USS Bougainville (CVE-100)
![]() USS Bougainville at Pearl Harbor, circa 1945
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History | |
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Name |
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Namesake |
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Ordered | as a MCE hull 1137[1] |
Awarded | 18 June 1942 |
Builder | Kaiser Shipyards |
Laid down | 3 March 1944 |
Launched | 16 May 1944 |
Commissioned | 18 June 1944 |
Decommissioned | 30 November 1946 |
Stricken | 1 May 1960 |
Identification | Hull symbol: CVE-100 |
Honors and awards | 2 Battle stars |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 29 August 1960 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type | Casablanca-class escort carrier |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam |
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Draft | 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) (max) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
Range | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 27 |
Aviation facilities | |
Service record | |
Part of: |
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USS Bougainville (CVE-100) was the forty-sixth of fifty
Design and description
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/3/38/Inboard_and_outboard_profiles_of_a_Casablanca-class_escort_carrier%2C_1946.png/220px-Inboard_and_outboard_profiles_of_a_Casablanca-class_escort_carrier%2C_1946.png)
Bougainville was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of
One
Construction
Her construction was awarded to
Service history
World War II
Upon being commissioned, Bougainville got underway, on 7 July, on a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to
After unloading her cargo, she took on a complement of sixty-four fighter aircraft, all bound for the
She stopped at Pearl Harbor on 13 January, where she commenced flight training and gunnery exercises. Upon the completion of these activities, she departed Hawaiian waters on 30 January, arriving back at Eniwetok a week later. There, on 8 February, she was assigned to become a replenishment carrier as a part of Task Group 50.8.4, the mobile replenishment group supporting the frontline Fifth Fleet. She served alongside three other escort carriers, Admiralty Islands, Attu, and Windham Bay.[10] Replenishment escort carriers such as Bougainville enabled the frontline carriers to replace battle losses, and to stay at sea for longer durations of time.[11] She departed Eniwetok to commence her replenishment duties on 9 February.[9]
For the next four months, Bougainville operated in a replenishment capability, supplying the
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/8a/USS_Bougainville_%28CVE-100%29_at_sea%2C_circa_1945_%28NH_89182%29.jpg/220px-USS_Bougainville_%28CVE-100%29_at_sea%2C_circa_1945_%28NH_89182%29.jpg)
On 5 June, Bougainville, along with the ships of Task Group 38.1 and Task Group 30.8, was trapped in the path of Typhoon Connie, which was proceeding northwards, and on a course to the east of Okinawa. Admiral William Halsey Jr., which had already led the Third Fleet into the deadly Typhoon Cobra in December 1944, now managed to lead the Third Fleet yet again into another deadly storm. At the peak of the storm, Windham Bay experienced estimated winds of 127 kn (235 km/h; 146 mph) and waves towering some 75 ft (23 m) high. As Task Group 50.8 emerged from the typhoon, Bougainville had suffered considerable damage, in both her hull, and her aircraft contingent. Twenty-seven planes on Bougainville had been lost or wrecked, and most of her remaining planes, located in her hangar deck, were inaccessible, because both of her aircraft elevators had been jammed. In addition, her flight deck supports had been damaged, and she suffered much additional superficial damage.[13][14]
In mid-June, Bougainville was released from her replenishment duties, when she undertook a transport mission to bases located within the Philippines, before returning to Guam. After completing her mission, she steamed eastward, pausing at Pearl Harbor, before arriving back at San Diego, where she lay in port until early August for repairs and replenishment. On 9 August, she left San Diego, bound yet again for the West Pacific. En route, her crew received news of the Japanese surrender on 15 August. After stops at Pearl Harbor and Guam, she was anchored off of the island of Roi-Namur when the formal signing of the Japanese Instrument of Surrender was occurring on 2 September. There, she loaded inoperational aircraft, before heading back to Oahu. At Pearl Harbor, she took on a load of aircraft and passengers, departing port on 12 September, stopping at Apra Harbor, Guam, where she disembarked some passengers and took on additional aircraft. Continuing westwards, she anchored at Nakagusuku Bay on 27 September, before leaving harbor the following day to evade Typhoon Jean, which appeared to heading for the Okinawa Islands.[9]
Bougainville returned to port on 3 October, where she took on two
After a long stay in port, Bougainville once again departed on 28 November, heading to Eniwetok, via Pearl Harbor. She returned to San Diego on 12 January 1946, whereupon she steamed northwards, arriving at
References
- ^ a b Kaiser Vancouver 2010.
- ^ Chesneau & Gardiner 1980, p. 109
- ^ a b Chesneau & Gardiner 1980, p. 109.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, pp. 34–35.
- ^ a b c Hazegray 1998.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, p. 10.
- ^ Maksel 2012.
- ^ Stubblebine 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h DANFS I 2017.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, p. 329.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, p. 121.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, p. 351.
- ^ Y'Blood 2014, p. 402.
- ^ DANFS II 2017.
Sources
Online sources
- "Bougainville I (CVE-100)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 1 May 2017. Archived from the original on 31 December 2019. Retrieved 31 December 2019.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "Pacific Typhoon: June 1945 – Extract from Third Fleet Report, 14 July 1945". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 2 April 2015. Archived from the original on 31 May 2019. Retrieved 1 January 2020.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.
- "Kaiser Vancouver, Vancouver WA". www.ShipbuildingHistory.com. 27 November 2010. Archived from the original on 16 June 2019. Retrieved 14 June 2019.
- "World Aircraft Carriers List: US Escort Carriers, S4 Hulls". Hazegray.org. 14 December 1998. Retrieved 1 July 2019.
- Maksel, Rebecca (14 August 2012). "How Do You Name an Aircraft Carrier?". Air & Space/Smithsonian. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
- Stubblebine, Daniel (June 2011). "Escort Carrier Makin Island (CVE-93)". ww2db.com. Retrieved 23 December 2019.
Bibliography
- Chesneau, Robert; Gardiner, Robert (1980), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, ISBN 9780870219139
- Y'Blood, William (2014), The Little Giants: U.S. Escort Carriers Against Japan (ISBN 9781612512471
External links
![](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/thumb/4/4a/Commons-logo.svg/30px-Commons-logo.svg.png)
- Photo gallery of USS Bougainville (CVE-100) at NavSource Naval History