View source for USS Chenango (CVE-28)

{{short description|Oiler of the United States Navy}}
{{other ships|USS Chenango}}
{{morefootnotes|date=October 2024}}
{{Use American English|date=October 2024}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=October 2024}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Chenango CVE28.jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Chenango''
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship name=SS ''Esso New Orleans''
|Ship namesake=
|Ship owner=[[Standard Oil Company]]
|Ship registry=
|Ship operator=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship awarded=
|Ship builder=[[Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company]], [[Chester, Pennsylvania]]
|Ship original cost=
|Ship laid down=10 July 1938
|Ship launched=1 April 1939
|Ship sponsor=Mrs. Rathbone
|Ship homeport=
|Ship fate=Purchased by the US Navy
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=title
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1959}}
|Ship name=USS ''Chenango''
|Ship namesake=* [[Chenango River]]
* [[Chenango County, New York]]
* [[Chenango, New York]]
|Ship acquired=31 May 1941
|Ship commissioned=20 June 1941, as AO-31
|Ship decommissioned=16 March 1942
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned= 19 September 1942, as ACV-28
|Ship decommissioned= 14 August 1946
|Ship reclassified=*CVE-28, 15 July 1943
*CVHE-28, 12 June 1955
|Ship in service=
|Ship out of service=
|Ship struck= 1 March 1959
|Ship reinstated=
|Ship homeport=
|Ship motto=
|Ship nickname=
|Ship honours=
|Ship fate= Sold, 12 February 1960
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=as escort carrier
|Ship class={{sclass|Sangamon|escort carrier}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|11400|LT|t|0|lk=on}}{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}
|Ship length={{convert|553|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship beam=*{{convert|75|ft|m|abbr=on}}
*{{convert|114|ft|3|in|m|abbr=on}} extreme width
|Ship draft={{convert|32|ft|m|abbr=on}}
|Ship propulsion=*2 × [[steam turbine]]s
*2 × shafts
|Ship speed={{convert|18|kn|mph km/h|lk=in|abbr=on}}
|Ship range=
|Ship complement=1,080 officers and men{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament=2 × [[5"/51 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|mm|0|abbr=on}}/51 cal gun]]s{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}<ref name="Friedman">Friedman 1983 p. 407</ref>
|Ship aircraft=31
|Ship aircraft facilities=2 × elevators
|Ship notes=
}}
{{Infobox service record
|is_ship=yes
|label=
|partof=
|codes=
|commanders=
|operations=World War II
|victories=
|awards=*11 [[Naval Star Awards|battle stars]]
*[[Navy Unit Commendation]]
}}
|}

The second '''USS ''Chenango'' (CVE-28)''' (originally designated as [[T3 Tanker]] [[Oiler (ship)|oiler]] '''AO-31''', after re-designation as an [[escort carrier]], was first '''ACV-28''') was launched on 1 April 1939 as ''Esso New Orleans'' by the [[Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company]], in [[Chester, Pennsylvania]], sponsored by Mrs. Rathbone; acquired by the [[United States Navy]] on 31 May 1941; and commissioned on 20 June 1941 as '''AO-31'''.{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}

==Service as oiler==
Assigned to the Naval Transportation Service, ''Chenango'' steamed in the Atlantic, the Caribbean, and the Pacific as far as [[Honolulu]] on [[tanker (ship)|tanker]] duty. ''Chenango'' was present at [[Aruba]], N.W.I. on 16 February 1942 when a [[U-boat|German submarine]] shelled one of the island's refineries. She was decommissioned at [[Brooklyn Navy Yard]] on 16 March for conversion to an escort carrier.{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}

==Conversion and combat service as escort carrier==
Her conversion complete, she was recommissioned as '''ACV-28''' on 19 September 1942. Carrying 77 [[P-40 Warhawk]]s of the [[33d Operations Group|33rd Fighter Group]] of the [[United States Army Air Forces]], ''Chenango'' sailed on 23 October with the [[Operation Torch|Torch]] assault force bound for North Africa, and on 10 November, flew off her aircraft to newly won [[Battle of Port Lyautey|Port Lyautey]], [[French Morocco]].{{sfn|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}{{sfn|Craven|Cate|1983|p=77}} She put into [[Casablanca]] on 13 November to refuel 21 [[destroyer]]s before returning to [[Norfolk, Virginia]], on 30 November, battling through a [[hurricane]] en route which caused extensive damage.

Quickly repaired, ''Chenango'' was underway for the Pacific by mid-December, possibly alongside {{USS|Taylor|DD-468|6}} as part of Task Force 13. Arriving at [[Nouméa]] on 18 January 1943, she joined the escort carrier group providing air cover for supply convoys supporting the invasion and occupation of the [[Solomon Islands]]. One of her air groups was sent to [[Henderson Field (Guadalcanal)|Henderson Field]], [[Guadalcanal]] to give close support to [[U.S. Marine Corps]] forces ashore. One of ''Chenango''{{'}}s duties during this period was to stand sentry off the fiercely contested island. As part of her Solomons operations, ''Chenango''{{'}}s planes formed an air umbrella to escort to safety {{USS|St. Louis|CL-49|2}} and {{USS|Honolulu|CL-48|2}} after the cruisers were damaged in the [[Battle of Kolombangara]] on 13 July. Redesignated '''CVE-28''' on 15 July, ''Chenango'' returned to [[Mare Island]] on 18 August for an overhaul, then acted as training carrier for new air groups until 19 October. She steamed from [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] to join the [[Gilbert Islands]] invasion force at [[Espiritu Santo]] on 5 November. During the invasion of [[Tarawa Atoll|Tarawa]] from 20 November-8 December, her planes covered the advance of the attack force, bombed and strafed beaches ahead of the invading troops, and protected off-shore convoys. On 29 November 1943, at 21:57, her Avenger TBFs (Air Group 35) found and sank a Japanese submarine, probably ''I-21''.<ref>[http://www.combinedfleet.com/I-21.htm ''I-21''] Combinedfleet.com</ref> She returned to San Diego for another period of training duty.

Steaming from San Diego on 13 January 1944, ''Chenango'' supported the invasion landings on [[Roi-Namur|Roi]], [[Kwajalein]], and [[Eniwetok]] in the Marshalls operation. After protecting the service group refueling fleet units engaged in the [[Palau]] strikes, ''Chenango'' arrived at Espiritu Santo on 7 April. She sortied for the landings at [[Aitape]] and Hollandia (now [[Jayapura]]) (16 April–12 May), then joined Task Group 53.7 (TG&nbsp;53.7) for the invasion of the [[Mariana Islands|Marianas]]. Her planes crippled airfield installations, sank enemy shipping, and hammered harbor facilities on [[Pagan Island]], as well as conducting valuable photographic reconnaissance of [[Guam]]. From 8 July, she joined in daily poundings of Guam, preparing for the island's invasion. She returned to [[Manus Island|Manus]] on 13 August to replenish and conduct training.

[[File:USS Chenango (CVE-28) underway 1944.jpg|thumb|USS ''Chenango'' underway in 1944.]]

From 10 to 29 September, ''Chenango'' joined in the neutralization of enemy airfields in the [[Halmahera]]s in support of the invasion of [[Morotai]], stepping-stone to the [[Philippines]]. After preparations at Manus, ''Chenango'' cleared on 12 October to conduct softening up strikes on [[Leyte (island)|Leyte]] in preparation for the invasion landings on 20 October. ''Chenango'' and her sister ship {{USS|Sangamon|CVE-26|2}} were attacked by three Japanese planes on the afternoon of D-Day, and shot down all three, capturing one of the pilots. Sailing to Morotai to load new aircraft, ''Chenango'' was not in action waters during the [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]], but returned on 28 October to provide replacement aircraft to her victorious sister escort carriers, who had held the Japanese fleet off from Leyte. The next day, she sailed for overhaul at [[Seattle, Washington]] until 9 February 1945.

After the overhaul period, she again sailed west, arriving at [[Tulagi]] in the Solomons on 4 March. ''Chenango'' conducted training, then sortied from [[Ulithi]] on 27 March for the invasion of [[Okinawa Island|Okinawa]]. She gave air cover in the feint landings on the southern tip of the island, then was assigned to neutralize the ''[[kamikaze]]'' bases in [[Sakashima Gunto]]. On 9 April, a crash-landing fighter started a raging fire among the strike-loaded aircraft on ''Chenango''{{'}}s deck. Skillful work by her crew saved the ship from serious damage and she remained in action off Okinawa until 11 June. After escorting a tanker convoy to [[San Pedro Bay (Philippines)|San Pedro Bay]], ''Chenango'' sailed on 26 July to join the logistics force for the [[United States Third Fleet|3rd Fleet]], then engaged in the final offensive against Japan.

==Postwar service and scrapping==
Following the cease-fire, ''Chenango'' supported the occupation forces and evacuated some 1,900 Allied prisoners of war and 1,500 civilians from slave labor camps. She cleared [[Tokyo Bay]] on 25 October, and after a brief overhaul at San Diego, returned to "[[Operation Magic Carpet (World War II)|Magic Carpet]]" duty, transporting veterans from Okinawa and [[Pearl Harbor]] to the West Coast. ''Chenango'' sailed from [[San Pedro, California]] on 5 February for [[Boston]], and was placed out of commission in reserve there on 14 August 1946. She was reclassified '''CVHE-28''' on 12 June 1955, struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1 March 1959, sold and removed from naval custody on 12 February 1960.

==Awards==
''Chenango'' was awarded the [[Navy Unit Commendation]] and received 11 [[Naval Star Awards|battle star]]s for her World War II service.

==Notes==
{{reflist}}

==References==
* {{cite book |last1=Craven |first1=Wesley Frank |last2=Cate |first2=James Lea |year=1983 |title=Europe, Torch to Pointblank, August 1942 to December 1943 |series=The Army Air Forces In World War II |volume=2 |location=Washington, D.C. |publisher=Office of Air Force History |isbn=091279903X |lccn=83017288  }}
* {{cite book|title=U.S. Aircraft Carriers|author=Friedman, Norman|publisher=Naval Institute Press| year=1983|isbn=0-87021-739-9}}
* {{cite book |last1=Howe |first1=George F.  |year=1993 |title=The Mediterranean Theater of Operations — Northwest Africa: Seizing The Initiative In The West |series=United States Army In World War II |location=Washington, DC |publisher=Center Of Military History, United States Army |lccn=57060021  }}
* {{Cite web|ref={{sfnRef|DANFS: ''Chenango'' II}}|title=Chenango|url=https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chenango-ii.html|access-date=2022-02-05|website=history.navy.mil|language=en-US}}
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/c/chenango-ii.html}}

==External links==
* {{navsource|03/028}}

{{Sangamon class escort carrier}}
{{Cimarron class oiler (1939)}}
{{Type T3-S2-A tankers}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chenango (Cve-28)}}
[[Category:Type T3-S2-A tankers]]
[[Category:1939 ships]]
[[Category:Merchant ships of the United States]]
[[Category:Cimarron-class oilers (1939)]]
[[Category:World War II auxiliary ships of the United States]]
[[Category:World War II tankers of the United States]]
[[Category:Sangamon-class escort carriers]]
[[Category:Ships built by the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Company]]
[[Category:World War II escort aircraft carriers of the United States]]