USS Attu (CVE-102)

USS Attu with storm damage, 1945
Overview
Order	1942
Keel laying	March 16, 1944
Launch	May 27, 1944
1. Period of service
Commissioning	June 30, 1944
Decommissioning	June 8, 1946
Whereabouts	scrapped
Technical specifications
displacement	7800  ts (standard) 10,400 ts (application)
length	156.2 m
width	32.9 m
Draft	6.9 m
crew	860
drive	4 piston steam engines, 9000 HP on two propellers
speed	19 kn
Range	10,200 nm at 15 kn
Armament	1 × 127 mm gun 8 × 40mm twins 20 × 20 mm MK
Planes	28

The USS Attu (CVE-102) was an escort aircraft carrier in the United States Navy and belonged to the Casablanca class . The carrier was in service with the US Navy from June 1944 to June 1946.

history

Appointed as Elbour Bay , it was renamed USS Attu for future porters on November 6, 1943 in honor of the Battle of Attu . The keel was laid on March 16, 1944 at Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver , Washington . After almost two months of construction, the launch took place on May 27, the commissioning with the US Navy took place on June 30, 1944 under the command of Captain HF MacComsey.

After first test drives off the west coast, the Attu left San Diego on August 7th to bring planes and personnel to Pearl Harbor . After a two-day stay in Hawaii, she continued to Guadalcanal and Espiritu Santo , where she brought reserve planes and personnel. On August 31, she set course for the west coast again, where she arrived in San Diego on September 13. She docked at Terminal Island for repair work, the work was completed on September 28, then the Attu set course for Alameda , where fuel, provisions and planes were taken on board.

The escort carrier left the US west coast on October 1 and arrived in Finschhafen , New Guinea on October 18 . After a stopover on Manus and Pearl Harbor, the Attu returned to Alameda, where she was again overtaken. On November 23, she set course for Hawaii, from where she transported troops and supplies to Guam . On January 4, 1945, the carrier returned to San Diego.

On January 20, ran Attu again and met a week later in Hawaii, where they before O'ahu began flying and shooting practice. On February 1, the course was set for Eniwetok , where the Attu arrived on February 10. She moved from Eniwetok to Ulithi , where she joined Task Force 50 on February 16. The Attu was given the task of delivering supply aircraft to the fleet carriers in the Fast Carrier Task Forces .

She returned to San Diego for repairs in early July after a severe typhoon. On July 24th, she ran out to the Pacific again, at the time of Japan's surrender she was south of the main Japanese islands. On November 11th, the porter arrived back on the US west coast, two weeks later the first trips as part of Operation Magic Carpet began . By 1946 she made several trips to bring US troops back from the Pacific.

In May 1946 the decommissioning of the Attu was decided, she drove over the Panama Canal and Jacksonville to Norfolk , where she was decommissioned on June 8, 1946. On July 3 of the same year, it was deleted from the shipping registers of the US Navy.

The Attu received two Battle Stars for its service during World War II .

Web links

Commons : USS Attu (CVE-102)  - Collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• History of Attu (CVE-102) in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)