_in_August_1944.jpg) USSThetis Bay underway on 7 August 1944. The ship is painted in Measure 33, Design 10A camouflage.[1] | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Thetis Bay |
| Namesake | Thetis Bay,Kuiu Island,Alaska |
| Ordered | as aType S4-S2-BB3 hull,MC hull 1127[2] |
| Awarded | 18 June 1942 |
| Builder | Kaiser Shipyards |
| Laid down | 22 December 1943 |
| Launched | 16 March 1944 |
| Commissioned | 12 April 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 7 August 1946 |
| Identification |
|
| Recommissioned | 20 July 1956 |
| Decommissioned | 1 March 1964 |
| Reclassified | 1 July 1955 |
| Stricken | 1 March 1964 |
| Honors & awards | 1battle star |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1966 |
| General characteristics[3] | |
| Class & type | Casablanca-classescort carrier |
| Displacement |
|
| Length | |
| Beam |
|
| Draft | 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) (max) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion | |
| Speed | 19knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Range | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
| Complement |
|
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 27 |
| Aviation facilities | |
| Service record | |
| Part of: |
|
| Operations: | Operation Magic Carpet |
USSThetis Bay (CVE-90) was the thirty-sixth of fiftyCasablanca-classescort carriers built for theUnited States Navy duringWorld War II. She waslaunched in March 1944,commissioned in April, and served as a transport carrier in the Pacific, as well as a replenishment carrier supporting the Alliedbombardment of Tokyo and the Main Islands. Postwar, she participated inOperation Magic Carpet, before being decommissioned in August 1946, beingmothballed in thePacific Reserve Fleet. She was reactivated in July 1956, and converted to a helicopter transport carrier, serving in relief operations inTaiwan andHaiti. Ultimately, she wasbroken up in 1966, the lastCasablanca-class hull to be scrapped.
Thetis Bay was aCasablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type ofaircraft carrier ever built,[3] and was designed specifically to be rapidly mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early-war losses. By the end of their production run, the time taken between laying down the hull and launching the ship had been cut down to nearly one month. Standardized with hersister ships, she was 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m)long overall, had abeam of 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), and adraft of 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m). Shedisplaced 8,188long tons (8,319 t)standard and 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) with afull load. She had a 257 ft (78 m) longhangar deck and a 477 ft (145 m) longflight deck. She was powered with twoSkinner Unaflowreciprocatingsteam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make 19knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 10,240nautical miles (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). Her compact size limited the length of the flight deck and necessitated the installment of anaircraft catapult at her bow, and there were twoaircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one eachfore andaft.[3][4][5]
One5 in (127 mm)/38caliberdual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eightBofors 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelveOerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck.[5] 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 16, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due tokamikaze attacks. AlthoughCasablanca-class escort carriers were designed to function with a crew of 860 and an embarked squadron of 50 to 56, the exigencies of wartime often necessitated the inflation of the crew count.Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more, which was often necessary during transport or especially training missions, due to the constant turnover of pilots and aircraft.[5][6]
Following her conversion into a helicopter assault carrier, 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 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m). She displaced 7,800 long tons (7,900 t) standard and 11,000 long tons (11,000 t) with a full load, and could make 19.3 knots (35.7 km/h; 22.2 mph) at full speed. She had a designed complement of 900 crew and 938 troops, was armed with four twin 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns, and carried twenty helicopters.[5][1]
Her construction was awarded toKaiser Shipbuilding Company,Vancouver, Washington, under aUnited States Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942. The escort carrier waslaid down on 22 December 1943 under the nameThetis Bay, located withinKuiu Island, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska.[7] The bay itself was named by theUnited States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1928 after theUnited States Revenue Cutter ServicecutterThetis, which in turn was named after thesea nymphThetis, the daughter ofNereus and the mother ofAchilles inGreek mythology.[8] She was laid down as MC hull 1127, the thirty-sixth of a series of fiftyCasablanca-class escort carriers. She therefore received theclassification symbolCVE-90, indicating that she was the ninetiethescort carrier to becommissioned into theUnited States Navy. She waslaunched on 16 March 1944;sponsored by Mrs. Rico Botta, the wife ofCaptain Botta, the Assembly and Repair Officer overseeingNaval Air Station North Island; transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 12 April 1944, with Captain Donald Edmund Wilcox in command. Notably, actressClaudette Colbert's husband, Joel Pressman, alieutenant commander in theMedical Corps served as the first medical officer at the time of the commissioning.[2][9][10]
_underway_7_August_1944_Starboard_View.jpg)
Upon being commissioned,Thetis Bay underwent ashakedown cruise down the West Coast toSan Diego,California. Upon finishing, she was assigned to transport duty, and proceeded north towardsSan Pedro to take on a load of aircraft and passengers. She put out to sea on 5 June, stopped atPearl Harbor on 11 June, and headed out, viaMakin Island of theGilberts Islands andMajuro of theMarshall Islands, toKwajalein. There, she took on the 50th Engineer Combat Battalion of theUnited States Army, which she deposited back at Pearl Harbor on 5 July.[9]
On 7 July,Thetis Bay got underway forAlameda ferrying 41 aircraft that required repairs. She steamed into port on 13 July, and after unloading her cargo, headed forTerminal Island,Los Angeles for a three-week overhaul. Finishing in August, she resumed transport duties on 11 August, delivering spare parts, replacement aircraft, and military passengers from the West Coast to bases inHawaii and the Marshalls. After completing her first transport tour on 13 September, she made five more round-trip missions, spanning September 1944 to mid-April 1945, ferrying supplies from the United States to a variety of destinations in the Pacific, ranging from Pearl Harbor toFinschhafen,New Guinea. During this period, Captain Benjamin Eugene Moore Jr. raised his flag over the ship on 21 January 1945.[9]
On 12 June,Thetis Bay steamed into Pearl Harbor carrying a load of aircraft, having departed from San Diego. There, she was assigned to become a replenishment carrier as a part of Task Group 50.8.4, the mobile replenishment group supporting the frontlineFast Carrier Task Force. Replenishment escort carriers such asThetis Bay enabled the frontline carriers to replace battle losses, and to stay at sea for longer durations of time. She first headed toApra Harbor inGuam of theMariana Islands, arriving on 25 June. Then, she headed westwards, making her first rendezvous with the fast carriers on 12 July, when she transferred 40 of her replenishment aircraft. She returned to Guam on 22 July to take on more aircraft, before she departed on 24 July, making another rendezvous on 31 July. She then replenished at Guam, before heading out once again, resupplying the frontline carriers from 14 August to 8 September. As she began her replenishment mission, news broke of theJapanese surrender, and her replenishment aircraft were used to support the initial landings in theOccupation of Japan.[9]
_in_1956.jpg)
Upon finishing her replenishment mission,Thetis Bay returned to the United States via Guam, arriving at Alameda on 7 September. There, she joined the"Magic Carpet" fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She cruised around the Pacific, making stops and returning U.S. servicemen back to the mainland. During one of her stops, Captain Allen Smith Jr. took over command of the vessel on 19 October. She completed her "Magic Carpet" duties, and was discharged in January 1946. Inactivation work was conducted in theNaval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility atBremerton,Washington. Upon the completion of that work, she wasdecommissioned andmothballed on 7 August 1946, joining theTacoma group of thePacific Reserve Fleet.[9]
In May 1955,Thetis Bay was withdrawn from the Pacific Reserve Fleet and towed to theSan Francisco Naval Shipyard under projectSCB 122, where she began conversion into the Navy's first assaulthelicopter aircraft carrier. On 1 July, she was redesignated as such, receiving the hull symbolCVHA-1. Ships of her type were expected to act as a complement toattack transports, providing them with vertical assault capabilities. She was recommissioned on 20 July 1956, with Captain Thomas Winfield South, II, in command. Her conversion was finally completed six weeks later on 1 September, with a portion of the aft section of her flight deck having been cut away.[9]
_c1963.jpeg)
Thetis Bay then proceeded southwards towards her new home part, arriving atLong Beach on 20 September. There, she took on the helicopters ofMarine Corps Test Unit No. 1, based atCamp Pendleton, who demonstrated landing and take-off techniques on this novel type of ship. She then participated in amphibious training exercises off of the California coast, evaluating her planned complementary role, before deploying to the Far East on 10 July 1957. Having completed a short tour of duty, she returned to Long Beach on 11 December, where she resumed local operations. During 1958 and 1959, she conducted a variety of operations, including vertical envelopment exercises off ofLuzon, thePhilippines, throughout February 1958.[9][1]
On 28 May 1959, she was reclassified as alanding platform helicopteramphibious assault ship, and thus, received the hull symbolLPH-6. In August 1959, severe flooding, starting on 7 August, exacerbated byTyphoon Billie, which had earlier struck in July, killed more than a thousand people inTaiwan. Thus,Thetis Bay, which was serving with theSeventh Fleet at the time, was dispatched fromHong Kong on 12 August, proceeding to Taiwan to conduct relief operations. There, she used her 21 Marine CorpsSikorsky H-34s ofMarine Helicopter Transport Squadron (Light) 261 (HMR(L)-261) to ferry aid and transport stranded civilians. She completed her mission on the noon of 20 August, at which point the helicopters had delivered a total of 1,600,540 lb (725,990 kg) of aid. In addition, the helicopters had ferried 850 passengers throughout the operation.[9]
Thetis Bay, in May 1960, took part in a training night assault landing at Camp Pendleton. During the operation, her helicopters carried 1,300 troops and 30 t (30 long tons; 33 short tons) of cargo to the objective area. This practice operation represented the first large-scale night landing of ground forces by helicopters based on board a carrier. She deployed to the western Pacific for the spring of 1961, and upon completing her tour and returning to Long Beach, she was transferred to theUnited States Atlantic Fleet. She arrived atNorfolk,Virginia, her new home port, in early December 1961.[9]
For the next three years,Thetis Bay operated along the Atlantic coast and in theCaribbean. In October 1962, during the height of theCuban Missile Crisis, she proceeded into the naval "quarantine" area along with her helicopter contingent and a marine landing team, standing by for potential actions. In the spring of 1963, she ferried special aircraft required forPresidentJohn F. Kennedy's planned visit toWest Germany toHamburg.[1] In September 1963, she headed toHaiti, which had been affected byHurricane Flora. She anchored offPort-au-Prince and launched Marine helicopters carrying medical aid and food supplies.[9]
Thetis Bay left Norfolk on 5 January 1964, heading to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility inPhiladelphia,Pennsylvania, for inactivation work, arriving there on 6 January. There, she was decommissioned, once again, joining the Philadelphia group of theAtlantic Reserve Fleet. She was struck from theNaval Vessel Register on 1 March 1964, and she was sold forscrapping in December 1964 to Peck Iron & Metal Co., Inc., headquartered atPortsmouth, Virginia. She was proposed to be transferred to theSpanish Navy, but theIndependence-classlight aircraft carrierCabot was sent in her place.[11][12] She was ultimately broken up in 1966.Thetis Bay received one battle star for her World War II service. Her name plate is on display atFreedom Park,Omaha,Nebraska.[9][13]
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.