USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70)

USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70)
Ship name	USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70)
Ship class	Bogue-class escort carrier
Builder	Kaiser Shipbuilding Company
Laid down	1943
Launched	1943
Commissioned	1943
Decommissioned	1946
Fate	Transferred for disposal 1947
Displacement	Approx. 9,800 tons full load
Length	Approx. 512 ft
Beam	Approx. 65 ft
Propulsion	Steam turbines
Speed	16.5 kn
Complement	Approximately 890 officers and enlisted
Aircraft	About 24 aircraft (fighter and torpedo bomber)

USS Fanshaw Bay (CVE-70) was a Bogue-class escort carrier of the United States Navy commissioned during World War II. She supported Atlantic Ocean and Pacific Ocean convoy escort, anti-submarine warfare, and amphibious operations by providing close air support, reconnaissance, and antisubmarine patrols. Fanshaw Bay participated in major operations in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, the Marianas campaign, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf, operating alongside fleet carriers, battleships, and escort groups.

Design and construction

Fanshaw Bay was ordered as part of the rapid wartime expansion under the Emergency Shipbuilding Program and laid down by Kaiser Shipyards at Vancouver, Washington. As a member of the Bogue-class escort carrier series, her design derived from the C3-class freighter hull and incorporated a flight deck, hangar, aircraft elevators, and arresting gear to operate Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters and Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers. Construction emphasized modular techniques developed at Kaiser Shipbuilding Company and benefited from standardized components used in Liberty ship and Victory ship production. Her armament scheme included dual-purpose guns similar to those on Gearing-class destroyers and dual 40 mm Bofors mounts like many Cleveland-class cruiser escorts. The vessel was christened and launched in 1943 and commissioned into service under the command of a United States Naval Academy-trained officer.

Service history

After shakedown and training with carrier task units drawn from United States Atlantic Fleet assets, Fanshaw Bay escorted convoys in the North Atlantic Ocean, protecting merchantmen and troopships bound for Scotland, England, and North Africa. She conducted antisubmarine patrols coordinated with Task Force 67 and hunter-killer groups that had interdicted German U-boat operations during the Battle of the Atlantic. Reassigned to the United States Pacific Fleet via the Panama Canal, Fanshaw Bay transited to the Central Pacific to join operations staged from advanced anchorage areas like Majuro Atoll and Enewetak Atoll. Her service involved integration with carrier task groups centered on Fleet Admiral Chester W. Nimitz’s command and cooperation with amphibious forces organized by Admiral Raymond A. Spruance.

Aircraft and air group

Fanshaw Bay embarked composite squadrons that typically included F4F Wildcat fighters, TBF/TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, and scout variants used for reconnaissance and antisubmarine work. Her air group trained in carrier qualification operations, night and day strike tactics influenced by lessons from the Guadalcanal Campaign and Battle of the Coral Sea, and coordinated with long-range patrol aircraft such as Consolidated PBY Catalinas. Pilots and aircrew often rotated from Naval Air Station training centers like NAS San Diego, NAS Pensacola, and NAS Seattle. The ship’s squadrons flew combat sorties in close air support for Marine Corps landings, interdicted Japanese shipping informed by Naval Intelligence analyses, and hunted Japanese submarine threats guided by Hedgehog and depth charge tactics employed by escorting destroyer escorts.

Battle engagements and operations

Fanshaw Bay supported the Gilbert Islands assaults by providing CAP (combat air patrol) and bombing runs during the Battle of Tarawa phase of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. Later, she played a role in the Marianas campaign where escort carriers screened amphibious assault convoys for the Battle of Saipan and the Battle of Guam. During the Philippine campaign (1944–45), Fanshaw Bay’s aircraft participated in strikes ahead of the Battle of Leyte and in antisubmarine sweeps during the Battle of Leyte Gulf, coordinating with units from Task Force 38 and Task Group 77.4. Her planes conducted air interdiction against Imperial Japanese Navy resupply efforts, attacked enemy shipping in the Sulu Sea, and supported reclamation operations at Okinawa by flying close air support and anti-kamikaze CAP missions. Fanshaw Bay also took part in air-sea rescue operations resembling missions conducted by escort carriers during the Solomon Islands campaign and New Guinea campaign.

Post-war disposition and legacy

Following Japan’s surrender after the Atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki and the end of World War II, Fanshaw Bay participated in repatriation and transport assignments, moving personnel and materiel among forward bases and home ports including Pearl Harbor and San Diego. She was decommissioned and entered the United States Navy Reserve Fleet before being struck and transferred for disposal under postwar drawdown policies influenced by the Montgomery Naval Act-era budgeting and Naval Appropriations adjustments. Elements of her wartime service informed postwar escort carrier doctrine and influenced designs leading to Helicopter Carrier and Amphibious Assault Ship concepts. Crew rosters included veterans who later served in Korean War era units and contributed to naval aviation history through service records preserved at institutions like the National Naval Aviation Museum and archival collections at the Naval History and Heritage Command.

Awards and honors

For her wartime service, Fanshaw Bay’s ship’s company and air groups earned campaign credits for operations in the Pacific War theater, receiving battle stars consistent with participation in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign, Marianas campaign, and Philippine Islands campaign (1944–45). Individual aviators aboard received decorations comparable to awards conferred during the period such as the Navy Cross, Distinguished Flying Cross, and Air Medal in recognition of valor and sustained operational achievement.

Category:Escort carriers of the United States Navy Category:Ships built in Vancouver, Washington Category:1943 ships