USS White Plains (CVE-66)
_at_San_Diego,_8_March_1944.jpg) |
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Name: | USS White Plains |
| Builder: | Kaiser Shipyards |
| Laid down: | 11 February 1943 |
| Launched: | 27 September 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 15 November 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 10 July 1946 |
| Struck: | 1 July 1958 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap on 29 July 1958 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Casablanca-class escort carrier |
| Displacement: | 10,400 tons |
| Length: | 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) overall |
| Beam: | 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), 108 ft (33 m) maximum width |
| Draft: | 22 ft 6 in (6.86 m) |
| Propulsion: |
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| Speed: | 19.3 knots (35.7 km/h) |
| Range: | 10,240 nmi (18,960 km) @ 15 kn (28 km/h) |
| Complement: |
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| Armament: | 1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal dual purpose gun, 12 × Bofors 40 mm guns (8×2), 20 × 20 mm cannon]]s (20×1) |
| Aircraft carried: | 24 |
| Service record | |
| Part of: | United States Pacific Fleet (1943-1946), Atlantic Reserve Fleet (1946-1958) |
| Operations: | Battle of Saipan, Battle of Leyte Gulf, Operation Magic Carpet |
| Awards: | |
USS White Plains (CVE-66) was an Casablanca class escort carrier of the United States Navy.
She was laid down on 11 February 1943 at Vancouver, Washington, by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Inc., under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1103) as Elbour Bay (ACV-66); renamed White Plains on 3 April 1943; redesignated CVE-66 on 15 July 1943; launched on 27 September 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Marc A. Mitscher; delivered to the Navy on 15 November 1943 at Astoria, Oregon; and commissioned that same day, Captain Oscar A. Weller in command.
The USS White Plains completed her outfitting at Astoria, Oregon, on 4 December 1943, and then she began shakedown training on 8 December. At the conclusion of her initial cruise, the warship entered San Diego on 21 December. On 30 December, she returned to sea, bound for the Gilbert Islands. She arrived at Tarawa Atoll on 11 January 1944 and unloaded the aircraft she had transported. On 17 January, the ship headed back to Oahu, arriving in Pearl Harbor six days later. Following a four-day turnaround period, the White Plains again set course for the Central Pacific to provide aircraft logistics support for the Marshall Islands operation. By the time she reached Tarawa on 3 February, the undefended Majuro Atoll had been occupied, and the Japanese garrison at Kwajalein Atoll had been all but subdued. On the next day, she got underway for Majuro where she arrived on 5 February. From there, the escort carrier moved on to Kwajalein for a brief visit before heading back to Hawaii. The White Plains stopped briefly at Oahu before continuing on toward the West Coast on 23 February. She arrived at Alameda, California, on San Francisco Bay on 3 March.
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