USS Hoggatt Bay

USS Hoggatt Bay anchored off of Astoria, Oregon shortly after commissioning, January 1944.
History
United States
Name	Hoggatt Bay
Namesake	Solomon Islands campaign
Ordered	as a Type S4-S2-BB3 hull, MC hull 1112
Awarded	18 June 1942
Builder	Kaiser Shipyards
Laid down	17 August 1943
Launched	4 December 1943
Commissioned	11 January 1944
Decommissioned	20 July 1946
Stricken	1 September 1959
Identification	CVE-75 (1943–55) CVHE-75 (1955–59) AKV-25 (1959)
Fate	Scrapped in 1960
General characteristics
Class and type	Casablanca-class escort carrier
Displacement	8,188 long tons (8,319 t) (standard) 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) (full load)
Length	512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) (oa) 490 ft (150 m) (wl) 474 ft (144 m) (fd)
Beam	65 ft 2 in (19.86 m) 108 ft (33 m) (extreme width)
Draft	20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) (max)
Installed power	4 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 9,000 shp (6,700 kW)
Propulsion	2 × Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines 2 × screws
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	Total: 910 – 916 officers and men Embarked Squadron: 50 – 56 Ship's Crew: 860
Armament	As designed: 1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal dual-purpose gun 8 × 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 12 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons Varied, ultimate armament: 1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal gun 8 × twin 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns 30 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons
Aircraft carried	27
Aviation facilities	1 × catapult 2 × elevators
Service record
Part of:	United States Pacific Fleet (1943–1946) Atlantic Reserve Fleet (1946–1959)
Operations:	Mariana and Palau Islands campaign Philippines campaign Invasion of Lingayen Gulf Battle of Okinawa Operation Magic Carpet

USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) was the twenty-first of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Hoggatt Bay, which was named in 1895 by Lieutenant commander E. K. Moore after Wilford Bacon Hoggatt, an Ensign serving in Moore's party at the time. Later, Hoggatt would serve as the sixth governor of Alaska between 1906 and 1909. The bay is located within Baranof Island, part of the Alexander Archipelago, which at the time was a part of the Territory of Alaska. She was launched in December 1943, commissioned in January 1944, and she served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf as a part of the Philippines campaign, as well as the Battle of Okinawa. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She was decommissioned in July 1946, being mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was broken up in 1960.

Design and description

A profile of the design of Takanis Bay, which was shared by all Casablanca-class escort carriers.

Main article: Casablanca-class escort carrier

Hoggatt Bay was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and was designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) long overall, had a beam of 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), and a draft of 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m). She displaced 8,188 long tons (8,319 t) standard and 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) with a full load. She had a 257 ft (78 m) long hangar deck and a 477 ft (145 m) long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 10,240 nautical miles (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.

One 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, and the amount of Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. During the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, she carried 16 FM-2 Wildcat fighters and 12 TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bombers for a total of 28 aircraft.

Construction

Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942. The escort carrier was laid down on 17 August 1943 under the name Hoggatt Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was laid down as MC hull 1112, the twenty-first of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She therefore received the classification symbol CVE-75, indicating that she was the seventy-fifth escort carrier to be commissioned into the United States Navy. She was launched on 4 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Esther Irene Sundvik, the wife of a shipwright at the shipyard; transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 11 January 1944, with Captain William Vincent Saunders in command.

Service history

After intensive training off the California coast, Hoggatt Bay transported aircraft and crews to Pearl Harbor from 10 to 25 March 1944. Upon her return and further training in antisubmarine work, she sailed on 1 May for Pearl Harbor and Majuro. The combination of escort carriers and destroyers had proven itself effective against submarines in the Battle of the Atlantic, and was now to be used in the Pacific against the Japanese. Hoggatt Bay and a group of destroyers and destroyer escorts patrolled in the southwest Pacific from 26 May-19 June with notable success. England scored a kill on Ro-105 on 31 May and Taylor sank Ro-111 with depth charges and gunfire 11 June. These operations and those of other groups did much to reduce Japanese submarine interference with the invasion of the Marianas.

Returning to the patrol area after a brief stay at Eniwetok, Hoggatt Bay's group provided air support and cover for the Marianas operation from 5 July–9 August, after which the ships returned to Manus Island. Next on the timetable of Pacific conquest was Peleliu, a valuable air base for further advances, and Hoggatt Bay sortied 1 September to furnish antisubmarine protection and search planes for the invasion. For nearly two months the escort carrier cruised these seas south and west of the Marianas in support of American operations. Samuel S. Miles, a member of her group, sank I-177 on 3 October, and later in the month planes from Hoggatt Bay helped provide air cover for Houston as she struggled toward Ulithi.

The ship arrived at Ulithi on 28 October, and sailed on 10 November to provide air support for the developing campaign in the Philippines. This was followed by amphibious exercises in Huon Gulf, New Guinea, in preparation for the Lingayen unit operations. Arriving at Manus on 20 December 1944, Hoggatt Bay joined the great task force which departed from that and other staging bases in late December for Lingayen Gulf. The voyage through the Philippines was a perilous one, as the Japanese attacked with their last desperate weapon, the suicide plane. Crewmen on Hoggatt Bay and the other ships fought continuously after 3 January, downing many of the attackers, but Ommaney Bay was lost and other ships damaged. Arriving Lingayen Gulf on 6 January, Hoggatt Bay sent her carrier planes in to support the landings and destroy strong points despite suicide attacks; this vital work continued until 17 January, when the ship set course for Ulithi, and then San Diego. Temporary repairs at Ulithi and more extensively at San Diego were necessitated by an accidental explosion of bombs as aircraft landed onboard on 15 January off Luzon, Philippine Islands.

The veteran escort carrier returned to San Diego 15 February 1945, and after much-needed repairs sailed 6 April to join the vast fleet arrayed off Okinawa in support of the invasion. She arrived Okinawa 8 May via Pearl Harbor and Ulithi and immediately took station south of the island to lend her aircraft to the carrier air forces engaged in the operation. Her planes flew direct support missions, photographic flights, and supply drops during the period from 8 May-24 June.

Hoggatt Bay arrived at Leyte Gulf on 27 June, and after a month of training sailed on 28 July for Adak, Alaska. The surrender came while the carrier was en route, however, and the planned operation was replaced by occupation plans. After her arrival on 18 August, Hoggatt Bay sailed for Ominato. She arrived September and supported the occupation of Hokkaidō and northern Honshū. During this period aircraft from the ship discovered many Japanese prison camps, and the ship had the pleasure of evacuating Lieutenant Colonel James Devereux, Marine Commander at Wake Island when captured by the Japanese. Hoggatt Bay also participated in the occupation of Aomori before anchoring in Tokyo Bay on 27 September.

The escort carrier departed Tokyo on 30 September and, after a brief service with the "Magic Carpet" fleet, returned to Boston and was decommissioned on 20 July 1946. Placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Boston, the ship was re-classified CVHE-75 on 12 June 1955, and AKV-25 on 7 May 1959. She was sold for scrap on 31 March 1960.

Awards

Hoggatt Bay received five battle stars for World War II service.

Sources

Online sources

• "Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Naval History and Heritage Command. 27 April 2016. Archived from the original on 21 March 2021. Retrieved 20 November 2021. 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.

Bibliography

• Chesneau, Robert; Gardiner, Robert (1980), Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1922–1946, London, England: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 9780870219139
• Y'Blood, William (2014), The Little Giants: U.S. Escort Carriers Against Japan (E-book), Annapolis, Maryland: Naval Institute Press, ISBN 9781612512471
• The story of the U.S.S. Hoggatt Bay, Bangor, Maine: World War Regimental Histories, 1946

External links

• Photo gallery of USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75 at NavSource Naval History