USS Kula Gulf
_underway_at_sea_on_5_September_1945_(NNAM.1996.488.035.010).jpg) USS Kula Gulf on 5 September 1945
| |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | USS Kula Gulf |
| Namesake | Battle of Kula Gulf |
| Builder | Todd-Pacific Shipyards |
| Laid down | 16 December 1943 |
| Launched | 15 August 1944 |
| Commissioned | 12 May 1945 |
| Decommissioned | 6 October 1969 |
| Stricken | 15 September 1970 |
| Fate | Scrapped in 1971 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type | Commencement Bay-class escort carrier |
| Displacement | 21,397 long tons (21,740 t) |
| Length | 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) loa |
| Beam | 75 ft (23 m) |
| Draft | 32 ft (9.8 m) |
| Installed power | |
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph) |
| Complement | 1,066 |
| Armament |
|
| Aircraft carried | 33 |
| Aviation facilities | 2 × aircraft catapults |
USS Vermillion Bay (CVE-108) was a Commencement Bay-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was renamed Kula Gulf on 6 November 1943; laid down by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., Tacoma, Wash. on 16 December 1943; launched on 15 August 1944; sponsored by Miss Dorothy Mott; completed by Willamette Iron & Steel Corp., Portland, Oregon; and commissioned at Portland on 12 May 1945, Captain J. W. King in command.
Design[edit]
In 1941, as United States participation in World War II became increasingly likely, the US Navy embarked on a construction program for escort carriers, which were converted from transport ships of various types. Many of the escort carrier types were converted from C3-type transports, but the Sangamon-class escort carriers were instead rebuilt oil tankers. These proved to be very successful ships, and the Commencement Bay class, authorized for Fiscal Year 1944, were an improved version of the Sangamon design. The new ships were faster, had improved aviation facilities, and had better internal compartmentation.[1] They proved to be the most successful of the escort carriers, and the only class to be retained in active service after the war, since they were large enough to operate newer aircraft.[2]
Kula Gulf was 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) long overall, with a beam of 75 ft (23 m) at the waterline, which extended to 105 ft 2 in (32.05 m) at maximum. She displaced 21,397 long tons (21,740 t) at full load, of which 12,876 long tons (13,083 t) could be fuel oil (though some of her storage tanks were converted to permanently store seawater for ballast), and at full load she had a draft of 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m). The ship's superstructure consisted of a small island. She had a complement of 1,066 officers and enlisted men.[3]
The ship was powered by two Allis-Chalmers geared steam turbines, each driving one screw propeller, using steam provided by four Combustion Engineering-manufactured water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated to produce a total of 16,000 shp (12,000 kW) for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Given the very large storage capacity for oil, the ships of the Commencement Bay class could steam for some 23,900 nautical miles (44,300 km; 27,500 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[3]
Her defensive anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns in single mounts, thirty-six 40 mm (2 in) Bofors guns, and twenty 20 mm (1 in) Oerlikon light AA cannons. The Bofors guns were placed in three quadruple and twelve twin mounts, while the Oerlikon guns were all mounted individually. She carried 33 planes, which could be launched from two aircraft catapults. Two elevators transferred aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck.[3]
Service history[edit]
World War II[edit]
The first fifteen ships of the Commencement Bay class were ordered on 23 January 1943, allocated to Fiscal Year 1944.[2] Originally named Vermillion Bay, the ship assigned hull number CVE-108 was renamed Kula Gulf on 6 November 1943, before work at the Todd-Pacific Shipyards began. Her keel was laid down on 16 December, and she was launched on 15 August 1944. She was then moved to Portland, Oregon, where she was completed by the Williamette Iron & Steel Corporation. The ship was commissioned on 12 May 1945. She then went on a shakedown cruise and completed training exercises, including for night carrier operations, off the West Coast of the United States. She finally got underway to join the American fleet fighting in the western Pacific on 5 August.[4]
Kula Gulf passed through Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, and the Marshall Islands before arriving in Leyte Gulf in the Philippines on 14 September, nearly two weeks after Japan surrendered, formally ending World War II. The ship spent the next two months patrolling in the East China Sea, based in Okinawa. She also transported planes between Saipan and Guam in the Mariana Islands during this period. She thereafter joined Operation Magic Carpet, the effort to repatriate American service members after the war. She embarked some 600 men at Guam and left on 17 November, bound for San Francisco. She arrived there on 4 December and disembarked her passengers. She made a second cruise to East Asia on 10 December, arriving in China on 10 January 1946; she picked up some 1,520 men at Tientsin and Qingdao and brought them back to San Diego, California, arriving on 26 January.[4]
Atlantic Fleet operations[edit]
She departed San Francisco for the East Coast 26 February, arrived Norfolk on 16 March, decommissioned at Boston on 3 July, and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.
When the Korean War brought an urgent need for a greatly expanded fleet throughout the world, Kula Gulf recommissioned at Boston on 15 February 1951, Captain Alden D. Schwarz in command. After shakedown out of Guantánamo Bay, Cuba, the escort carrier departed Norfolk on 6 August and carried a cargo of airplanes to Casablanca, French Morocco. Following her return to Norfolk on 1 September, she spent the next 15 months training pilots of helicopter, air-antisubmarine, and fighter squadrons to strengthen U.S. forces in Korea.
In May 1952, Kula Gulf supported Marine helicopter maneuvers on Vieques Island, Puerto Rico, and in October, she operated as ASW screen to troop transports bound for Labrador. Following a modernization overhaul from January–July 1953, she resumed air-antisubmarine maneuvers in the Caribbean and off the Atlantic coast.
From 1953 to 1955, Kula Gulf helped perfect ASW techniques by participating in search and kill exercises with ships of the Atlantic Fleet. She played an important role in the development of more effective antisubmarine warfare tactics that help the Navy control the seas. In addition to ASW development, she also aided the advancement of helicopter warfare tactics, which are now so important during the struggle to repel Communist aggression in South Vietnam. Kula Gulf supported Marine vertical assault landing exercises at Vieques Island between February and April 1955. After returning to Norfolk on 26 April, she entered Boston Naval Shipyard on 13 May and Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 19 August for inactivation overhauls. She decommissioned at Philadelphia on 15 December 1955 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was reclassified AKV-8 on 7 May 1959.
Vietnam War[edit]
As Communist aggression in South Vietnam increased, the United States expanded efforts to protect the integrity and independence of the Republic of Vietnam (South Vietnam). This assistance posed vast logistic demands and created the need for additional sea power. Because of this urgent need, Kula Gulf was transferred to Military Sealift Command on 30 June 1965 for use as an aircraft ferry. In the summer of 1965, she carried helicopters and troops of the 1st Cavalry Division from the East Coast to Vietnam. She continued aircraft shuttle operations between West Coast ports and American bases along the coast of South Vietnam into 1967.
Kula Gulf was decommissioned on 6 October 1969, struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 15 September 1970, and sold for scrap in 1971.
Awards[edit]
- Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" and "EUROPE" clasps
- China Service Medal
- National Defense Service Medal with star
- Vietnam Service Medal
- Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal
Notes[edit]
- ^ Friedman 1986, pp. 107–111.
- ^ a b Friedman 1983, p. 199.
- ^ a b c Friedman 1986, p. 111.
- ^ a b DANFS.
References[edit]
This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
- Friedman, Norman (1986). "United States of America". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 105–133. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
- Friedman, Norman (1983). U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History. Annapolis: Naval Institute Press. ISBN 978-0-87021-739-5.
- "Kula Gulf (CVE-108)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 27 April 2016. Retrieved 27 April 2024.
This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain. - Silverstone, Paul H. (2012). The Navy of World War II, 1922–1947. New York: Routledge. ISBN 978-1-135-86472-9.
