USS Salamaua ( CVE - 96 ) USS " Salamaua " ( CVE - 96 ) was a " Casablanca " class escort carrier of the United States Navy . She was originally named " Anguilla Bay " ( ACV - 96 ) . It was reclassified CVE - 96 on 15 July 1943 ; renamed " Salamaua " on 6 November 1943 ; laid down under Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1133 ) on 4 February 1944 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co . , Vancouver , Washington ; launched on 22 April 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . W . J . Mullins ; and commissioned on 26 May 1944 , Captain Joseph I . Taylor , Jr . in command . Service history . Following shakedown off the west coast , " Salamaua " transported planes and cargo from San Diego to Pearl Harbor , then returned to California , whence she conducted a similar run to Finschhafen , New Guinea . On 1 September , she returned to Alameda , California , underwent overhaul ; conducted training exercises , and on 16 October , again sailed west from San Diego . She arrived at Ulithi on 5 November , then continued on to the Palaus and the Philippines . From the 14th - 23rd , she furnished air cover for convoys in the Leyte Gulf area , then proceeded to the Admiralties to stage for the invasion of Luzon . She departed Seeadler Harbor on 27 December and moved north . On 6 January 1945 , she arrived off the entrance to Lingayen Gulf . Her planes began blasting enemy positions ashore and providing air cover for the approaching Allied ships . On the 9th , they provided air cover for the troops landing on the assault beaches , then continued that support until the 13th . Just before 0900 on that day , a " kamikaze " carrying two 551 pound ( 250 kg ) bombs crashed on " Salamaua " s flight deck . 15 men were killed , and over 80 injured . Damage was extensive : the flight deck , the hangar deck , and spaces below were set ablaze ; one of the bombs , failing to explode , punched through the starboard side at the waterline ; power , communications , and steering failed ; and one of her engine rooms flooded , preventing repairs to her starboard engine , which had quit . But by 0910 , her gunners had splashed two more " kamikazes " . Temporary repairs enabled the CVE to return to San Francisco . Arriving on 26 February , repairs were quickly completed ; and , on 21 April , she moved west again . On 20 May , she arrived at Guam , where she continued on to the Ryukyu Islands where she joined other escort carriers on the 26th to support land operations on Okinawa . On 4 June , she joined a logistic support group , but on the 5th , she was damaged by a typhoon . Repairs were made at Guam and , toward the end of July , she assumed antisubmarine patrol duty in the Marianas - Okinawa convoy lanes . In August , she shifted to the Leyte - Okinawa lanes , where she remained until after the mid - month Japanese surrender . On the 25th , " Salamaua " returned to Leyte , replenished , then escorted a troop convoy to Tokyo Bay . The convoy arrived on 2 September , and the CVE ' s planes photographed the landing of the occupation troops at Yokohama the same day . After guarding a second convoy into Tokyo Bay , she joined the " Magic Carpet " fleet , embarked veterans for transport to the United States , and disembarked them at Alameda on 3 October . Before the end of the year , Salamaua completed two more " Magic Carpet " runs . In 1946 , she prepared for inactivation . She was decommissioned on 9 May 1946 , struck from the Naval Vessel Register on the 21st , and subsequently sold to the Zidell Ship Dismantling Co . , Portland , Oregon , for scrapping on 18 November 1946 . Awards . " Salamaua " earned three battle star s for her World War II service .