USS Salamaua (CVE-96)

The Salamaua in 1945 in front of San Francisco
Overview
Order	1942
Keel laying	February 4, 1944
Launch	April 2, 1944
1. Period of service
Commissioning	May 26, 1944
Decommissioning	May 9, 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 Salamaua (CVE-96) was an escort carrier of the Casablanca-class in the service of the United States Navy during World War II in the Pacific. Originally it was called Anguilla Bay (ACV-96), but was renamed after Australia conquered the peninsula of the same name . The carrier entered service on May 26, 1944 and was placed under the command of Capt. Joseph I. Taylor, Jr. posed.

Data

The carrier had a crew of 860 men and could carry 28 aircraft. The dimensions were 156 meters long, 33 meters maximum width and 19.9 meters high. With a displacement of 7800 tons, it was able to achieve a top speed of 20 knots with two drive shafts and four engines with a total of 9000 hp.

First tasks

After commissioning, it first transported supplies and aircraft to Hawaii and New Guinea , so it took part in the Pacific War. From October 16, 1944, she was used in the Pacific , she gave air support to convoys in the Gulf of Leyte .

Landing on Luzon

On the orders of the High Command of the Pacific Fleet , the carrier was used during the landing on Luzon . The planes bombed enemy coastal defenses and covered landing ships.

At 9 a.m. on January 13, 1945, the carrier was the target of a kamikaze attack, a single aircraft hit the flight deck with two bombs. 15 sailors were killed and more than 80 injured in the explosion. As a result of the attack, fires broke out in the hangar and other sections and disrupted communications within the ship. The drive was also damaged. Two more attackers could be shot down.

The damaged girder was makeshift repaired and returned to San Francisco . By April 21, the carrier was repaired and returned to the war zone, where it was involved in the attack on Okinawa , among other things . On June 5, the porter fell victim to a typhoon and had to be repaired again.

The last mission took the USS Salamaua shortly after the end of the war to Tokyo Bay, where the planes monitored the Allied occupation. Soon after, the porter returned with troops to the USA ( Operation Magic Carpet ).

scrapping

After the war , the USS Salamaua was decommissioned on May 9, 1946 and scrapped from November 18, 1946.

Web links

Commons : USS Salamaua (CVE-96)  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

• History of Salamaua in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships (English)
• Pictures of the Salamaua at navsource.org (English)