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USS Sargent Bay (CVE 83)

- formerly ACV 83, formerly AVG 83 -
- later CVU 83 -
- decommissioned -


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USS SARGENT BAY was the 29th CASABLANCA - class escort aircraft carrier and the first ship in the Navy to bear the name. Decommissioned on July 23, 1946, the SARGENT BAY was placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Boston. The ship was re-classified CVU 83 on June 12, 1955. The SARGENT BAY was stricken from the Navy list on June 27, 1958, and was sold to J. C. Berkwitt Co. New York, on July 30, 1959. The ship was scrapped at Antwerp, Belgium, in September 1960.

General Characteristics:Awarded: 1942
Keel laid: November 8, 1943
Launched: January 31, 1944
Commissioned: March 9, 1944
Decommissioned: July 23, 1946
Builder: Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash.
Propulsion system: four boilers
Propellers: two
Length: 512.5 feet (156.2 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 108 feet (32.9 meters)
Beam: 65 feet (19.9 meters)
Draft: 22.6 feet (6.9 meters)
Displacement: approx. 10,400 tons full load
Speed: 19 knots
Catapults: one
Aircraft: 28 planes
Armament: one 5-inch L/38 gun, 16 40mm guns, 20 20mm guns
Crew: 860


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Crew List:

This section contains the names of sailors who served aboard USS SARGENT BAY. It is no official listing but contains the names of sailors who submitted their information.


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Embarked Squadrons:

PeriodSquadron (Aircraft)
March 1944 - February 1945VC-79 (10 FM, 4 F4F and 9 TBF/TBM)
March - July 1945VC-83 (16 FM and 12 TBM)
July - August 1945VC-33 (FM and TBM)


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History of USS SARGENT BAY:

SARGENT BAY (CVE 83), originally classified AVG 83, was reclassified ACV 83 on 20 August 1942; allocated to Great Britain, under Lend Lease, on 11 November, reallocated to the United States on 21 June 1943; reclassified CVE 83 on 15 July; laid down on 8 November 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Vancouver, Wash., under Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1120); launched on 31 January 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Edith W. DeBaun, and commissioned on 9 March 1944, Capt. W. T. Rassieur in command.

Following shakedown, SARGENT BAY completed a ferry trip to the central Pacific with replacement aircraft before reporting to the 3rd Fleet at Pearl Harbor on 17 August. The following day, she sailed for Eniwetok and Manus, and, on 6 November, departed the latter for the first of four tours of duty with underway replenishment groups off the Philippines. While the carrier's planes patrolled overhead, the other units of the replenishment groups provided fuel and replacement aircraft to the fast carriers, enabling them to remain at sea for extended periods. Later based at Ulithi, SARGENT BAY remained on this duty until 27 January 1945, with individual tours at sea lasting from two to four weeks.

In February 1945, SARGENT BAY undertook a new assignment and arrived off Iwo Jima on the 16th to provide air support for the landings there. Her aircraft flew artillery spotting and ground support missions, and antiaircraft and antisubmarine patrols until the ship departed Iwo Jima on 11 March. She provided similar support during the Okinawa campaign from 25 March to 20 June 1945, with time out only for a period in support of the Logistics Support Group between 7 and 18 April and for repairs at Guam from 15 May to 2 June. The ship arrived off Leyte on 23 June for a month of upkeep, and then sailed for overhaul in the United States, arriving at San Pedro, Calif., on 9 August.

On completion of repairs, SARGENT BAY was assigned to "Magic Carpet" duty. She made two trips bringing troops from Hawaii in October, and two more in November and December from Eniwetok and Okinawa. She arrived at Boston, Mass., for inactivation on 23 March 1946, and was decommissioned and placed in reserve there on 23 July 1946.

SARGENT BAY was reclassified CVU 83 on 12 June 1955. She was struck from the Navy list on 27 June 1958, sold on 30 July 1959 to the J. C. Berkwitt Co. New York, and scrapped at Antwerp, Belgium, in September 1959.

SARGENT BAY received 6 battle stars for her World War II service.


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