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N7KTP > NAVNET 24.09.04 20:33l 78 Lines 4323 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 23067_N7FSP
Read: GUEST
Subj: USS LONG ISLAND (CVE-1)
Path: DB0FHN<DB0FOR<DB0MRW<DB0PV<DB0FSG<I4UKI<IK2YHJ<IK2QCA<IK5CKL<IZ0AWG<
KP4IG<HG8LXL<ON4HU<7M3TJZ<N7FSP
Sent: 040924/1156z @:N7FSP.#SEA.#WWA.WA.USA.NOAM West Seattle, WA. on 145.010
Long Island proved flight ops could be done by converted cargo ships
By FRED MILES WATSON - Managing editor – Northwest Navigator
USS Long Island was originally built under a Maritime Commission
contract (hull number 47) as the civilian freighter Mormacmail by the
Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pa. It was acquired by the
Navy on March 6, 1941 and converted to an auxiliary aircraft carrier by
the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.
She was commissioned June 2, 1941 as USS Long Island (AVG-l) with
Cmdr. Donald B. Duncan in command.
The lead ship of the class, Long Island displaced 7,886 tons stan-
dard and ; 13,499 tons with a full load. With a draw of 25 feet, eight
inches, Long Island could reach nearly 17 knots. Her power plant
consisted of four Busch -Sulzer diesels linked to one shaft, producing
8,500 bhp.
Long Island was outfitted with one, single 5-inch, .51Caliber and
two, single three-inch .50Caliber gunmounts. She was also outfitted
with four .50Caliber machine guns. She carried 21 aircraft and had a
wartime crew of 970 Sailors. In the tense months before Pearl Harbor,
the new escort aircraft carrier operated out of Norfolk, conducting
experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations from
converted cargo ships. The data gathered by the carrier 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 May 10, 1942. Reaching San Francisco on June 5, the ship immediately
joined Admiral Pye's four battleships and provided air cover while at
sea to reinforce Admiral Nimitz' forces after their victory in the
Battle of Midway.
She left the formation July 17, and returned to the West Coast to
resume carrier pilot training. Long Island departed San Diego July 8,
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 Aug. 2.
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 Fiji Islands Aug. 13, Long Island then steamed to
a point 200 miles 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. Reclassified ACV-l on Aug. 20, Long Island sailed for
Efate, New Hebrides, and arrived Aug. 23.
Long Island returned to the West Coast Sept. 20, 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. Long
Island was reclassified CVE-l on July 15, 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 March 26, 1946 at Puget Sound Naval
Shipyard. She was struck from the Navy List on April 12, 1946 and sold
to Zidell Ship Dismantling Co., Portland, Ore., April 24, 1947 for
scrapping. Long Island never made it to the scrappers platform and
torch as she was acquired by the Canada-Europe Line in March of 1948
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 schoolship. She was later 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 schoolship for the university, and was sold to the University of
Rotterdam for use as a floating dormitory in 1966. She was finally
scrapped in Belgium in 1977.
USS Long Island (CVE-l) was awarded one battle star for its World
War II service.
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