View source for USS Salamaua

{|{{Infobox Ship Begin}}
{{Infobox Ship Image
|Ship image=[[File:USS Salamaua (CVE-96) underway off San Francisco c1945.jpeg|300px]]
|Ship caption=USS ''Salamaua'' (CVE-96) off San Francisco, 1945
}}
{{Infobox Ship Career
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|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1944}}
|Ship name=USS ''Salamaua''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship ordered=
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|Ship builder=[[Kaiser Shipyards]]
|Ship original cost=
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|Ship laid down=4 February 1944
|Ship launched=22 April 1944
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|Ship completed=
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|Ship commissioned=26 May 1944
|Ship recommissioned=
|Ship decommissioned=9 May 1946
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|Ship struck=21 May 1946
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|Ship fate=Sold for scrap on 18 November 1946
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{{Infobox Ship Characteristics
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|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Casablanca|escort carrier}}
|Ship type=
|Ship displacement=7,800 tons (standard), 10,400 tons (full load)
|Ship length={{convert|512|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} overall
|Ship beam={{convert|65|ft|2|in|m|abbr=on}}, {{convert|108|ft|1|in|m|abbr=on}} maximum width
|Ship height=
|Ship draft={{convert|22|ft|6|in|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship depth=
|Ship decks=
|Ship power=
|Ship propulsion=*2 × 5-cylinder reciprocating [[Uniflow steam engine|Skinner Unaflow]] engines
*4 × 285 psi boilers
*2 shafts
*9,000 shp
|Ship speed={{convert|19|kn|km/h}}
|Ship range={{convert|10240|nmi|km|abbr=on}} @ {{convert|15|kn|km/h|abbr=on}}
|Ship boats=
|Ship complement=*Total:910-916 officers and men
**Embarked Squadron:50-56
**Ship's Crew:860
|Ship sensors=
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|Ship armament=1 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|5 in (127 mm)/38 cal]] [[dual purpose gun]], 16 × [[Bofors 40 mm]] guns (8x2), 20 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon]]s (20x1)
|Ship armor=
|Ship aircraft=28
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}}
{{service record
|is_ship=yes
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|partof=[[United States Pacific Fleet]] (1944-1946)
|codes=
|commanders=
|operations=[[Invasion of Lingayen Gulf]], [[Battle of Okinawa]], [[Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)|Operation Magic Carpet]]
|victories=
|awards=3 [[Battle star]]s
}}
|}

'''USS ''Salamaua'' (CVE-96)''' was a [[Casablanca class escort carrier|''Casablanca'' class]] [[escort carrier]] of the [[United States Navy]]. She was originally named '''''Anguilla Bay'' (ACV-96)'''. It was reclassified '''CVE-96''' on 15 July 1943; renamed ''Salamaua'' on 6 November 1943; laid down under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1133) on 4 February 1944 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., [[Vancouver, Washington]]; launched on 22 April 1944; sponsored by Mrs. W. J. Mullins; and commissioned on 26 May 1944, [[Captain (naval)|Captain]] Joseph I. Taylor, Jr. in command.

==Service history==
Following shakedown off the west coast, ''Salamaua'' transported planes and cargo from [[San Diego]] to [[Pearl Harbor]], then returned to [[California]], whence she conducted a similar run to [[Finschhafen]], [[New Guinea]]. On 1 September, she returned to [[Alameda, California]], underwent overhaul; conducted training exercises, and on 16 October, again sailed west from San Diego. She arrived at [[Ulithi]] on 5 November, then continued on to the [[Palau]]s and the [[Philippines]]. From the 14th-23rd, she furnished air cover for convoys in the [[Leyte Gulf]] area, then proceeded to the Admiralties to stage for the invasion of [[Luzon]].

She departed [[Seeadler Harbor]] on 27 December and moved north. On 6 January 1945, 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 the 9th, they provided air cover for the troops landing on the assault beaches, then continued that support until the 13th.

Just before 0900 on that day, a ''[[kamikaze]]'' carrying two 551 pound (250&nbsp;kg) bombs crashed on ''Salamaua''{{'}}s flight deck. 15 men were killed, and over 80 injured. Damage was extensive: the flight deck, the hangar deck, and spaces below were set ablaze; one of the bombs, failing to explode, punched through the starboard side at the waterline; power, communications, and steering failed; and one of her engine rooms flooded, preventing repairs to her starboard engine, which had quit. But by 0910, her gunners had splashed two more ''kamikazes''.

Temporary repairs enabled the CVE to return to San Francisco. Arriving on 26 February, repairs were quickly completed; and, on 21 April, she moved west again. On 20 May, she arrived at [[Guam]], where she continued on to the [[Ryukyu Islands]] where she joined other escort carriers on the 26th to support land operations on [[Okinawa]]. On 4 June, she joined a logistic support group, but on the 5th, she was damaged by a typhoon. Repairs were made at Guam and, toward the end of July, she assumed antisubmarine patrol duty in the Marianas-Okinawa convoy lanes. In August, she shifted to the Leyte-Okinawa lanes, where she remained until after the mid-month Japanese surrender.

On the 25th, ''Salamaua'' returned to Leyte, replenished, then escorted a troop convoy to [[Tokyo Bay]]. The convoy arrived on 2 September, and the CVE's planes photographed the landing of the occupation troops at [[Yokohama]] the same day. After guarding a second convoy into Tokyo Bay, she joined the "Magic Carpet" fleet, embarked veterans for transport to the United States, and disembarked them at Alameda on 3 October.

Before the end of the year, Salamaua completed two more "Magic Carpet" runs. In 1946, she prepared for inactivation. She was decommissioned on 9 May 1946, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on the 21st, and subsequently sold to the Zidell Ship Dismantling Co., Portland, Oregon, for scrapping on 18 November 1946.

==Awards==
''Salamaua'' earned three [[battle star]]s for her [[World War II]] service.

==References==
{{DANFS}}

==External links==
* [http://www.navsource.org/archives/03/096.htm Photo gallery] at navsource.org

{{Casablanca_class_escort_carrier}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Salamaua (Cve-96)}}
[[Category:Casablanca-class escort carriers]]
[[Category:World War II escort aircraft carriers of the United States]]
[[Category:Ships damaged by kamikaze attack]]
[[Category:Ships at the Japanese Instrument of Surrender]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]

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[[ja:サラマウア (護衛空母)]]