USS White Plains (CVE-66)
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History | |
---|---|
United States | |
Name | USS White Plains |
Namesake | Battle of White Plains |
Builder | Kaiser Shipyards |
Laid down | 11 February 1943 |
Launched | 27 September 1943 |
Commissioned | 15 November 1943 |
Decommissioned | 10 July 1946 |
Stricken | 1 July 1958 |
Fate | Sold for scrap on 29 July 1958 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Casablanca-class escort carrier |
Displacement | 10,400 tons |
Length | 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) overall |
Beam | 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), 108 ft (33 m) maximum width |
Draft | 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) |
Propulsion |
|
Speed | 19.3 knots (35.7 km/h) |
Range | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km) @ 15 kn (28 km/h) |
Complement |
|
Armament | 1 × Bofors 40 mm guns (6×2), 20 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons (20×1) |
Aircraft carried | 24 |
Service record | |
Part of: |
Atlantic Reserve Fleet (1946-1958) |
Operations: |
Operation Magic Carpet |
Awards: |
|
USS White Plains (CVE-66) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the 1776 Battle of White Plains.
She was laid down on 11 February 1943 at
Service history
World War II
The USS White Plains completed her outfitting at
While off the West Coast, the White Plains conducted operational training for her own ship's company and carrier qualifications for three air squadrons. In April, she embarked her own permanently assigned air unit, Composite Squadron 4 (VC-4), composed of 16 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters and 12 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo planes. She departed the West Coast from the San Diego Naval Base on 24 April, and she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 1 May. During the next month, the White Plains conducted air operations and amphibious support training out of Pearl Harbor.
At the end of May, the White Plains steamed out of port in company with units of the Task Forces assembled to invade the
The USS White Plains departed the combat zone on 2 July but, after a week at
She completed her participation during the first week in August and departed the Marianas and headed for
Battle of Leyte Gulf
In October 1944, after repairs at the naval base at
In the meantime, after Admiral Halsey received information indicating that a battered Center Force had begun retirement, Ozawa's decoy force finally managed to draw the American carriers off to the north. However, Kurita's retrograde movement proved to be only temporary, and he once again reversed course and headed back toward San Bernardino Strait. With Oldendorf regrouping his warships in Leyte Gulf and Halsey off chasing the
Yamato opened fire at 0659 at an estimated range of 34,500 yards (17 nautical miles), targeting White Plains with her first four salvoes. Yamato's third salvo was a close straddle landing at 07:04. One shell from this salvo exploded beneath the turn of White Plains port bilge near frame 142, near her aft (starboard) engine room. While the ship was not struck directly, the mining effect of the under-keel explosion severely damaged her hull, deranged her starboard machinery and tripped most of the circuit breakers in her electrical network. Prompt and effective damage control restored power and communications within three minutes and she was able to remain in formation by overspeeding her port engine to compensate. The black smoke resulting from the sudden loss of boiler intake air pressure convinced Yamato and Nagato (which was also firing her main battery at White Plains at the time) that they had scored a direct hit and they shifted fire to other targets.[1] For the next two and one-half hours, the Japanese force chased "Taffy 3" southward and subjected the escort carriers and their counterattacking screen to a heavy-caliber cannonade. The aircraft carriers' warplanes fought back, even making dummy runs on the Japanese ships to slow the ships' speed of advance after expending all their bombs, torpedoes, and ammunition. During their counterattacks, USS Johnston, Hoel, and Samuel B. Roberts were sunk by gunfire. Later, USS Gambier Bay was sunk by gunfire as well, while USS Fanshaw Bay, USS Kalinin Bay, Dennis, and Heermann suffered heavy damage.
During the surface phase of the action White Plains's 5-inch gun crew claimed six hits on heavy cruiser Chōkai.[2] It was initially believed that one of these hits caused the Chokai's Type 93 "Long Lance" torpedoes to explode, crippling Chōkai and making it vulnerable to air attack. However, the 2019 discovery by the RV Petrel of the wreck of the Chōkai with her torpedoes intact disproved this theory.[3] Chōkai was later sunk by planes from Ommaney Bay (CVE-79), an escort carrier of Taffy 2. Haguro's detailed action report states that Chokai's immobilizing damage resulted from a bomb hit at 0851.[4]
The Japanese surface force broke off its pursuit from 0912–0917 hours, and after milling around in apparent confusion for a time, retired northward to San Bernardino Strait. The retreat by Kurita's surface force, however, did not end the ordeal for White Plains and her fellow warships. After a 90-minute respite, they suffered harassment from a different quarter. At 1050 hours, a formation of nine Japanese Navy
Ready for action once more, USS White Plains steamed out of San Diego on 19 January 1945. However, concern about the lingering effects of the hull and machinery damage suffered at Samar kept her off the front lines and she was assigned to ferrying replacement aircraft from their factories in the United States to bases in the western Pacific for the remainder of the war. During the last months of the war, White Plains visited Kwajalein,
Post-War
The end of hostilities in mid-August found the USS White Plains en route from Pearl Harbor to the
The USS White Plains was decommissioned on 10 July 1946 and was berthed with the
Awards
White Plains earned five
References
- ISBN 978-1-608-88046-1.
- ISBN 978-0-553-38148-1.
- ^ IJN Chokai, retrieved 22 March 2021
- ^ Lundgren | p. 184
- ISBN 9781781593134.
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entries can be found here and here.