USS Long Island (CVE-1)
|
i love Victoria>| Career | |
| Laid down: | 7 July 1939 |
| Launched: | 11 January 1940 |
| Commissioned: | 2 June 1941 |
| Decommissioned: | 26 March 1946 |
| Stricken: | 12 April 1946 |
| Fate: | Scrapped in Belgium in 1977 |
| General Characteristics |
|---|
| Displacement: | 13,499 tons |
| Length: | 492 ft (150 m) |
| Beam: | 69.5 ft (21.2 m) |
| Draft: | 25.7 ft (7.83 m) |
| Speed: | 16.5 knots (30.6 km/h) |
| Complement: | 970 officers and men |
| Armament: | 1 x 5 in (127 mm) gun, 2 x 3 in (77 mm) guns |
| Aircraft: | 21 |
The second
USS Long Island (CVE-1) (originally
AVG-1 and then
ACV-1) was lead ship of the
Long Island class and the first
escort aircraft carrier of the
United States Navy.
She was laid down on
7 July 1939, as
Mormacmail, under
Maritime Commission contract, by the
Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company,
Chester, Pennsylvania, launched on
11 January 1940, sponsored by Miss
Dian B. Holt, acquired by the Navy on
6 March 1941, and commissioned on
2 June 1941 as
Long Island (AVG-1), Commander
Donald B. Duncan in command.
In the tense months before the
attack on Pearl Harbor, the new escort aircraft carrier operated out of
Norfolk, Virginia, conducting experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations from converted cargo ships. The data gathered by
Long Island greatly improved the combat readiness of later "baby flattops." Just after the
Japanese attack,
Long Island escorted a
convoy to
Newfoundland and qualified carrier pilots at Norfolk before departing for the West Coast on
10 May 1942. Reaching
San Francisco 5 June, the ship immediately joined
Admiral Pye's four
battleships and provided air cover while at sea to reinforce Admiral
Chester Nimitz's forces after their brilliant victory in the
Battle of Midway. She left the formation
17 June and returned to the West Coast to resume carrier pilot training.
Long Island departed
San Diego on
8 July 1942 and arrived
Pearl Harbor the 17th. After a training run south to
Palmyra Island, the ship loaded two squadrons of
Marine Corps aircraft and got underway for the
South Pacific 2 August. Five days later, the Marines, while landing on
Guadalcanal, encountered stiff opposition and needed more air support than could be provided by the handful of carriers available during the early months of the war. Touching at
Fiji 13 August,
Long Island then steamed to a point 200 miles (320 km) southeast of Guadalcanal and launched her aircraft. These planes, the first to reach
Henderson Field, were instrumental in the liberation of Guadalcanal and went on to compile a distinguished war record. Her mission was accomplished. Reclassified
ACV-1 on
20 August,
Long Island sailed for
Efate,
New Hebrides, and arrived
23 August.
Long Island returned to the West Coast on
20 September 1942, as the new "baby flattops" took up the slack in the Pacific war zones. For the next year, the escort carrier trained carrier pilots at San Diego, an unglamorous but vital contribution to victory.
Long Island was reclassified
CVE-1 on
15 July 1943. During
1944 and
1945, she transported airplanes and their crews from the West Coast to various outposts in the Pacific. After
V-J Day, she revisited many of these same bases while transporting soldiers and sailors back home during
Operation Magic Carpet.
Long Island decommissioned on
26 March 1946 at
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. Struck from the
Navy List on
12 April 1946, she was sold to
Zidell Ship Dismantling Company,
Portland, Oregon, on
24 April 1947 for scrapping. This was not to be. The old warrior still had some life left, for on
12 March 1948, she was acquired by the
Canada-Europe Line for conversion to merchant service. Upon completion of conversion in
1949, she was renamed
Nelly and served as an immigrant carrier between
Europe and
Canada. In
1953, she was sold to the
University of the Seven Seas and was converted into a
school ship. Later that year, she was renamed
Seven Seas and with her cargo of students, began sailing all over the world in pursuit of knowledge. After 13 years of service in this role, she was replaced as a school ship for the university, and was sold to the
University of Rotterdam about
1966, for use as a
floating dormitory berthed near the university grounds, and was finally scrapped in
1977 in
Belgium.
Long Island received one
battle star for World War II service.
*
USS Long Island for other ships of this name.
*
List of aircraft carriers*
List of escort aircraft carriers of the United States Navy*
List of World War II ships*
USS Long Island (CVE-1) Association homepage*
Navy photographs of Long Island*
