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USS Hollandia

USS Hollandia (CVE-97) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Hollandia, a successful amphibious operation during the New Guinea campaign. Launched in April 1944, and commissioned in June, she served in support of the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in January 1947, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrap in December 1960.

Design and description

Hollandia was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, and a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT standard, 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck and a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9000 shp, thus enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi at a speed of 15 kn. Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate the movement of aircraft between the flight deck and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.

One 5 in/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by 8 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20–mm cannons, and the amount of 40–mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more.

Construction
The escort carrier was laid down on 12 February 1944, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 1134, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington. She was laid down and launched under the name Astrolabe Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was renamed Hollandia on 30 May 1944, as part of a new naval policy which named subsequent Casablanca-class carriers after naval or land engagements. She was launched on 28 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. William H. Wheat; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 1 June 1944, with Captain Charles Loomis Lee in command.

Service history
Upon being commissioned, Hollandia underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego. Shakedown continued as she underwent a transport mission, carrying a load of replacement aircraft and military personnel. She departed on 10 July, bound for Espiritu Santo. On her return trip, she stopped at Manus and Guadalcanal, before arriving at Port Hueneme, California on 27 August. For the next few months, Hollandia continued these transport missions to the West and South Pacific, transporting supplies and passengers.

She continued these duties until 1 April 1945, at which point she was anchored at Ulithi. As U.S. forces began their landings, beginning the Battle of Okinawa, Hollandia joined the Special Escort Carrier Group as its flagship. She, along with USS White Plains (CVE-66), USS Sitkoh Bay (CVE-86), and the Bogue-class escort carrier USS Breton (CVE-23), transported Marine Air Groups 31 and 33 to land bases captured on Okinawa. In total, the air group being transported consisted of 192 Vought F4U Corsair and 30 Grumman F6F Hellcat fighters. Hollandia was delegated to take on the planes of Marine Air Group 33. After departing on 2 April, the destroyers USS Kilty (DD-137), USS Manley (DD-74), USS George E. Badger (DD-196), and USS Greene (DD-266) provided a screen for the carriers.

The escort carriers managed to safely arrive at Okinawa on 6 April, although the destroyers dropped depth charges to deter a suspected submarine en route. There, Hollandia prepared to begin launching her aircraft, which would be the first land-based aircraft to support the U.S. forces fighting their way down the island. However, she, along with White Plains, were ordered to postpone their launchings for several days, as the transport ships ferrying the equipment of the marines had been attacked and damaged, with much equipment lost. On 9 April, she launched her planes to the hastily expanded Kadena Air Base, where the aircraft began operations. Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323, transported aboard the escort carriers, would go on to become the highest-scoring air unit participating in the Battle of Okinawa, claiming 124.5 Japanese planes.

Having completed her duties, she returned to San Diego, arriving on 1 May. Whilst at port, Captain John Thompson Brown, Jr. took over command of the vessel. She then conducted a transport run to Pearl Harbor, ferrying cargo and passengers. On 7 June, she departed the West Coast to serve as a replenishment carrier, supporting the Fast Carrier Task Force in its operations against Japan. Replenishment carriers enabled the frontline carriers to replace battle losses, and to stay at sea for longer durations of time. Hollandia loaded replacement aircraft at Pearl Harbor, and she sailed on 18 June to join Task Group 30.8, the Fleet Oiler and Transport Carrier Group (also known as the At Sea Logistics Service Group). She provided replacement aircraft up until news of the Japanese surrender broke.

Post-war, Hollandia berthed at Guam, where an overhaul was conducted to transform her into a passenger ship. She then joined the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She conducted four Magic Carpet runs, before heading to San Pedro, where she was released from the Magic Carpet fleet. She departed Southern California on 4 February 1946, bound for Puget Sound, and upon arriving on 15 February, she underwent inactivation. The ship was decommissioned on 17 January 1947, and mothballed as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Whilst mothballed, she was redesignated as a utility aircraft carrier, CVU-97, on 12 June 1955. The hull was then once again redesignated, this time as an aircraft transport, AKV-33, on 7 May 1959. Finally, her hull was struck from the Navy list on 1 April 1960, and sold sometime in July 1960 to Eisenberg & Co. of New York for scrapping. Her ultimate fate was to be broken up in Japan during November 1960.

title: USS Hollandia


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Lou Groza Award

The Lou Groza Award is presented annually to the top college football placekicker in the United States by the Palm Beach County Sports Commission. The award is named after former Ohio State Buckeyes and Cleveland Browns player Lou Groza. It has been presented since 1992, with Joe Allison of Memphis State receiving the inaugural award. The incumbent award holder is Graham Nicholson of Miami University. The award is part of the National College Football Awards Association coalition.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Lou Groza Award


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USS Makin Island (CVE-93)

USS Makin Island (CVE-93) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. It was named for the 1942 Makin raid, an early diversionary raid designed to distract from the Guadalcanal campaign and the Tulagi campaign. Launched in April 1944, and commissioned in May, she served in support of the Philippines campaign, the Invasion of Iwo Jima, and the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in April 1946, and ultimately sold for scrapping in January 1947.

Design and description

Makin Island was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, an extreme width of 108 ft, and a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT standard, 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck, a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Uniflow reciprocating steam engines, which provided a force of 9000 hp, driving two shafts, enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi, assuming that she traveled at a constant speed of 15 kn. Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow end, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one on the fore, another on the aft.

One 5 in/38-caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern, and she was equipped with 16 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft (AA) guns in twin mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, which were used in an anti-aircraft capability. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20 mm cannons, as a response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Anti-aircraft guns were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but she sometimes went over or under this number. For example, during the Philippines campaign, she carried 15 FM-2 fighters, 9 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, and a TBM-3P photo reconnaissance plane, for a total of 25 aircraft. However, during the Invasion of Iwo Jima, she carried 20 FM-2 fighters and 12 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, for a total of 32 aircraft. During the Battle of Okinawa, she carried 16 FM-2 fighters and 11 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, for a total of 27 aircraft.

Construction
The escort carrier was laid down on 12 January 1944 under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 1130, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington. She was launched on 5 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. B. B. Nichol; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 9 May 1944 with a partial crew complement of 60 officers and 560 crewmen.

Service history
Following commissioning, she underwent outfitting at Astoria, Oregon. On 31 May, she left, bound for Puget Sound, where munitions were loaded, and tests were conducted. On 8 June, she departed, traveling down to Naval Base San Diego, stopping at Naval Air Station Alameda to load more munitions and to refuel. Upon arriving in San Diego, she underwent a brief shakedown cruise, engaging in exercises off of Baja California. On 19 June, she set off on a transport mission, ferrying 78 aircraft and 236 men to Hawaii. After unloading her cargo in Pearl Harbor, she took on 70 aircraft, along with a marine squadron (VMO-155). She then proceeded onwards to Majuro Atoll, where she unloaded her planes. After leaving, she made stops at Kwajalein Atoll and Roi-Namur, where she took on wounded from the ongoing Battle of Saipan. She then returned to Pearl Harbor, where she loaded onboard Air Group 16, which had been recently detached from USS Lexington (CV-16). After returning her aircraft cargo to San Diego, she sailed to Long Beach Naval Shipyard, where she underwent overhaul.

After finishing overhaul, she took on her aircraft contingent (VC-84), and on 16 August, she began exercises along the California coast. Exercises concluded on 5 September, with minor repairs being conducted until 11 September, when she sortied again for more exercises. She was assigned as part of Carrier Division 29, along with USS Lunga Point (CVE-94), USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95), and USS Salamaua (CVE-96). The task group engaged in simulated amphibious landings on San Clemente Island. On 10 October, Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin took control over the escort carrier group, making Makin Island as his flagship. On 16 October, her task group finished exercises, and traveled to the Ulithi Atoll, making stops at Pearl Harbor and Enewetak Atoll.

On 10 November, the ship got underway for Leyte, stopping at Kossol Roads. There, she protected convoys in transit to supply the ongoing Battle of Leyte. Notably, on 21 November, she opened fire on three Nakajima J1N "Irving" twin-engined bombers who flew near the carrier, albeit the aircraft did not engage, and escaped. On 23 November, she was relieved by Carrier Division 27, and the task group sailed to Manus for the forthcoming invasion of Luzon. On 27 November, she arrived at Seeadler Harbor, Manus Island, where supplies were loaded and preparations were made. Between 16 December and 20 December, she left port to engage in exercises with Huon Gulf.

She left Manus island on 27 December, and she rendezvoused with the invasion force in Surigao Strait, Leyte on 3 January 1945. The fleet assembled for the invasion of Luzon was immense, consisting of 18 escort carriers, 6 battleships, 4 heavy cruisers, and a multitude of destroyers and destroyer escorts. Almost immediately, the massive fleet was continuously harassed by Japanese kamikaze attacks. On the night of 3 January, a Mitsubishi A6M Zero "Zeke" dove on the escort carriers, plunging into the ocean approximately 500 yd from the starboard of Makin Island. On the afternoon of 4 January, the task force once again came under kamikaze attacks, which sunk USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79). On the early morning of 5 January, a Japanese plane flew a scant 300 ft over the carrier. Later that day, her aircraft supplemented a strike force which sunk JAPANESE DESTROYER Momi and heavily damaged JAPANESE DESTROYER Hinoki. That same day, in the evening, kamikazes damaged USS Louisville (CA-28), HMAS Arunta (I30), and USS Manila Bay (CVE-61). Makin Island arrived unscathed near Luzon on 6 January. For the next 11 days, she remained off of Luzon flying air support for the amphibious operation. Notably, Salamaua was heavily damaged by a kamikaze on 13 January. On 17 January, the escort carriers withdrew, heading back to Ulithi. During the three-week operation, the only fatality onboard Makin Island was a sailor on the flight deck, who died when a 3.5-inch rocket on an Avenger accidentally discharged, launching him off the carrier. A resulting search proved unsuccessful. This was despite the fact 16 of her own aircraft were destroyed through anti-aircraft fire and accidents. Her air group destroyed 10 Japanese aircraft, and her anti-aircraft guns claimed a kamikaze heading towards the task force.

After the Battle of Luzon, the aircraft carriers only had 18 days to prepare for the Invasion of Iwo Jima. On 10 February, she departed Ulithi for Iwo Jima, where she arrived on 16 February 1945. Her escort carrier task group conducted 3,000 sorties over the Iwo Islands until 8 March, conducting aerial reconnaissance, providing close air support, creating a fighter cover, and patrolling against submarines. On 28 February, her fighters were even used to spray down the island with DDT to control a boom in the population of flies on the island. Notably, her fighters intercepted two Japanese troop transports carrying reinforcements to Iwo Jima, which were promptly strafed and sunk. The carrier group yet again came under heavy Japanese kamikaze attacks, but Makin Island was once again unscathed, although USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95) was sunk, and USS Saratoga (CV-3) heavily damaged. Despite the intense air support, the only casualty onboard Makin Island was a wounded airman. After replenishing at Ulithi, she sailed for Okinawa, again as flagship. On 8 March, she retired to Ulithi in preparations for the Battle of Okinawa.

Arriving at Ulithi on 11 March, the ship was quickly readied, and launched for Okinawa on 21 March. Arriving on 25 March, Makin Island remained on station for 77 days (69 days directly off the coast of Okinawa), flying constant fire support, supply, and reconnaissance missions for the ground forces. The ship's aircraft, from Composite Squadrons 84 and 91 (VC-84 and -91), flew 2,347 combat sorties, recording almost 8,000 hours of flying time. Relieved 1 June, the carrier sailed for Guam, arriving on 5 June. Whilst in availability on Guam, Vice Admiral Ira Earl Hobbs relieved now Rear Admiral Whaley from command. In addition, her aircraft contingent was rotated, with VC-41 being transferred onto the ship.

She sailed again 11 July, with Task Group 32.1, into the East China Sea. The task group's goal was to provide air cover for minesweepers operating in the area, to blockade Japanese troops within China from mainland Japan, to provide air cover for a fast cruiser group which was raiding the Chinese coast, and to attack shipping around Shanghai. Upon a sweep of the Chinese coast, in which the task group encountered minimal resistance, and after a brief bombing of Shanghai harbor, she anchored in Buckner Bay, Okinawa, on 13 August. There, she received news of the Japanese surrender, and on 9 September proceeded to Wakanoura Wan, in southern Honshū, for occupation duty. Among her missions was providing air cover for the evacuation of Allied prisoners of war. She sailed for San Francisco on 18 October, arriving on 5 November, then voyaged to Shanghai to return troops (including the famous Flying Tigers) to the United States at Seattle on 30 December.

Makin Island was decommissioned on 19 April 1946 at Puget Sound, was stricken from the Navy list on 11 July, and sold on 1 January 1947.

title: USS Makin Island (CVE-93)


text:
Wikipedia:Recent additions 1

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title: Wikipedia:Recent additions 1


text:
USS Makassar Strait

USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the Battle of Makassar Strait, an early naval engagement to the east of Borneo. Launched in March 1944, and commissioned in April, she served in support of the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet. She was decommissioned in August 1946, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was used as a target, and she was accidentally run aground on San Nicolas Island in April 1961. Her wreckage survived until at least 1965.

Design and description

Makassar Strait was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, and a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT standard, 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck and a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9000 shp, thus enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi at a speed of 15 kn. Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.

One 5 in/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by 8 Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20–mm cannons, and the amount of 40–mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. For example, during the Battle of Okinawa, she carried 16 FM-2 fighters, and 12 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, for a total of 28 aircraft.

Construction
Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942, under the name Ulitaka Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was renamed Makassar Strait on 6 November 1943, as part of a new naval policy which named subsequent Casablanca-class carriers after naval or land engagements. The escort carrier was laid down on 29 December 1943, MC hull 1128, the thirty-sixth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She was launched on 22 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Truman J. Hedding; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 27 April 1944, with Captain Warren Kenneth Berner in command.

Service history
Upon being commissioned, Makassar Strait underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego. On 6 June, she departed San Diego, transporting aircraft and passengers to the Marshall Islands, making a stop at Pearl Harbor along the way. On her return trip, she loaded military wounded, and ferried them back to the West Coast, arriving back at Southern California on 13 July. She spent the next two months as a training carrier, conducting pilot qualifications off Southern California. On 25 September, she left for another transport mission, ferrying 129 aircraft to Hawaii and the Admiralty Islands. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 26 October, with a load of damaged fighters, where she resumed training operations.

For the next three months, until the new year, she served yet again as a training carrier in the waters surrounding Hawaii, hosting a dozen different air groups on her deck. Captain Herbert D. Riley assumed command on January 10, 1945. About 6,700 landings were made on her flight deck, as she conducted various types of exercises. After loading her permanent aircraft contingent, Composite Squadron 97 (VC-97), she departed Pearl Harbor on 29 January 1945, and was assigned to Task Group 50.8 (Logistics Support Group). She stopped at Enewetak Atoll, before assuming her role protecting convoys supporting the frontline Fast Carrier Task Force. She also provided air screens for the transfer of replacement aircraft to their carriers.

She was assigned to a support carrier group on 8 April, and began conducting operations with the main strike group of Task Group 52.1. She consequently began combat operations over Okinawa in support of the ongoing battle. For the next four weeks, she provided close air support and bombed Japanese defenses as the marines struggled to fight their way south. During these operations, her fighters shot down four Japanese aircraft. She ceased operations over Okinawa on 7 May, when she transferred her aircraft contingent to USS Shipley Bay (CVE-85) at Kerama Retto, which was to serve as her replacement.

After retiring from Okinawa, she arrived at Guam on 11 May. She then operated as a training carrier in the vicinity of the Mariana Islands, providing refresher training for pilots. She finished her duties and left for Hawaii on 19 July, making a stop at Kwajalein Atoll, where she loaded fifty aircraft. She arrived at Pearl Harbor on 29 July, where she took on 387 passengers. She then proceeded, on 14 August, to sail for the West Coast. She arrived at San Diego on 21 August, and served, yet again, as a training carrier off the Southern California coast until well past the Japanese surrender. By the end of October, there had been over 15,500 recorded landings on her flight deck.

On 4 November, she left San Diego, and joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She sailed for Pearl Harbor, where she shipped troops to the Marshall Islands. She then stopped at Kwajalein, where she took on 1,092 veterans, and sailed back to the West Coast, arriving at San Diego on 29 November. On 4 December, she left for Guam, returning on 3 January 1946, repatriating a further 1,123 veterans back to the United States. She departed San Diego on 5 January, heading to Tacoma, Washington, making a stop at San Francisco. Upon arriving on 12 January, she was mothballed with the 19th Fleet, which would later become known as the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

She was declassified and decommissioned on 9 August 1946. She was reclassified as CVU-91 on 12 June 1955. On 28 August 1958, she was authorized to be used as a target and destroyed, and she was struck from the Navy list on 1 September 1958. During the next three years, she was used by the navy to gather data on the use of surface-launched missiles. During April 1961, while under tow to San Clemente Island off Southern California, she accidentally ran aground on San Nicholas Island in the Channel Islands. The Navy then sold her for breaking in situ on 2 May 1961. However, she was not scrapped, partially due to her less than optimal position. In 1965, it was known that she had not yet been broken up and was still being used as a target by the navy. Notably, by then, the entire escort carrier had since been split in half by the grounding.

title: USS Makassar Strait


text:
USS Salamaua

USS Salamaua (CVE-96) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the invasion of Salamaua, a strategically important village in the New Guinea Theater during World War II, and one of the main targets of the Salamaua–Lae campaign. She served with distinction during the war, notably being damaged in early 1945 by a kamikaze aircraft during the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, killing 15 crewmen and injuring 88. Post war, the ship helped repatriate servicemen to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet before being decommissioned and struck in 1946, and ultimately being broken up in 1947.

Design and description

Salamaua was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Fifty of these escort carriers were built, making them the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, and a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT normally, 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck, a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Uniflow reciprocating steam engines, which provided 9000 hp, driving two shafts, enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi, assuming that she traveled at a constant speed of 15 kn. Her compact size necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow end, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one on the fore, another on the aft.

One 5 in/38 caliber dual purpose gun was mounted on the stern, and she was equipped with sixteen 40 mm Bofors anti-aircraft guns in twin mounts, as well as twelve 20 mm Oerlikon cannons, which were used in an anti-aircraft capability. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry 30 20–mm cannons, as a response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Anti-aircraft guns were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but they sometimes went over or under this number. For example, during the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, Salamaua carried 14 FM-2 fighters and 10 TBM-3 torpedo bombers, for a total of 24 aircraft. However, during Salamaua's anti-submarine sweeps in the closing stages of the war, she carried 18 FM-2 fighters, 2 FM-2P variant fighters, and 12 TBM-3E variant torpedo bombers, for a total of 32 aircraft. While she was transporting aircraft in a non-combat role, she could accommodate up to 50 aircraft, provided her flight deck was also used for storage.

Construction
The escort carrier was laid down on 4 February 1944, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 1133, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington. When she was ordered in 1942, she was expected to possess the name Anguilla Bay, as part of the US Navy's policy of naming escort carriers after bays and sounds. On 6 November 1943, before she was laid down, she was renamed to Salamaua, as part of a new policy which named escort carriers after sites of naval or land engagements. She was launched on 22 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. W. J. Mullins; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 26 May 1944, Captain Joseph Irwin Taylor, Jr in command, and with a partial complement of 54 officers and 518 enlisted men.

Service history
Following her commission, she proceeded through the Strait of Juan de Fuca on 17 June 1944, taking on armaments and conducting tests at Naval Station Bremerton from 18 June to 22 June. On 22 June, she arrived at Seattle, Washington, where she took on a load of damaged aircraft, bound for San Diego. As she proceeded down the West Coast, she underwent shakedown, pausing at the naval supply depot in Oakland. She arrived at San Diego, on 29 June, where she unloaded her aircraft. She then conducted drills off the coast of Baja California, for four days, returning to San Diego, on 4 July, where she took on an aircraft contingent and cargo. Salamaua left San Diego, on 6 July, arriving at Pearl Harbor, on 12 July, where she unloaded her wares for the next four days. She left Pearl Harbor, on 16 July, arriving at Naval Air Station Alameda, on 22 July, where she took on 50 aircraft and 300 passengers, bound for Finschhafen, New Guinea.

Salamaua departed Alameda, California, on the morning of 24 July, passing south of Hawaii, on 29 July, arriving at Finschhafen, on 12 August, where she took on a load of nonfunctional aircraft. She departed New Guinea, on 14 August, stopping at Palikulo Bay, to take on fuel. On 1 September, she returned to Alameda, where she underwent overhaul and conducted training exercises. She departed on 3 September, transporting cargo to San Diego, where she arrived on 4 September. On 26 September, she received her combat aircraft contingent (VC-87) at Naval Base San Diego. On 30 September, she left San Diego with USS Thornton (DD-270) to conduct flight exercises, returning on 7 October.

On 16 October, she once again sailed west from San Diego, as part of Task Unit 19.15.1, under the command of Rear Admiral Calvin T. Durgin, along with her fellow sister ships USS Makin Island (CVE-93), USS Lunga Point (CVE-94), and USS Bismarck Sea (CVE-95). She paused at Pearl Harbor on 23 October, and arrived at Ulithi on 5 November. A tropical disturbance delayed departure until 10 November, when she set off for Leyte Gulf, pausing at Kossol Roads, to replenish fuel. She departed on 13 November, and from 14 November to 23 November, she furnished air screening for convoys in the Leyte Gulf area, without major incident. On 23 November, a Mitsubishi G4M bomber managed to get through the screen, strafing the carriers without much ill effect before being shot down. She then proceeded to the Admiralty Islands, to prepare for the invasion of Luzon, as part of Carrier Division 29, under the command of Rear Admiral Durgin. En route, the destroyers USS Patterson (DD-392) and USS Bagley (DD-386) detected a potential submarine on 26 November, and dropped depth charges. She, along with her task group, arrived at Seeadler Harbor on 27 November. She stayed at anchor until 16 December, when she left to engage in training exercises at Huon Gulf. On 21 December, she returned to Seeadler Harbor, to make final preparations for the planned invasion of Lingayen Gulf.

Lingayen Gulf
She departed Seeadler Harbor, on the afternoon of 27 December, and moved north to a massive escort carrier formation at Kossol Roads, on 30 December. On 1 January 1945, the task group left for Luzon, passing Leyte, on 3 January. The following day, 4 January 1945, her task group was engaged by kamikazes. On the afternoon of 4 January 1945, she was transiting the Sulu Sea, to the west of the Philippines. At 17:00, approximately 15 Japanese planes were picked up on radar, 45 mi west of the task group, and approaching quickly. These planes split into two groups, one group heading towards the rear of the task group, whilst the other continued on its course towards the center. Although fighters from the carrier group were scrambled, false radar signals hampered their efforts to intercept, resulting in the shooting down of just one Japanese plane. During the early stages of the attack, one kamikaze made for Salamaua, but it was discouraged by heavy anti-aircraft fire, changing course instead to make for Lunga Point before being shot down. Later that day, she witnessed the sinking of USS Ommaney Bay (CVE-79), which was scuttled following a devastating kamikaze strike.

On 5 January, her task group was harried by more kamikazes, and two planes were shot down by Salamaua's anti-aircraft gunners. The kamikazes did succeed in damaging the cruiser USS Louisville (CA-28), however. On 6 January, she arrived off the entrance to Lingayen Gulf. Her planes began blasting enemy positions ashore and providing air cover for the approaching Allied ships. On 9 January, they provided air cover for the troops landing on the assault beaches, then continued that support until 13 January, when she was forced to retire.

In the days prior to 13 January, fueling operations for the task group had been underway, which was complicated significantly by rough seas which snapped hoses. On 13 January 1945, the task group relocated 80 mi to the west of Lingayen Gulf, where fueling recommenced. At 09:00 in the morning, Salamaua was scheduled to be refueled by an oiler. The task group had launched combat air patrols to screen the carriers, with one group of aircraft at 3.7 mi and another at 1.3 mi. However, visibility was limited due to heavy cloud cover, hovering 1.5 mi above the ground, and there was no indication of enemy activity in the area.

At 08:58, a Japanese kamikaze plane, emerging from cloud cover, unexpectedly dove almost vertically towards Salamaua's flight deck. The speed of its descent, as well as the task group being on low alert, meant that the kamikaze was able to carry out its attack unmolested by anti-aircraft fire. Carrying two 551 lb bombs, it penetrated deep into the lower decks, leaving a 16 ft by 32 ft gaping hole in the flight deck and lighting a fire in the lower bulkheads that caused a pillar of smoke to rise from the hole. Admiral Durgin, querying Salamaua as to the origin of the smoke, received a reply that "Something just went through our flight deck". One of the bombs detonated near the tank tops, just above the bilge, narrowly missing the bomb stowage compartment. The blast sent debris from the engine and fuselage rocketing onto the flight deck, collapsing a number of bulkheads. Additionally, it sparked multiple fires throughout the flight deck, hangar deck, and engine room. Inside the hangar deck, aircraft were being readied for a strike, and the existence of armed munitions made the situation tenuous. The second bomb failed to explode, and was ejected through the starboard side of the ship at the waterline, near the engine, leaving a hole about 20 in wide through which seawater rushed in. There was immediate loss of power, communications, and steering throughout the ship. The aft engine room was breached and flooded, rendering the starboard engine inoperational, albeit the flooding extinguished the engine room blaze.

Several fires were kindled, but most of the blazes were quickly put under control, with the exception of a major fire within the hangar deck, which was fed by gasoline saturated debris from the flight deck. Fighting the fire was further complicated by the loss of water main pressure along the aft of the ship, and by the detonation of hydrostatic fuses and various other ammunition. After 30 minutes, the blaze was contained, after a fight which first belayed, then prevented the detonation of more munitions. A more pressing concern was flooding, which an entire day of pumping could not alleviate. This resulted in the entire starboard engine being submerged, leading to the ship acquiring an 8° list to the starboard. The attack on Salamaua was the last successful kamikaze attack in the Philippines Campaign.

There were more kamikazes which followed up in the 10 minutes after the attack on Salamaua, but the Japanese had lost the element of surprise. One plane dove towards USS Tulagi (CVE-72), but was engaged by heavy anti-aircraft fire, including from Salamaua, and it veered towards USS Hoggatt Bay (CVE-75) before being destroyed by a proximity-fuzed 5-inch shell. Another two planes tried to strike Salamaua, one passing above her port quarter before crashing into the sea, and another one detonating in midair as it approached her astern. Throughout this ordeal, she was able to keep up with her task group using her port engine. Fifteen men were killed, and 88 injured by the attack. At 19:25, she broke away from her task group to limp away for Leyte, accompanied by the destroyers USS Gridley (DD-380) and USS Ralph Talbot (DD-390), along with the tug USS Apache (ATF-67).

Okinawa
Salamaua limped into Leyte, still hampered significantly by flooding, on 14 January. There, injured were unloaded, the worst of the wreckage was cleaned up, and flooding was partially controlled. After repairs, she set off for Seeadler Harbor, arriving on 2 February, for repairs on floating dry dock, where her aircraft contingent and crew were disembarked. On 5 February, she left for Pearl Harbor, accompanied by USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), also damaged by a kamikaze. She arrived on 17 February, where she unloaded unnecessary ammunition, and departed on 19 February, bound for San Francisco.

Arriving on 26 February, she was put in a queue for repairs. Repairs began on 3 March, and on 21 April, she moved west again. She arrived back at Pearl Harbor on 27 April, and received her new aircraft contingent (VC-70). She then conducted training exercises, in conjunction with USS Spearfish (SS-190). She concluded her exercises and returned on 4 May, and set off for Guam, on 10 May, arriving on 20 May. At Guam, she received orders to join Task Group 52.2.1., which was supporting operations on the Ryukyu Islands. She rendezvoused with the task group on 26 May, to support land operations on Okinawa, but on 3 June, she was ordered to join Task Group 30.8, a logistics support group, alongside USS Attu (CVE-102), USS Windham Bay (CVE-92), and USS Bougainville (CVE-100).

Typhoon and anti-submarine operations
She arrived at her post on 4 June, but the next day, Typhoon Connie passed directly over the Third Fleet. On the morning of 5 June, the task group was refueling, but the weather deteriorated to render it impossible by noon. Reports of a typhoon to the south led Captain Joseph I. Taylor to order as many aircraft as possible to be sheltered within the hangar bay. Her limited carrying capabilities forced some aircraft to be stored on the flight deck, where they were bolted down onto the tarmac. By late afternoon, the task group was being buffeted by tropical storm force winds, and at 3:30, 5 June, hurricane force winds were reported. Steering control was lost by 3:35, as massive waves pounded the ship. A fore 40–mm gun and the aircraft handling boom was carted away by the waves. The flight deck was partially detached at the extreme fore, damaging the aircraft catapult and some bulkheads. On the flight deck, an Avenger tore loose from its restraints, spinning wildly across, wrecking all of the aircraft anchored onto the flight deck and killing a crewman. By the time the task force emerged from the typhoon, 46 planes had been destroyed, mostly on Salamaua and Bougainville. Salamaua's flight deck had been rendered inoperative, and she arrived at Guam, on 10 June, to undergo repairs.

Repairs were hastily made at Guam, and she arrived at Ulithi, on 18 July. On 21 July, she was assigned anti-submarine patrol duty as part of the newly formed Task Group 94.17, along with the destroyer escorts USS William Seiverling (DE-441), USS Ulvert M. Moore (DE-442), USS Kendall C. Campbell (DE-443), and USS Goss (DE-444). Their objective was to protect the Marianas-Okinawa convoy lanes. On 31 July, she shifted to the Leyte-Okinawa lanes, as a reaction to the sinking of the destroyer escort USS Underhill (DE-682) and the cruiser USS Indianapolis (CA-35) by Japanese submarines. On 5 August, Captain Joseph I. Taylor relinquished command of Salamaua, being replaced by Captain John Hook Griffin. She undertook anti-submarine duties until the Japanese surrender on 15 August. Task Group 94.17 cleared naval mines, and achieved the likely destruction of two Japanese midget submarines, along with the possible destruction of another midget submarine.

Post-war
On 25 August, Salamaua returned to Leyte, replenished, then escorted a troop convoy on 27 August, containing the U.S. Eighth Army to Tokyo Bay. The convoy arrived on 2 September, and the escort carrier's planes photographed the landing of the occupation troops at Yokohama, during the formal Japanese surrender aboard the battleship USS Missouri (BB-63). After guarding a second convoy into Tokyo Bay, she joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet, which embarked veterans for transport to the United States. She disembarked her first cargo of veterans at Alameda, on 3 October. Before the end of the year, Salamaua completed two more "Magic Carpet" runs.

In 1946, she was prepared for inactivation. She was decommissioned on 9 May 1946, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 21 May, and subsequently sold to the Zidell Ship Dismantling Company, Portland, Oregon, for scrapping on 18 November 1946. Her hull was broken up sometime in 1947.

title: USS Salamaua


text:
Buck Buchanan Award

The Buck Buchanan Award is awarded annually to the most outstanding defensive player in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (formerly Division I-AA) of college football, and was first given in 1995 after the Walter Payton Award was designated solely for offensive players.

It was named in honor of Pro Football Hall of Fame defensive tackle Buck Buchanan, who starred at Grambling State University. Buchanan was an All-American defensive lineman and the first overall pick in the 1963 American Football League (AFL) Draft by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Up until 2015, the Payton and Buchanan Awards were awarded by The Sports Network. Since STATS LLC, now known as Stats Perform, acquired The Sports Network in February 2015, it has presented all of the major FCS awards. Through the 2011 season, the awards were presented the night before the NCAA Division I Football Championship, but the 2012 awards were presented on December 17, nearly three weeks before that season's championship game.

Awards won by school
This is a list of the colleges and universities who have had a player win a Buck Buchanan Award. Cal Poly (2004, 2005, 2006) is the only program with three winners. Appalachian State (1995–1996), Eastern Washington (2008, 2010), James Madison (2001, 2009), Montana (2007, 2019), Montana State (2012–2013), and Western Illinois (1998, 2000), are the only schools to win the award twice. Dexter Coakley of Appalachian State is the only player to win the award twice.

 * ^ Team is now a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS).

title: Buck Buchanan Award


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USS Thetis Bay

USS Thetis Bay (CVE-90) was the thirty-sixth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was launched in March 1944, commissioned in April, and served as a transport carrier in the Pacific, as well as a replenishment carrier supporting the Allied bombardment of Tokyo and the Main Islands. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, before being decommissioned in August 1946, being mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was reactivated in July 1956, and converted to a helicopter transport carrier, serving in relief operations in Taiwan and Haiti. Ultimately, she was broken up in 1966, the last Casablanca-class hull to be scrapped.

Design and description
Thetis Bay was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built, 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 her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, and a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT standard and 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck and a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9000 hp, thus enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi at a speed of 15 kn. Her compact size limited the length of the flight deck and necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.

One 5 in/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20 mm cannons, and the amount of Bofors 40 mm guns had been doubled to 16, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Although Casablanca-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.

Following her conversion into a helicopter assault carrier, she was 512 ft long overall, had a beam of 65 ft, and a draft of 22 ft. She displaced 7800 LT standard and 11000 LT with a full load, and could make 19.3 kn at full speed. She had a designed complement of 900 crew and 938 troops, was armed with four twin 40 mm anti-aircraft guns, and carried twenty helicopters.

Construction
Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, under a United States Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942. The escort carrier was laid down on 22 December 1943 under the name Thetis Bay, located within Kuiu Island, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. The bay itself was named by the United States Coast and Geodetic Survey in 1928 after the United States Revenue Cutter Service cutter Thetis, which in turn was named after the sea nymph Thetis, the daughter of Nereus and the mother of Achilles in Greek mythology. She was laid down as MC hull 1127, the thirty-sixth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She therefore received the classification symbol CVE-90, indicating that she was the ninetieth escort carrier to be commissioned into the United States Navy. She was launched on 16 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Rico Botta, the wife of Captain Botta, the Assembly and Repair Officer overseeing Naval Air Station North Island; transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 12 April 1944, with Captain Donald Edmund Wilcox in command. Notably, actress Claudette Colbert's husband, Joel Pressman, a lieutenant commander in the Medical Corps served as the first medical officer at the time of the commissioning.

World War II
Upon being commissioned, Thetis Bay underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego, California. Upon finishing, she was assigned to transport duty, and proceeded north towards San Pedro to take on a load of aircraft and passengers. She put out to sea on 5 June, stopped at Pearl Harbor on 11 June, and headed out, via Makin Island of the Gilberts Islands and Majuro of the Marshall Islands, to Kwajalein. There, she took on the 50th Engineer Combat Battalion of the United States Army, which she deposited back at Pearl Harbor on 5 July.

On 7 July, Thetis Bay got underway for Alameda ferrying 41 aircraft that required repairs. She steamed into port on 13 July, and after unloading her cargo, headed for Terminal 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 in Hawaii 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 to Finschhafen, New Guinea. During this period, Captain Benjamin Eugene Moore Jr. raised his flag over the ship on 21 January 1945.

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 frontline Fast Carrier Task Force. Replenishment escort carriers such as Thetis Bay enabled the frontline carriers to replace battle losses, and to stay at sea for longer durations of time. She first headed to Apra Harbor in Guam of the Mariana 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 the Japanese surrender, and her replenishment aircraft were used to support the initial landings in the Occupation of Japan.

Post-war
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 the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility at Bremerton, Washington. Upon the completion of that work, she was decommissioned and mothballed on 7 August 1946, joining the Tacoma group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

In May 1955, Thetis Bay was withdrawn from the Pacific Reserve Fleet and towed to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard under project SCB 122, where she began conversion into the Navy's first assault helicopter aircraft carrier. On 1 July, she was redesignated as such, receiving the hull symbol CVHA-1. Ships of her type were expected to act as a complement to attack 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.

Thetis Bay then proceeded southwards towards her new home part, arriving at Long Beach on 20 September. There, she took on the helicopters of Marine Corps Test Unit No. 1, based at Camp 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 of Luzon, the Philippines, throughout February 1958.

On 28 May 1959, she was reclassified as a landing platform helicopter amphibious assault ship, and thus, received the hull symbol LPH-6. In August 1959, severe flooding, starting on 7 August, exacerbated by Typhoon Billie, which had earlier struck in July, killed more than a thousand people in Taiwan. Thus, Thetis Bay, which was serving with the Seventh Fleet at the time, was dispatched from Hong Kong on 12 August, proceeding to Taiwan to conduct relief operations. There, she used her 21 Marine Corps Sikorsky H-34s of Marine 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 1600540 lb of aid. In addition, the helicopters had ferried 850 passengers throughout the operation.

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 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 the United States Atlantic Fleet. She arrived at Norfolk, Virginia, her new home port, in early December 1961.

For the next three years, Thetis Bay operated along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean. In October 1962, during the height of the Cuban 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 for President John F. Kennedy's planned visit to West Germany to Hamburg. In September 1963, she headed to Haiti, which had been affected by Hurricane Flora. She anchored off Port-au-Prince and launched Marine helicopters carrying medical aid and food supplies.

Thetis Bay left Norfolk on 5 January 1964, heading to the Naval Inactive Ship Maintenance Facility in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, for inactivation work, arriving there on 6 January. There, she was decommissioned, once again, joining the Philadelphia group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1964, and she was sold for scrapping in December 1964 to Peck Iron & Metal Co., Inc., headquartered at Portsmouth, Virginia. She was proposed to be transferred to the Spanish Navy, but the Independence-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier USS Cabot (CVL-28) was sent in her place. 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 at Freedom Park, Omaha, Nebraska.

title: USS Thetis Bay


text:
Failed Iraqi peace initiatives

After the 2003 invasion of Iraq, evidence began to emerge of failed attempts by the Iraqi government to bring the conflict to a peaceful resolution.

Saddam Hussein's attempts
In December 2002, a representative of the head of Iraqi Intelligence, Gen. Tahir Jalil Habbush al-Tikriti, contacted former CIA counterterrorism head Vincent Cannistraro, stating that Saddam "knew there was a campaign to link him to September 11 and prove he had weapons of mass destruction." Cannistraro further added that "the Iraqis were prepared to satisfy these concerns. I reported the conversation to senior levels of the state department and I was told to stand aside and they would handle it." Cannistraro stated that the offers made were all "killed" by the Bush administration because they allowed Saddam Hussein to remain in power - an outcome viewed as unacceptable.

Shortly after, Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak's national security advisor, Osama El-Baz, sent a message to the U.S. State Department that the Iraqis wanted to discuss the accusations that Saddam had weapons of mass destruction and ties with al-Qaeda. Iraq also attempted to reach the US through the Syrian, French, German, and Russian intelligence services. Nothing came of the attempts.

Imad Hage
In January 2003, Lebanese-American Imad Hage met with Michael Maloof of the DoD's Office of Special Plans. Hage, a resident of Beirut, had been recruited by the department to assist in the War on Terrorism. He reported that Mohammed Nassif, a close aide to Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, had expressed frustrations about the difficulties of Syria contacting the United States, and had attempted to use him as an intermediary. Maloof arranged for Hage to meet with Richard Perle, head of the Defense Policy Board.

In February 2003, Hage met with the chief of Iraqi intelligence's foreign operations, Hassan al-Obeidi. Obeidi told Hage that Baghdad didn't understand why they were being targeted, and that they had no WMDs; he then made the offer for Washington to send in 2000 FBI agents to ascertain this. He additionally offered oil concessions, but stopped short of having Hussein give up power, instead suggesting that elections could be held in two years. Later, Obeidi suggested that Hage travel to Baghdad for talks; he accepted.

Later that month, Hage met with Gen. Habbush in addition to Iraqi Deputy Prime Minister Tariq Aziz. He was offered top priority to US firms in oil and mining rights, UN-supervised elections, US inspections (with up to 5,000 inspectors), to have al-Qaeda agent Abdul Rahman Yasin (in Iraqi custody since 1994) handed over as a sign of good faith, and to give "full support for any US plan" in the Arab-Israeli peace process. They also wished to meet with high-ranking US officials. On February 19, Hage faxed Maloof his report of the trip. Maloof reports having brought the proposal to Jamie Duran. The Pentagon denies that either Wolfowitz or Rumsfeld, Duran's bosses, were aware of the plan.

On February 21, Maloof informed Duran in an email that Perle wished to meet with Hage and the Iraqis if the Pentagon would clear it. Duran responded "Mike, working this. Keep this close hold.". On March 7, Perle met with Hage in Knightsbridge, and stated that he wanted to pursue the matter further with people in Washington (both have acknowledged the meeting). A few days later, he informed Hage that Washington refused to let him meet with Habbush to discuss the offer (Hage stated that Perle's response was "that the consensus in Washington was it was a no-go"). Perle told the Times, "The message was 'Tell them that we will see them in Baghdad."

Throughout March, Hage continued to pass messages from Iraqi officials to Maloof. At one point, Maloof wrote a memo stating "Hage quoted Obeidi as saying this is the last window or channel through which this message has gone to the United States. He characterized the tone of Dr. Obeidi as begging." Maloof contacted Perle, stating that Iraqi officials are "prepared to meet with you in Beirut, and as soon as possible, concerning 'unconditional terms' ", and that "Such a meeting has Saddam Hussein's clearance." No action was taken.

According to an Arab source of the Guardian, Perle sent a Saudi official the following terms for Iraq to fulfill to prevent war: "Saddam's abdication and departure, first to a US military base for interrogation and then into supervised exile, a surrender of Iraqi troops, and the admission that Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

Hage has since become embroiled in a situation involving an earlier incident involving airport security that many have viewed as payback similar to the case of Valerie Plame.

United Kingdom ultimatum
On March 12, 2003, the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (UK), Tony Blair, and the UK Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs Jack Straw proposed a draft resolution to the United Nations. If the demands for disarmament were met by 17 March, it was suggested that military action would be averted and Saddam Hussein would be allowed to remain in power.

The six tests involved:

 * a public statement by Saddam Hussein, broadcast in Iraq, admitting possession of weapons of mass destruction, stating his regime has decided to give them up and pledging to cooperate with UN weapon inspectors.
 * a commitment to allow Iraqi scientists to be interviewed by the inspectors outside Iraq.
 * the surrender of, and explanation of the 10,000 litres of anthrax the Iraqis are believed still to be holding.
 * a commitment to the destruction of proscribed missiles.
 * an account of the unmanned aerial vehicles and remotely piloted vehicles or drones.
 * a commitment to surrender all mobile bio-production laboratories for destruction.

Saddam denied possession of weapons of mass destruction. Iraqi intelligence offered to allow several thousand American troops to search for banned weapons.

By offering the opportunity for Saddam to remain in power, it suggested Blair's only justification at that time was the presence of weapons of mass destruction and any other justifications are ex post facto justifications. On 27 March 2003, UK government whistleblowers suggested that even if the tests were met, Iraq would have been invaded.

Exile proposal
It has been suggested that Saddam Hussein was prepared to go into exile if allowed to keep $1 billion USD. On February 22, at a meeting in Crawford, Texas, George Bush told Spanish prime minister Jose Maria Aznar: ""The Egyptians are speaking to Saddam Hussein. It seems he's indicated he would be prepared to go into exile if he's allowed to take $1 billion and all the information he wants about weapons of mass destruction.""

The same month Russian President Vladimir Putin sent his representative, former prime minister Yevgeny Primakov, to Saddam Hussein. Primakov's mission was to convince Saddam to abdicate as Iraqi president, which could prevent US invasion of Iraq. The debates failed, though. "Saddam just tapped me on the shoulder and went out of the room", Primakov recalled.

In late October 2005, the son of Sheikh Zayed bin Sultan Al Nahyan (the late president of the United Arab Emirates) stated that Saddam Hussein had in fact accepted the offer of exile in that country. Under the deal, Saddam and his family would have fled, been granted immunity from prosecution, and elections would have been held in Iraq within six months under UN and Arab League auspices. However, according to him, the Arab League did not bring up the issue at their emergency summit, citing rules preventing interference in the affairs of their member states, thus preventing it from being accepted. Anonymous officials in the UAE have confirmed the report.

There was also speculation that Saddam would go into exile in Belarus. After the invasion, there was concern that members of Hussein's regime were trying to flee to that country.

title: Failed Iraqi peace initiatives


text: User talk:80.12.34.150

title: User talk:80.12.34.150


text:
Prince Edward Island Liberal Party

The Prince Edward Island Liberal Party (officially the Prince Edward Island Liberal Association) is a political party in the province of Prince Edward Island, Canada. The PEI Liberals are affiliated with the federal Liberal Party of Canada.

History
The party was created when PEI was a British colony by reformers who agitated for the system of responsible government. This was granted by the British crown to the colony in 1851.

George Coles was its dominant figure in its first decades. While initially supportive of Canadian Confederation, Coles and the Liberals soured on the project, and it was not until 1873 that the island joined Canada as a means of relieving the PEI government's severe debts.

The early party supported the abolition of school fees, and a resolution to the "Land Question" that divided the province. The Liberals supported land reform through the state acquisition of large landed estates. These estates were broken up and turned over to tenants and squatters.

The Liberals have been one of only two parties forming government on the island since 1851, the other being the Progressive Conservatives. The Liberals have formed government more often, but not in recent times. In practice, there is little to distinguish the two parties from each other: both lean towards the centre of the political spectrum. The Liberals being slightly to the left and the Conservatives (Tories) slightly to the right.

Traditionally, the Tories have done better among Protestant voters, while Liberals have had more support from Catholics. Politics on the island, however, has never been sectarian, and both parties have always had voters and members from both populations. Indeed, it has been the custom until recently for a Liberal incumbent of one denomination to be opposed by a Tory challenger of the same denomination and vice versa. This had tended to minimise religious sectarianism within the parties. The Liberals have also traditionally enjoyed the support of the province's small Acadian population concentrated in Prince County at the west end of the island. Conservative support has tended to be greater on the eastern half of the island.

In the past forty years, the most significant figures in the party have been Alexander B. Campbell and, later, Joe Ghiz. Liberal governments in the 1960s and 1970s under Campbell supported diversification of the province's agricultural economy. Government incentives were provided to attract manufacturing and tourism. Under Ghiz in the 1980s, the Liberals opposed free trade between Canada and the United States, and the federal Tory government's decision to close a military base on the island. The party's enthusiasm for economic intervention in the economy had waned since the Campbell years.

Ghiz resigned in 1993 and was succeeded by Catherine Callbeck. Callbeck was the third female premier in Canadian history and, after the 1993 election, the first to lead her party to victory in a general election. After three and a half years, Callbeck resigned and was succeeded by Keith Milligan, under whom the Liberals were defeated in the 1996 election, falling to 8 seats. Wayne Carew was elected leader in 1999, and saw the party's fortunes fall further, winning a single seat in the 2000 election. Robert Ghiz, son of Joe Ghiz, was elected leader in 2003.

After more than ten years in opposition, the Liberals returned to government in the 2007 election, and were re-elected in 2011. Ghiz resigned in 2015 and was succeeded as party leader and premier by Wade MacLauchlan, who led the Liberals to a third victory in 2015. After twelve years in government, the Liberals were defeated in the 2019 election, and were reduced to third party status for the first time in their history, behind the Progressive Conservatives and the Green Party. MacLauchlan resigned as party leader shortly after the election.

As the only candidate to seek the leadership, Sharon Cameron was named leader on November 19, 2022. The party regained opposition status in the 2023 Prince Edward Island general election, winning three seats to the Greens' two, though the party's 17.2% share of the popular vote was the lowest in the party's history. Cameron placed third in her own district, and resigned as party leader days later.

Hal Perry was appointed interim leader on April 12, 2023.

Current MLAs

 * Robert Henderson, O'Leary-Inverness
 * Gord McNeilly, Charlottetown-West Royalty
 * Hal Perry, Tignish-Palmer Road

Liberal leaders

 * George Coles, 1851–1869
 * Joseph Hensley, 1869
 * Robert Haythorne, 1869–1876
 * Louis Henry Davies, 1876–1882
 * John Yeo, 1882–1891
 * Frederick Peters, 1891–1897
 * Alexander Warburton, 1897–1898
 * Donald Farquharson, 1898–1901
 * Arthur Peters, 1901–1908
 * Francis Haszard, 1908–1911
 * Herbert James Palmer, 1911–1912
 * John Richards, 1912–1915
 * John Howatt Bell, 1915–1923
 * Albert Charles Saunders, 1923–1930
 * Walter Lea, 1930–1936
 * Thane Campbell, 1936–1943
 * John Walter Jones, 1943–1953
 * Alex W. Matheson, 1953–1965
 * Lorne Bonnell, 1965 (interim)
 * Alexander B. Campbell, 1965–1978
 * Bennett Campbell, 1978 (interim), 1978–1981
 * Gilbert Clements, 1981 (interim)
 * Joseph A. Ghiz, 1981–1993
 * Catherine Callbeck, 1993–1996
 * Keith Milligan, 1996–1999
 * Wayne Carew, 1999–2000
 * Ron MacKinley, 2000–2003 (interim)
 * Robert Ghiz, 2003–2015
 * Wade MacLauchlan, 2015–2019
 * Robert Mitchell, 2019 (interim)
 * Sonny Gallant, 2019–2022 (interim)
 * Sharon Cameron, 2022–2023
 * Hal Perry, 2023–present (interim)

title: Prince Edward Island Liberal Party


text:
USS Windham Bay

USS Windham Bay (CVE-92) was the thirty-eighth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Windham Bay, within Tongass National Forest, of the Territory of Alaska. The ship was launched in March 1944, commissioned in May, and served as a replenishment and transport carrier throughout the Invasion of Iwo Jima and the Battle of Okinawa. Postwar, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She was decommissioned in August 1946, when she was mothballed in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. With the outbreak of the Korean War, however, she was called back to service, continuing to serve as a transport and utility carrier until 1959, when she was once again decommissioned. Ultimately, she was broken up in February 1961.

Design and description

Windham Bay was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft long overall; at the waterline, she was 490 ft long. She had a beam of 65 ft, at her widest point, this was 108 ft. She also had a draft of 20 ft. She displaced 8188 LT standard, 10902 LT with a full load. She had a 257 ft long hangar deck and a 477 ft long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9000 shp, thus enabling her to make. The ship had a cruising range of 10240 nmi at a speed of 15 kn. Power was provided by four Babcock & Wilcox water-tube boilers. Her compact size necessitated the installation of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft.

One 5 in/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors 40 mm anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as 12 Oerlikon 20 mm cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20 mm cannons, and the amount of 40 mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Although Casablanca-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 replenishment missions.

Construction
Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942. The escort carrier was laid down on 5 January 1944 under the name Windham Bay, as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was laid down as MC hull 1129, the thirty-eighth of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. She therefore received the classification symbol CVE-92, indicating that she was the ninety-second escort carrier to be commissioned into the United States Navy. She was launched on 29 March 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Henry M. Cooper; transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 3 May 1944, with Captain Charles William Oexle in command.

World War II
Upon being commissioned, Windham Bay underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast to San Diego, arriving on 6 June. She then briefly conducted air qualifications and catapult trials off the southern California coast, before taking on a load of aircraft and passengers bound for Hawaii. On 12 June, she left port, arriving within Pearl Harbor on 19 June, trading her cargo for another load, this time bound for the Marshall Islands. She left Pearl Harbor on 25 June, arriving at Majuro Atoll in the Marshall Islands on 2 July. She then sailed westwards to Kwajalein Atoll, also within the Marshalls. There, she took on the aircraft and personnel of Marine Night Fighter Squadron 532 (VMF(N)-532), and steamed for the Mariana Islands. The squadron arrived on Saipan, which had recently been secured, by flying off of her flight deck, and she put into Garapan anchorage to unload the squadron's gear.

Whilst in anchorage, Windham Bay loaded up a squadron of captured Japanese aircraft, and proceeded back to Hawaii. She returned to Pearl Harbor on 10 July, and remained in port for fifteen days, before departing for the West Coast on 25 July. She returned to port in San Diego on 31 July, and she began overhaul at San Pedro, where additional anti-aircraft armaments were retrofitted.

This process took up the entire month of August, and Windham Bay returned to sea on 1 September, with a load of aircraft bound for Emirau and Manus, of the Admiralty Islands. She arrived at Emirau in mid-September, and at Manus on 18 September. After unloading her aircraft, she took on a load of passengers and steamed for Espiritu Santo, of the New Hebrides, and upon completing this task, she took on another load of aircraft, returning to Manus on 5 October. She then visited Guadalcanal, of the Solomon Islands, before heading back to the West Coast. Proceeding via Espiritu Santo, she arrived back in San Diego on 20 October. She then made another transport mission to the South Pacific in November, transporting aircraft to Manus and collecting about 350 casualties from the Palau campaign at Guadalcanal on 24 November for transport back to San Diego.

Upon returning to port in San Diego on 10 December, Windham Bay remained inactive until 27 December, when she resumed transporting aircraft. During this stay, Lieutenant (temporarily promoted to Commander) Theophilus Horner Moore assumed temporary command of the carrier until it arrived at Pearl Harbor. Proceeding westwards, she transported a load of aircraft to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 2 January 1945 before taking on a load of F4U Corsairs. There, Captain Maxwell Franklin Leslie took over permanent command of Windham Bay. Leaving port on 5 January, she headed to Midway Atoll in the Hawaiian Islands, arriving on 9 January, where she unloaded her cargo. The following day, she left Midway, returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 January. She left port on 1 February, this time as a replenishment carrier, providing replacement aircraft, parts, and supplies for the frontline Fast Carrier Task Force of the Third Fleet, which at the time was preparing to provide support for the planned invasion of Iwo Jima. On her way out towards the Central Pacific, Windham Bay stopped at Enewetak Atoll in the Marshall Islands, before steaming for Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands.

Upon taking on board the cargo required to sustain her replenishment duties, Windham Bay took to sea, as a part of Task Unit 50.8.4, the CVE Plane Transport Unit, along with her sister ships USS Admiralty Islands (CVE-99), USS Bougainville (CVE-100), and USS Attu (CVE-102). As a part of Task Group 50.8, the Logistics Support Group, the replenishment carriers were under the command of Rear Admiral Donald B. Beary. En route, the carriers were screened by the destroyer escorts USS Greiner (DE-37), USS Sanders (DE-40), and USS Wyman (DE-38). She arrived off Iwo Jima on 19 February, whereupon she began delivering replacement aircraft and crews to the fleet carriers conducting operations over the island, with the transferring aircraft being screened by the fighter contingents of USS Makassar Strait (CVE-91) and USS Shamrock Bay (CVE-84). Task Unit 50.8.4 first conducted deliveries to Task Groups 58.1, 58.4, and 58.5 on 19 February, conducted deliveries to Task Groups 58.2 and 58.3 the following day, and then deliveries to all the Task Groups excepting 58.5 on 21 February. Her main duties finished, Windham Bay continued delivering a trickle of planes until 1 March, when her Task Group returned to replenish at Ulithi. In total, the four escort carriers had delivered 254 aircraft and 65 plane crews to the fleet carriers, the majority of which were transferred on the first three days.

Later, upon having replenished, Task Group 50.8.4. took to sea again, and beginning on 1 April, in addition to resupplying the Fast Carrier Task Force, the escort carriers also shouldered the burden of providing replacement aircraft and supplies for the CVEs providing air cover for the landings on Okinawa. Taking advantage of the Kerama Islands, which had been recently captured on 26 March, the escort carriers were able to quickly replenish on bombs and ammunition, minimizing the amount of time spent away from the frontline carriers.

By the early morning of 5 June, Windham Bay, along with the ships of Task Group 38.1 and Task Group 30.8, was trapped in the path of Typhoon Connie, which was proceeding northwards, and on a course to the east of Okinawa. Admiral William Halsey Jr., which had already led the Third Fleet into the deadly Typhoon Cobra in December 1944, now managed to lead the Third Fleet yet again into the eyewall of another deadly storm, ignoring reports by Rear Admiral Beary, who was convinced that Halsey's eastwardly course would put his carriers into the storm. By the time this had become evident, the replenishment carriers had already found themselves navigating independently of each other. As Windham Bay neared the center of the storm, at around 3:00, her crew began to witness the aircraft stored upon the flight deck work free of their restraints and slip into the sea.

A few minutes later, Windham Bay entered the eyewall. The carrier's wind-measuring system was quickly blown away by the gusts, but the crew estimated the winds to be gusting at around 127 knots. In addition, waves estimated as towering some 75 ft high broke over the carrier. Despite the fact that her forward aircraft elevator was up, water seeped through the edges of the elevator, flooding the elevator well with 4 ft of water and temporarily taking it out of commission. At 3:55, as the carrier crested over a particularly high swell, the two forwardmost 40 mm Bofors guns, along with the forward lookout platform, were ejected off the ship. Simultaneously, the forwardmost 20 ft of her flight deck collapsed onto her forecastle, damaging both her hangar deck and aircraft elevator.

The damage sustained during the typhoon necessitated repairs, and Windham Bay was therefore relieved of her replenishment duties. Heading eastwards, she stopped at the Marianas on 16 June on her way to Oahu, where quick repairs were made. In addition, she took on a load of F4U-2 Corsairs for transport. Stopping at Pearl Harbor from 25 June to 27 June, she entered port at San Diego on 11 July for extensive repairs, which took until late August to finish, after the Japanese surrender had been announced.

On 26 August, with her repairs having concluded, Windham Bay left San Diego harbor, with Marine Fighter Squadron 312 (VMF-312) on board, bound for Guam. Stopping briefly at Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Apra Harbor on 15 September. Having unloaded her passengers and cargo, she steamed for Samar and Leyte, within the Philippines, arriving on 19 September, taking on passengers, planes, and equipment for transport back to Hawaii. She departed Leyte on 24 September, stopped at Guam on 27 September, and arrived back at Oahu on 7 October. She left port on 8 October, and arrived back in San Diego harbor on 14 October.

Whilst in port, Windham Bay joined the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. On 19 October, the carrier left on her first run, a voyage which ended at San Pedro. She left for another run on 13 November, arriving at Samar on 26 November, leaving on 28 November. Pausing at Pearl Harbor, she arrived in Port Hueneme, California on 17 December. She then proceeded a short ways southward back to San Pedro port, where she remained until the New Year.

On 8 January 1946, Windham Bay departed San Pedro again, making a round trip to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 14 January. Leaving port on 15 January, she returned to California on 21 January. She then sailed north to Tacoma, Washington, arriving on 25 January, where she was to be mothballed as part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. Inactivation work began as soon as she arrived, and she was decommissioned on 23 August.

Korean War
Windham Bay continued to be mothballed with the Pacific Reserve Fleet until the Korean War broke out during the summer of 1950. With the United States intervening in the war, under the auspices of the United Nations, Windham Bay was recommissioned and reclassified as an aircraft transport with the hull symbol T-CVE-92 on 28 October 1950 at Bremerton, Washington, with Captain Charles E. Brunton in command. As an aircraft transport, she was operated by the Military Sea Transportation Service (MSTS) with a civilian crew, but with a military command. On 20 November, she steamed south to California, stopping at San Francisco on her way to San Diego, arriving on 2 December. She then sailed northwards, back to San Francisco, arriving on 13 December. There, she headed to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 19 December. Returning to California, she sailed into Alameda, California on 2 January 1951, before heading back into the Pacific on 7 January, this time with a load of aircraft bound for Korea. She arrived at Yokohama, Japan on 24 January, where she unloaded her cargo. She left Yokohama harbor on 26 January, proceeding southwards, where she visited Saigon in French Indochina. In doing this visit, Windham Bay became the first large vessel to enter the Long Gam River since 1925. Whilst she was docked in Saigon, Vietnamese rebels tossed seventeen hand grenades at the carrier, albeit none exploded. After completing her visit, she headed to Manila, the capital of the Philippines, before heading back to the West Coast. Windham Bay sailed into the San Francisco Bay on 24 February.

For the next twenty months, Windham Bay made nine round-trip transpacific resupply voyages, loading up at either San Francisco or San Diego, always unloading at Yokosuka, and always returning to San Francisco. She broke this routine in October and November 1952, when she visited Kaohsiung, Taiwan, and Bangkok, Thailand, before returning via Japan to Alameda on 9 December. Windham Bay continued her transpacific resupply voyages between the West Coast and Japan throughout 1953. As the Korean War wound down to an armistice, her transport missions began to involve more stops and side trips, notably to Hawaii, the Philippines, and to other Japanese ports besides Yokosuka. French Indochina became a frequent destination, with Windham Bay stopping at the capital of Saigon in May 1954, February 1955, and in March 1955, which by then had become part of the Republic of Vietnam. On 12 June 1955, she was reclassified as a utility carrier, with the hull symbol CVU-92. On 4 August 1956, she was severely damaged by a fire which broke out whilst she was docked in Alameda. In May 1957, she added Naha, Okinawa to her list of ports of call, and in December 1957, she made another stop to Saigon. In all other respects, Windham Bay's career as a transport carrier during this period consisted solely of missions resupplying aircraft from the West Coast to Japan, conducted in support of the fast carriers assigned to cover the western Pacific.

Windham Bay's career as a transport carrier lasted until the end of 1958, during a time in which the navy evaluated the Casablanca-class escort carriers to be less economical and less desirable as transport carriers as compared to the older Bogue-class escort carriers. Therefore, she was yet again decommissioned and mothballed in January 1959, this time as part of the San Francisco Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 February 1959, and subsequently sold for scrapping to the Hugo Neu Steel Products Corp., of New York City. The ship was ultimately scrapped in Japan throughout February 1961. Windham Bay received three battle stars for her World War II service.

title: USS Windham Bay