber guns (1×2) 36 × 40 mm guns (3×4, 12×2) 20 × 20 mm AA guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 34 |
The Commencement Bay-class escort aircraft carriers were based on the Maritime Commission T3 type tanker hull, which gave them a displacement of approximately 23,000 tons and a length of 557 feet (170 m). Unlike earlier CVE classes which were laid down as something else and converted to aircraft carriers mid-construction, the Commencement Bays were built as carriers from the keel up.
They entered service late in World War II — USS Commencement Bay launched on 9 May 1944 — so most of them saw little or no operational service. Thirty-three of them were ordered but many were cancelled prior to completion. Nineteen saw commissioned service in the US Navy, four were broken up on the ways at the end of the war, two were accepted from the builders, but never commissioned and the remainder were cancelled before being laid down.
After the war they were seen as potential helicopter, anti-submarine, or auxiliary (transport) carriers, and a number of ships served in these roles during the Korean War. The onrushing jet age ended their lives, as the ships were no longer large enough to safely carry the much larger jet aircraft of the late 50s, and all units were out of service by 1960. They were similar to the Sangamon-class escort carriers, but some of the Sangamon's engineering shortcomings were addressed.
External links
- USS Commencement Bay Class Escort Carriers from Global Security.Org
- USS Commencement Bay Class from Battleships-Cruisers.co.uk
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