USS Nehenta Bay (CVE–74) was an Casablanca class

Casablanca class escort carrier

The Casablanca class escort aircraft carriers were the greatest number of not only escort carriers, but also any size aircraft carrier ever built to a like-design by any nation at any time. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years - 3 November 1942...

 escort carrier of the United States Navy

United States Navy

The United States Navy is the naval warfare service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the seven uniformed services of the United States. The U.S. Navy is the largest in the world; its battle fleet tonnage is greater than that of the next 13 largest navies combined. The U.S...

.

She was launched by Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver is a city on the north bank of the Columbia River in the U.S. state of Washington. Incorporated in 1857, it is the fourth largest city in the state with a 2010 census population of 161,791 as of April 1, 2010...

, 28 November 1943, under Maritime Commission contract: sponsored by Mrs. Robert H. Smith; acquired 3 January 1944: and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon

Astoria, Oregon

Astoria is the county seat of Clatsop County, Oregon, United States. Situated near the mouth of the Columbia River, the city was named after the American investor John Jacob Astor. His American Fur Company founded Fort Astoria at the site in 1811...

, the same day, Captain Horace A. Butterfield in command.

Nehenta Bay made her shakedown cruise from San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay

San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...

 to Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor

Pearl Harbor, known to Hawaiians as Puuloa, is a lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. Much of the harbor and surrounding lands is a United States Navy deep-water naval base. It is also the headquarters of the U.S. Pacific Fleet...

 6 February to 12 February 1944, carrying replacement aircrews and planes. She put into San Diego 21 February with damaged planes returned from combat zones for repair. After further West Coast training, she sailed for Pearl Harbor 18 March, again with replacement aircraft and aviation materiel, added to her lading in Hawaii, and reached Majuro

Majuro

Majuro , is a large coral atoll of 64 islands in the Pacific Ocean, and forms a legislative district of the Ratak Chain of the Marshall Islands. The atoll itself has a land area of and encloses a lagoon of...

 7 April to deliver mail, men, and aircraft to fast carriers moored there. She returned to San Diego from Majuro and Pearl Harbor 27 April, bringing home wounded and other passengers, along with damaged aircraft.

After combat readiness training off California and in Hawaii, Nehenta Bay left Pearl Harbor 18 June for the Marianas assault, staging at Eniwetok late in the month. With TF 51, her planes flew antisubmarine and combat air patrols during operations against Tinian

Tinian

Tinian is one of the three principal islands of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.-Geography:Tinian is about 5 miles southwest of its sister island, Saipan, from which it is separated by the Saipan Channel. It has a land area of 39 sq.mi....

, which they strafed 5 July and 7 July, blasting gun emplacements and a sugar refinery. Returning to Eniwetok 16 July to refuel and replenish, Nehenta Bay next sailed, with Midway

USS St. Lo (CVE-63)

USS St. Lo was a of the United States Navy during World War II. On 25 October 1944, St. Lo became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack. The attack occurred during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.St...

 and 12 destroyers, for antisubmarine and combat air patrols off Guam and Saipan, striking targets on the latter.

Next assigned to escort fleet oilers during at-sea replenishment operations, Nehenta Bay played an essential part in the 3rd Fleet's victory-winning operations from August 1944 through January 1945. The ships she guarded made it possible for the fast carriers to remain at sea for extended periods, smashing at targets in the Carolines and Philippines

Philippines

The Philippines , officially known as the Republic of the Philippines , is a country in Southeast Asia in the western Pacific Ocean. To its north across the Luzon Strait lies Taiwan. West across the South China Sea sits Vietnam...

, on Formosa

Taiwan

Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...

, and on the Chinese coast. Such attacks in turn made possible the capture of the Palaus, and the return to the Philippines.

With Manus

Manus Island

Manus Island is part of Manus Province in northern Papua New Guinea and is the largest island of the Admiralty Islands. It is the fifth largest island in Papua New Guinea with an area of 2,100 km², measuring around 100 km × 30 km. According to the 2000 census, Manus Island had a...

 and Ulithi

Ulithi

Ulithi is an atoll in the Caroline Islands of the western Pacific Ocean, about 191 km east of Yap. It consists of 40 islets totalling , surrounding a lagoon about long and up to wide—at one of the largest in the world. It is administered by the state of Yap in the Federated States of...

 as her bases, Nehenta Bay faithfully and tirelessly protected her vulnerable charges, fighting through the December typhoon despite heavy damage and shooting down a Japanese attacker 12 January 1945. She returned to San Diego 19 February for overhaul, refreshed her training in Hawaiian waters, then qualified new aviators off Guam

Guam

Guam is an organized, unincorporated territory of the United States located in the western Pacific Ocean. It is one of five U.S. territories with an established civilian government. Guam is listed as one of 16 Non-Self-Governing Territories by the Special Committee on Decolonization of the United...

 before arriving at Ulithi 9 May to prepare for strikes on Okinawa. Her planes flew patrols and made direct strikes on enemy positions to aid fighting men ashore, blasting the Japanese from eaves and ridges. Her formation came under kamikaze attack 7 June, when two of her sisters were crashed.

From the end of June through early August, Nehenta Bay again guarded oilers as they served the 3rd Fleet in its climactic raids against Japan itself. She was en route to operations in the Aleutians when hostilities ended, and her task force sailed 31 August for occupation duties around Japan, patrolling and dropping supplies to prisoners of war. She returned to Pearl Harbor 24 September to disembark her air squadron and all aviation equipment and gasoline, thus making room for passengers. She sailed 30 September to embark homeward-bound troops in the Marshalls, and with them reached San Francisco in mid-October. In November she sailed to the Philippines on similar duty, returning to the West Coast 27 November. Sailing via the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

The Panama Canal is a ship canal in Panama that joins the Atlantic Ocean and the Pacific Ocean and is a key conduit for international maritime trade. Built from 1904 to 1914, the canal has seen annual traffic rise from about 1,000 ships early on to 14,702 vessels measuring a total of 309.6...

, Nehenta Bay arrived Boston 31 January 1946 for inactivation. She decommissioned and entered reserve at Boston

Boston

Boston is the capital of and largest city in Massachusetts, and is one of the oldest cities in the United States. The largest city in New England, Boston is regarded as the unofficial "Capital of New England" for its economic and cultural impact on the entire New England region. The city proper had...

 15 May 1946. Reclassified CVU–74 on 12 June 1955 and AKV–24 on 7 May 1959, Nehenta Bay was sold to Coalmarket, Inc., 29 June 1960 and scrapped.

Nehenta Bay received 7 battle stars for World War II

World War II

World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...

service.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org