USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) was a of the United States Navy

United States Navy

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

. She was laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1118) on 24 October 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, in Vancouver, Washington

Vancouver, Washington

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

; launched on 12 January 1944, sponsored by Mrs. Scott E. Peck; acquired by the Navy on 25 February 1944, and commissioned the same day, with Captain

Captain (naval)

Captain is the name most often given in English-speaking navies to the rank corresponding to command of the largest ships. The NATO rank code is OF-5, equivalent to an army full colonel....

 C. S. Smiley in command.

Service history

Following shakedown off southern California

California

California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

, Rudyerd Bay ferried planes to Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo

Espiritu Santo is the largest island in the nation of Vanuatu, with an area of . It belongs to the archipelago of the New Hebrides in the Pacific region of Melanesia. It is in the Sanma Province of Vanuatu....

 in April and May; then she conducted qualification exercises off California into July. After this, she made another ferry run, this time to Majuro

Majuro

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

 from 20 July to 26 July, escorted by . On her return, she embarked Composite Squadron 77 (VC-77) and, on 8 August, she again headed west. At Eniwetok, she joined Task Group 30.8 (TG 30.8), the fast carrier forces' replenishment group, with which she arrived at Manus on 31 August.

During early September, she covered the replenishment group as the Third Fleet supported the Palau

Palau

Palau , officially the Republic of Palau , is an island nation in the Pacific Ocean, east of the Philippines and south of Tokyo. In 1978, after three decades as being part of the United Nations trusteeship, Palau chose independence instead of becoming part of the Federated States of Micronesia, a...

 campaign. In October, she continued that cover as strikes against the Philippines

Philippines

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

 began. On 18 October, she took on survivors of the , transported them to Ulithi

Ulithi

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

; whence in November, she resumed covering operations which continued into the new year.

On 29 December, Rudyerd Bay, with , tanker

Tanker (ship)

A tanker is a ship designed to transport liquids in bulk. Major types of tankship include the oil tanker, the chemical tanker, and the liquefied natural gas carrier.-Background:...

s, and other ships, departed Ulithi. In the Philippine Sea

Philippine Sea

The Philippine Sea is a marginal sea east and north of the Philippines occupying an estimated surface area of 2 million mi² on the western part of the North Pacific Ocean...

 until 10 January 1945, the replenishment group shifted to the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

 as the fast carriers continued support of the Lingayen

Invasion of Lingayen Gulf

The Liberation of Lingayen Gulf was an Allied amphibious operation in the Philippines during World War II. In the early morning of 9 January 1945, an Allied force commanded by Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf began approaching the shores of Lingayen. U.S...

 assault and conducted strikes against enemy installations and shipping from Indochina

Indochina

The Indochinese peninsula, is a region in Southeast Asia. It lies roughly southwest of China, and east of India. The name has its origins in the French, Indochine, as a combination of the names of "China" and "India", and was adopted when French colonizers in Vietnam began expanding their territory...

 to Formosa

Taiwan

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

. On 22 January, they retired, via the Sulu

Sulu Sea

The Sulu Sea is a body of water in the southwestern area of the Philippines, separated from the South China Sea in the northwest by Palawan and from the Celebes Sea in the southeast by the Sulu Archipelago. Borneo is found to the southwest and Visayas to the northeast.Sulu Sea contains a number of...

 and Mindanao Seas and Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf

Leyte Gulf is a body of water immediately east of the island of Leyte in the Philippines, adjoining the Philippine Sea of the Pacific Ocean, at . The Gulf is bounded on the north by the island of Samar, which is separated from Leyte on the west by the narrow San Juanico Strait, and on the south by...

, to Ulithi.

Rudyerd Bay remained at Ulithi until 10 February. She then proceeded to Saipan

Saipan

Saipan is the largest island of the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands , a chain of 15 tropical islands belonging to the Marianas archipelago in the western Pacific Ocean with a total area of . The 2000 census population was 62,392...

 to prepare for the assault on Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima

Iwo Jima, officially , is an island of the Japanese Volcano Islands chain, which lie south of the Ogasawara Islands and together with them form the Ogasawara Archipelago. The island is located south of mainland Tokyo and administered as part of Ogasawara, one of eight villages of Tokyo...

. Departing the Marianas in TG 51.17, she provided air cover for the troop transport

Transport

Transport or transportation is the movement of people, cattle, animals and goods from one location to another. Modes of transport include air, rail, road, water, cable, pipeline, and space. The field can be divided into infrastructure, vehicles, and operations...

s en route to the Volcano Islands

Volcano Islands

The Volcano Islands is a group of three Japanese islands south of the Bonin Islands that belong to the municipality of Ogasawara...

, from 16 February to 18 February. On the 18th, she joined TG 52.2 and from then until 8 March, operated to the east of Iwo Jima as VC-77 flew support missions over the contested island and antisubmarine patrols over the surrounding waters.

Anchored at Ulithi from 11 March to 20 March, Rudyerd Bay, with VC-96 now embarked, got underway for the Ryukyus

Ryukyu Islands

The , also known as the , is a chain of islands in the western Pacific, on the eastern limit of the East China Sea and to the southwest of the island of Kyushu in Japan. From about 1829 until the mid 20th century, they were alternately called Luchu, Loochoo, or Lewchew, akin to the Mandarin...

 in Task Unit 52.1.2 (TU 52.1.2) on 21 March. On 25 March, she arrived at her position 60 miles to the south of Okinawa and began launching strikes against enemy positions on Kerama Retto

Kerama Retto

The are a group of 22 islands located southwest of Okinawa Island in Japan. Four of the islands are inhabited:,., and. The islands are within Shimajiri District. The Kerama-shotō coral reef is a Ramsar Site....

 and on Okinawa. With the exceptions of 1 April and 8 April, VC-96 flew daily support missions until 17 April. On 13 April, 14 April, and 15 April, the squadron target was shifted from Okinawa Gunto to Sakishima Gunto. On 17 April, Rudyerd Bay rotated to TG 50.8. For the next 10 days, she provided air cover for that group, then returned to TG 52.1 and resumed support missions for the troops fighting ashore. On 8 May, she again joined TG 50.8, which she covered until retiring from the Ryukyus on 20 May. By that time, VC-96 had flown 1,257 missions in support of the Okinawa offensive.

Rudyerd Bay arrived at Guam on 23 May, detached VC-96, and embarked VC-85 as passengers for transport back to the United States.

By the end of July, the escort carrier had completed a shipyard overhaul and had been reassigned to plane ferry duty. On 1 August, she departed Alameda

Alameda, California

Alameda is a city in Alameda County, California, United States. It is located on Alameda Island and Bay Farm Island, and is adjacent to Oakland in the San Francisco Bay. The Bay Farm Island portion of the city is adjacent to the Oakland International Airport. At the 2010 census, the city had a...

 for the Marshalls. On 14 August, hostilities ceased. Rudyerd Bay continued on, discharged cargo and passengers at Eniwetok, then proceeded to Ulithi and the Philippines, whence she moved VC-33 to Okinawa. There, she embarked another squadron for the voyage back to California.

On 8 October, she arrived at San Francisco, underwent repairs and alterations to enable her to carry troops, then joined the "Magic-Carpet" fleet. Into the new year, she brought veterans of the Pacific war back to the United States. On 23 January 1946, she completed her last trans-Pacific run; and on 18 February, she departed California for the east coast. Transiting the Panama Canal

Panama Canal

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

 on 28 February, she off-loaded aircraft at Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville, Florida

Jacksonville is the largest city in the U.S. state of Florida in terms of both population and land area, and the largest city by area in the contiguous United States. It is the county seat of Duval County, with which the city government consolidated in 1968...

, in early March, and proceeded to Boston

Boston

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

 to begin inactivation.

Decommissioned on 11 June 1946, Rudyerd Bay, redesignated CVU-81 on 12 June 1955, and AKV-29 in 1959, remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, berthed at Boston, Massachusetts, until struck from the Navy List on 1 August 1959. In January 1960, she was sold to Cantieri Navali Santa Maria, Genoa

Genoa

Genoa |Ligurian]] Zena ; Latin and, archaically, English Genua) is a city and an important seaport in northern Italy, the capital of the Province of Genoa and of the region of Liguria....

, Italy, for scrapping.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org