USN · CVE

Rudyerd Bay

Afloat

Casablanca-class escort carrier, CVE-81. She covered the replenishment group for the Third Fleet at the Palaus, took wounded from the torpedoed Houston, and gave air cover to the Iwo Jima transports on 16 to 18 February 1945.

Class	Casablanca class
Type	Escort carrier (CVE)
Hull	CVE-81
Builder	Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington
Launched	1944-01-12
Commissioned	1944-02-25
Fate	Afloat. Survived the war with five battle stars. Sold in January 1960 to a shipbreaker at Genoa.
Armament (class)	Escort carrier. Flight deck over a merchant hull, small island set aft, one 5-inch gun.
Command	Smiley, Curtis Stanton Commanding officer from 25 February 1944; Relieved on 3 February 1945 Foster, John Golden Jr. Captain from 3 February 1945

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) underway on 19 July 1944. Official U.S. Navy photograph NH 106584, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command; U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation photo No. 1996.488.034.019. Wikimedia Commons File:USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) underway in 1944.jpeg. Public domain.

The pictures on this page are the originals.

Command

CSSmiley, Curtis StantonCommanding officer from 25 February 1944Relieved on 3 February 1945

Foster, John Golden Jr.Captain from 3 February 1945

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