USS
VELLA GULF (CVE-111)
1944
– 1971
Earl
King, deceased, of Milton's King's Ice Cream fame, served
on
this carrier escort , a Commencement Bay Class ship of the U S
Navy,
laid down 7 March 1944 as the Totem Bay at Tacoma,
Washington., by Todd-Pacific Shipyard,, renamed Vella Gulf
on
April
26, 1944, launched 19 October 1944. On April 9, 1945 she
was
commissioned and Captain Rober W. Morse took the command.
The
Valla Gulf took a Marine air group on board and on 9 June 1945
left
the
west coast for Hawaii arrive Pearl Harbor 25 June 1945.
The
Valla Gulf departed Pearl Harbor for the Mariannas to conduct
air
strikes
to Rota and Pagan Islands with Vought F4U's, Grumman F6F
aircraft,
and Grumman TBM bombers. That done she left for the
Buckne
Bay, Okinawa for the attack on Japan mainland.
August
6th she arrived Buckner Bay, Okinawa, and that evening
was
ordered
to set off fireworks. The Japanese had surendered.
Based at Guam she participated in the occupation operations.
March 1946 she was back home at San Diego and on August 9, 1946
decommissioned..
The
Vella Gulf received one Battle Star for service during the
Mariana
and
Palau Islands campaign.
WIKIPEDIA:
No comments:
Post a Comment