UNDERWAY! 2025 Wall Calendar / W.W. II SPECIAL EDITION

NOW AVAILABLE -
CLICK HERE
For RATING SHIRTS - Click on your Rating Abbreviation below:
AB AC AD AE AG AK AM AO AQ AS AT AW AX AZ BM BT BU
CE CM CS CT DC DK DM DP DS DT EA EM EN EO ET EW
FC FT GM GS (53-61) GS (78-Now) HM HT IC IM IS IT JO LI LN LS
MA (48-67) MA (72-Now) ME ML MM MN MR MS MT MU NC ND OM OS OT
PC PH PM PN PR QM RD (WW2) RD (48-72) RM SD SF SH SK SM
SO ST SV SW TM UT WT YN DIVER


U.S.S. CAPE ESPERANCE

(CVE-88)

NOT SELF BUT COUNTRY - NOT WORDS BUT ACTION

Click to view crew list
 

USS CAPE ESPERANCE (CVE-88)

USS Cape Esperance was a Casablanca-class aircraft carrier built and active during World War II and the Korean War. Though she received only two battle stars (for her service in World War II), her history was comparatively longer than those of her sister carriers, and she was part of both the Pacific and Atlantic Fleets. Below are her highlights:

From the time she was commissioned in the spring of 1944 until the war’s end, Cape Esperance transported new, combat-ready aircraft as well as personnel to strategic locations in the Pacific, including the Philippines, Ulithi, Guam, Iwo Jima, Okinawa, and the larger islands of Japan. The planes she transported were crucial in securing Philippine and Japanese territories.

Post-World War II and the Korean War

During the early 1950s, she continued performing similar duties to support the Korean War, ferrying aircraft and personnel from the US to bases in Japan. She also picked up Chinese Nationalist aircraft to avoid seizure by Mao Zedong’s Communist forces.

 

Other

Cape Esperance also traversed the Panama Canal to ferry aircraft to Italy, France, and Portugal in 1955. She then maintained a rigorous schedule of nearly constant transpacific voyages until she was sold for scrap in 1959.

CVE-88 Deployments - Major Events

Add a CVE-88 Shellback Initiation Add a CVE-88 Deployment - Major Event
Month Year to Month Year Deployment / Event
MAR1944-Launch Date: 3 MAR 1944
APR1944-Commissioned: 9 APR 1944
JUN1944-Shellback Initiation - 3 JUN 1944 - Pacific Ocean
AUG1944-Shellback Initiation - 13 AUG 1944 - Pacific Ocean
AUG1946-Shellback Initiation - 13 AUG 1946 - Pacific Ocean
JUL1950-DEC1950Inchon Landing
MAY1953-JUN1954West Pac
MAY1954-JAN1955West Pac
JUL1955- Shellback Initiation - 15 JUL 1955 - Pacific Ocean
JAN1959-Decommissioned: 15 JAN 1959

CVE-88 General Specifications

Class: Casablanca

Named for: Cape Esperance

Complement: 860 Officers and Enlisted

Displacement: 10400 tons

Length: 512 feet 3 inches

Beam: 65 feet 2 inches

Flank Speed: 20 knots

Final Disposition: Sold 14 May 1959