USS Savo Island
Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy / From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS Savo Island (CVE-78) was the twenty-fourth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named to memorialize the U.S. casualties of the Battle of Savo Island, which was fought as part of the Guadalcanal campaign. The ship was launched in December 1943, commissioned in February 1944, and served as a frontline carrier throughout the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the Philippines campaign. During the Battle of Okinawa, she provided air cover for the replenishment carrier fleet. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She was decommissioned in December 1946, when she was mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrapping in February 1960.
USS Savo Island (CVE-78) underway in May 1944, location unknown. Note the dismantled SO3C Seamew, a J2F Duck (minus its engine), an SOC Seagull, and three F6F Hellcats lining the port side, with spare floats lashed down aft. | |
History | |
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United States | |
Name |
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Namesake |
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Ordered | as a Type S4-S2-BB3 hull, MCE hull 1115[1] |
Awarded | 18 June 1942 |
Builder | Kaiser Shipyards |
Laid down | 27 September 1943 |
Launched | 22 December 1943 |
Commissioned | 3 February 1944 |
Decommissioned | 12 December 1946 |
Stricken | 8 May 1946 |
Identification | Hull symbol: CVE-78 |
Honors and awards | 4 Battle stars, a Presidential Unit Citation for service throughout the Philippines campaign |
Fate | Sold for scrap, 29 February 1960 |
General characteristics [2] | |
Class and type | Casablanca-class escort carrier |
Displacement |
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Length | |
Beam |
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Draft | 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m) (max) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion | |
Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
Range | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at 15 kn (28 km/h; 17 mph) |
Complement |
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Armament |
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Aircraft carried | 27 |
Aviation facilities | |
Service record | |
Part of: |
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Operations: |