USS Croatan (CVE-25)
USS Croatan anchored in the Hudson River, off New York City c. late October 1945
|
|
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
|
|
| Name: | USS Croatan |
| Namesake: | Croatan |
| Laid down: | 15 April 1942 |
| Launched: | 1 August 1942 |
| Commissioned: | 28 April 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 20 May 1946 |
| Identification: | CVE-25 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap, 1971 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Bogue-class escort carrier |
| Displacement: | 9,800 tons |
| Length: | 495 ft 8 in (151.08 m) |
| Beam: | 69 ft 6 in (21.18 m) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Speed: | 17 knots (31.5 km/h) |
| Complement: | 890 officers and men |
| Armament: | 2 × 5 inch guns |
| Aircraft carried: | 24 |
USS Croatan (CVE-25) (previously AVG-25 then ACV-25) was an escort carrier launched on 1 August 1942 by the Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation of Seattle, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract; sponsored by Mrs. J. S. Russell; and commissioned on 28 April 1943, Captain J. B. Lyon in command.
Sailing from San Diego, California on 2 July 1943, Croatan arrived at Norfolk, Virginia on 19 July. As the nucleus for a hunter-killer group, she sailed on 5 August for antisubmarine operations in the Atlantic covering the movement of convoys. Her planes had two skirmishes with surfaced submarines, and on 5 September initiated night flying operations from escort carriers. She returned to Norfolk on 22 September.
From 17 October-29 December 1943, Croatan made two voyages to Casablanca ferrying aircraft and plane crews for the North African operations. After another antisubmarine patrol from 14 January-27 February 1944, she took part in tests with the Naval Research Laboratory at Annapolis, Maryland. From 24 March-11 May, Croatan made a most successful patrol. On 7 April, her planes marked out the German submarine U-856, which was sunk by her escorts Champlin and Huse at 40°18′N 62°22′W / 40.300°N 62.367°W. On the night of 25–26 April, her four escorts joined in sinking U-488 at 17°54′N 38°05′W / 17.900°N 38.083°W. She was also successful in her patrol from 2 June-22 July. On 10 June, Croatan's planes and escorts Frost, Huse, and Inch attacked U-490 and remained in constant contact with it, forcing it to surface the next day. Sixty survivors, including the commanding officer, were rescued before the submarine sank from scuttling charges at 42°47′N 40°08′W / 42.783°N 40.133°W. Aircraft and escorts Frost and Inch combined again to sink U-154 on 3 July, at 34°00′N 19°30′W / 34.000°N 19.500°W.
...
Wikipedia