USS Shamrock Bay ( CVE - 84 ) USS " Shamrock Bay " ( CVE - 84 ) was a of the United States Navy . She was laid down with the hull code ACV - 84 on 15 March 1943 by the Kaiser Co . , Vancouver , Washington , under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1121 ) ; re - designated CVE - 84 on 10 June 1943 ; launched on 4 February 1944 ; sponsored by Mrs . James R . Dudley ; and commissioned on 15 March 1944 , Captain Frank T . Ward , Jr . , in command . Service history . Following shakedown , " Shamrock Bay " remained on the west coast into June qualifying pilots in carrier landings . Then transferred to transport duty in the Atlantic , she carried Army fighter planes and Army and Navy personnel to Casablanca and brought back damaged P - 40 s for use in training and for salvage and aircraft engines for overhaul and salvage . Passengers on the return voyages were , for the most part , Army Air Corps personnel from the China - Burma - India theater . On 27 October , " Shamrock Bay " completed her second transport run at Norfolk and prepared for antisubmarine operations in the South Atlantic . However , the loss of escort carriers in the Philippine area brought a change of orders ; and , on 11 November , with Composite Squadron 42 ( VC - 42 ) embarked , she sailed for the Pacific . Transiting the Panama Canal on 18 November , she arrived at San Diego on the 27th ; embarked VC - 93 for transportation to Hawaii on 2 December ; and reached Pearl Harbor on the 9th . There , VC - 42 and −93 were disembarked and VC - 94 reported for duty . On the 11th , " Shamrock Bay " continued west , and , delivering planes to Johnston Island en route , arrived at Seeadler Harbor , on Manus in the Admiralty Islands , on the 22nd to join the 7th Fleet . With an increase in aircraft from her normal ASW complement of 9 TBM Avenger s and 12 FM - 2 Wildcat s to 12 Avengers and 20 Wildcats , " Shamrock Bay " covered Task Groups 79 . 1 and 79 . 2 from 31 December 1944 through 8 January 1945 , as those groups departed the Admiralties and moved into the Philippines for the Lingayen Gulf invasion of Luzon . Enemy aerial resistance increased as the force closed its objective . On the 8th , dogfights peppered the sky . was hit by a " kamikaze " and was unable to accommodate all of her planes . Two were landed on " Shamrock Bay " . Shortly afterwards , another " kamikaze " , a Nakajima Ki - 43 " Oscar " , headed for " Shamrock Bay " , but was driven off only to crash into . " Shamrock Bay " then landed that CVE ' s planes , as escort ships went to the aid of the stricken carrier . From 9 to 17 January , " Shamrock Bay " remained in the assault area conducting flight operations in support of the invasion . Five hundred and seventy - one sorties were flown , 180 of which were over Luzon . On the 17th , she joined TG 77 . 14 and sailed for Ulithi . At Ulithi , the escort carrier joined TU 50 . 8 . 25 ; and , on 16 February , departed that atoll to act as carrier escort of group Baker of the Logistics Support Group for the Iwo Jima landings . She continued that support into March . On the 5th , she returned to Ulithi to prepare for Operation Iceberg , the assault on Okinawa ; and , on the 13th , she got underway for the Ryukyus , again supplying cover for the Logistics Support Group . Detached on 7 April , a week after the main landings on the Hagushi beaches , she joined TU 52 . 1 . 1 and commenced strikes over Okinawa . On 15 April 1945 , four of the Shamrock Bay ' s FM - 2 Wildcat fighters were scrambled to help save the USS Laffey ( DD - 724 ) . The Laffey was under attack from kamikazes in Picket Station 1 , 50 miles north of Okinawa . The four fighters shot down six enemy kamikazes but were forced to return to the Shamrock Bay due to being low on fuel and ammunition . The Laffey is later saved by a flight of 12 Marine Vought F4U Corsair fighter - bombers . With only a few , brief interruptions to take on supplies and ammunition at Kerama Retto , " Shamrock Bay " remained at sea conducting flight operations in support of the Okinawa campaign until 11 May . She then sailed for Guam to take on aircraft and aviation spares as well as ammunition and supplies . On the 20th , Captain J . E . Leeper relieved Captain Ward , and VC - 96 replaced VC - 94 . On the 28th , the ship departed Apra Harbor to return to the Ryukyus ; and , at the end of the month , she resumed her support activities as a unit of TU 32 . 1 . 1 . In early June , flight operations were interrupted as the force rode out a typhoon , then continued until the ships headed for the Philippines after mid - month . " Shamrock Bay " , having launched over 1 , 200 sorties in support of the Okinawa campaign , arrived in San Pedro Bay on 27 June . In early July , she transferred her planes to Guiuan airfield . On the 5th , she sailed for Guam to take on aircraft engines to be returned to the United States for overhaul ; and , on the 27th , she arrived at San Diego . VC - 96 then disembarked , and " Shamrock Bay " commenced an availability period which ended just before the cessation of hostilities in the Pacific . After the end of the war , " Shamrock Bay " made a transport run to Guam , carrying Army and Navy planes out and vehicles back . Then assigned to " Magic Carpet " duty , she offloaded her aviation stores and detached her aviation personnel at Alameda ; and , on 20 October , headed for Pearl Harbor to embark her first contingent of returning veterans , members of the 4th Marine Division . She completed that run at San Diego on 2 November 1945 , then made two transpacific runs , one to Okinawa and one to Honshū . She completed the second run at Seattle on 26 January 1946 . On 2 February , she sailed for Alameda ; and , on the 7th , she got underway to return to the east coast for inactivation . " Shamrock Bay " arrived at Boston on 1 March ; underwent overhaul ; and was decommissioned on 6 July 1946 . Reclassified CVU - 84 on 12 June 1955 , she remained in the Reserve Fleet until struck from the Navy List on 27 June 1958 . In May 1958 , she was sold for scrapping to the Hyman - Michaels Co . , of Chicago . Awards . " Shamrock Bay " earned three battle star s during World War II .