USS Shamrock Bay (CVE-84)

History of the Clover Cove (CVE-84)

During World War II (1939-1945), escort carriers were used by the navies of the United States, Britain and Japan. These aircraft carriers are smaller in size and have a reduced war load on their aircraft, but they are slower to fly and less capable of self-defense than full-sized aircraft carriers.

The Compromise was an efficient sea-going ship that could be built in wartime at a much lower procurement cost in a short period of timein fact, some builds were just modifications to existing merchant ships.

The Casablanca class was developed by the US Navy with 50 ships to supplement its main carrier inventory. USS Shamrock Bay (CVE-84) of hers was built by Kaiser Shipyards on March 15, 1943. She was launched on February 4, 1944, and commissioned on March 15 of the same year.

When built, she displaces 7,800 tons at light load and 10,400 tons at full load. The vessel has a length of 512.2 feet, a beam of 65.1 feet and a draft of 22.5 feet. Installed power includes 4 boilers powering 2 Skinner "Unaflow" 5-cylinder piston engines producing 9,000 hp on 2 axles.

The maximum speed is over 19 knots and the range is up to 10,240 nautical miles.

USS Shamrock Bay is less well-defended than her big sister, but carries some useful self-defense weapons - a 1 x 5"/38 caliber Dual Purpose (DP) gun leads the way, supported by 16 x 40mm Bofors Anti-Aircraft Guns (AA) (in eight twin-gun positions) and 28 x 20mm Oerlikon anti-aircraft guns (all single-gun positions).

The shape of the USS Clover Bay is a true "flat-top" carrier, with a clean flight deck from bow to stern. The aircraft started at the bow and was recovered at the stern. The bridge superstructure was relocated to starboard, and the hangar elevator served the flight deck and hangar area below.

The warship has a crew of up to 915, and her wings consist of 28 aircraft.

Her first service was in dangerous Atlantic waters, where she was deployed to strengthen numbers in North Africa and Europe. Exhausted by Pacific escort carriers, her next chapter was against Imperial Japan in the Pacific theater and served with the U.S. Pacific Fleet from 1944 to 1946. Clover Bay participated in the Philippine Campaign, Iwo Jima, Jima and Okinawa campaigns before the war ended in August 1945.

She then served as a transport in Operation Magic Carpet, transporting veterans back to the United States.

The ship received three Battle Stars for her service in WWII. After her retirement on July 6, 1946, she joined other warships from 1946 to 1958 as part of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On June 27, 1958, her name was removed from the Naval Register and handed over for scrap.

Specification

Basic

Roles

Dimensions

Weight

Performance

Performance

Armor

Wing