USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62)

The USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) in April 1944
Overview
Keel laying	January 17, 1943
Launch	July 20, 1943
1. Period of service
Commissioning	October 14, 1943
Decommissioning	May 20, 1946
Whereabouts	Wrecked in 1960
Technical specifications
displacement	7,800 tons
length	156 meters
width	20 metres
Draft	6.86 meters
crew	860
drive	4 piston steam engines ; 9,000 hp
speed	19 knots
Armament	1 × 127 mm gun 16 × 40 mm twins 20 × 20 mm MK

The USS Natoma Bay (CVE-62) was asked in October 1943 in service escort carrier of the US Navy . The ship belonged to the Casablanca class and was in service during the Second World War . A few months after the end of the war, it was retired in May 1946 and, after more than a decade in the reserve fleet, it was scrapped in 1960.

history

Originally on January 17, 1943, the name Begum at the Kaiser Shipyards in Vancouver placed on Kiel Natoma Bay was on 20 July 1943 by the launching and the only scarce three months later on 14 October of the same year under the command of Captain Harold L Meadow put into service.

After test drives off the coast of California , the ship was used to transport aircraft and personnel between San Diego and Pearl Harbor until January 3, 1944 . Then Natoma Bay began operations for aerial surveillance and for patrol purposes off Wotje and Maloelap . In March 1944, she participated in attacks on Kavieng . The ship then acted as an escort to protect convoys from and to Emirau and took part in operations against Rabaul .

Further attacks on Hollandia and Tanahmerah Bay followed in April 1944 . After US troops landed on these islands, the aircraft on board Natoma Bay were tasked with destroying Japanese positions. For the battle in the Philippine Sea in June 1944, the ship carried Republic P-47 fighter jets to Saipan .

On June 23, 1944, the Natoma Bay off Saipan was the target of an attack by bombers from Aichi Prefecture . These dropped several torpedoes, but they did not hit. Since October 25, the porter was the flagship of Rear Admiral Felix Stump in the Gulf of Leyte . There, too, the aircraft on board Natoma Bay were involved in several attacks. On October 26, the ship's planes were involved in the sinking of a Japanese light cruiser in the Visayas Sea .

In January 1945, Natoma Bay took part in the capture of San Fabian and in February 1945 in the landing off Iwojima by providing air support to its aircraft . The ship had another important mission in March when it took Okinawa .

On June 7, 1945, Natoma Bay was hit by a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M aircraft and damaged at the height of the flight deck. One crew member was killed and four others injured as a result of the impact and the resulting explosion.

After repair work from June 20, 1945 in Guam , the ship was able to enter San Diego on August 19. Your active mission was hereby ended. On December 29, 1945, the Natoma Bay was placed under the reserve fleet, where it was officially retired on February 20, 1946. After 13 more years in the reserve, the ship was sold to Japan for scrapping in July 1959 and dismantled there in 1960, after it had already been removed from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1958 .

The Natoma Bay received seven of her war effort Battle Stars .

Web links

Commons : USS Natoma Bay  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

• Entry to Natoma Bay on navsource.org (English)
• Website about the Natoma Bay (English)