USS Tripoli ( CVE - 64 ) USS " Tripoli " ( CVE - 64 ) was a " Casablanca " class escort carrier of the United States Navy , the first ship to carry her name . She was built under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 1101 ) at Vancouver , Washington , and was laid down by the Kaiser Shipyards on 1 February 1943 as Didrickson Bay ( ACV - 64 ) . Renamed " Tripoli " on 3 April 1943 and launched on 13 July 1943 , sponsored by Mrs . Leland D . Webb , and commissioned on 31 October 1943 , at Astoria , Oregon , Captain Wendell G . Switzer in command . Service history . World War II . Following shakedown training off the California coast , the escort carrier entered the repair base at San Diego , California . There , on 4 January 1944 , gasoline was inadvertently dumped into the water around the forward part of the ship , on the starboard side . Acetylene torch sparks ignited the volatile mixture , and flames quickly spread from the bow to frame 82 , engulfing the forward galley walkway and the island superstructure . Yardcraft and the ship ' s crew battled the flames and soon had the fire under control , but not before two men had died . Atlantic . Subsequently repaired , " Tripoli " departed San Diego on 31 January , bound for the Panama Canal and duty with the Atlantic Fleet . She arrived at her new home port , Norfolk , Virginia on 16 February . Embarking Composite Squadron 13 ( VC - 13 ) - 13 FM - 2 Wildcat s and TBM Avenger s - the carrier put to sea on 15 March as the center ship in Task Group 21 . 15 ( TG 21 . 15 ) . Supported by five destroyer escorts of Escort Division 7 ( CortDiv 7 ) , " Tripoli " patrolled west of the Cape Verde Islands to break up German U - boat refuelling activities in that area . After providing air cover for a convoy routed to the British West Indies , " Tripoli ' s " Wildcats and Avengers searched the sea lanes northwest , southwest , and west of the Cape Verdes before putting into Recife , Brazil on 5 April to refuel and provision . Back at sea again two days later , " Tripoli " continued the routine of daily launchings and recoveries of her aircraft , guarding the Allied sea lanes against the incursions of enemy U - boats . About one hour before sunrise on 19 April , one of " Tripoli " s Avengers made radar contact with a German U - boat as the submarine cruised on the surface awaiting the arrival of her " Milch Cow " or refuelling partner . put up a spirited anti - aircraft barrage while the Avenger made three attacks . A pattern of rockets bracketed the submarine on the first pass as the Germans prepared to dive for comparative safety . On the second run , the aircraft ' s depth charges failed to release , giving the enemy submersible the time she needed to dive . The U - boat evaded the aircraft ' s last attack - a mine - but also missed her fuelling rendezvous with . Returning to Norfolk on 29 April , " Tripoli " underwent voyage repairs before embarking VC - 6 - 12 Avengers and nine Wildcats . She then formed up with CortDiv 7 and departed Hampton Roads on 24 May for further searches in the vicinity of the Cape Verdes . Four days out , she changed course to intercept a German submarine estimated to be proceeding southwest from a position west of the Madeira Islands . When no contact was made by 30 May , " Tripoli " and her consorts steamed north to rendezvous with a convoy bound for Nova Scotia . Following her return to Norfolk on 18 June , " Tripoli " spent two months in carrier qualification training off Quonset Point , Rhode Island , before making port again at Norfolk on 15 July . Embarking Composite Squadron 6 , she conducted two weeks of pilot qualifications in the Chesapeake Bay area before departing Hampton Roads on 1 August , bound for her new base of operations , Recife . Screened by and , the escort carrier proceeded south until 1 August , when " O ' Toole " developed a sonar contact and gave chase . Aircraft from " Tripoli " laid patterns of sonobuoy s at the initial contact point and dropped smoke floats and float lights on an oil slick . Picking up the " scent " , " O ' Toole " straddled the floats with her Hedgehog projectiles and depth charges and soon radioed victoriously " We hit the rodent ! " A brief visual examination of the evidence - debris and a large quantity of diesel oil - satisfied the hunter - killer group that they had indeed sunk an enemy submarine . However , a post - war examination of German records did not confirm the kill . As night fell , " Tripoli " vectored two aircraft to another sonar contact by " O ' Toole " , and four depth bombs were dropped - keeping another U - boat down and running . " Tripoli " and her group then returned to Recife on 13 August and reported for duty with Admiral Jonas H . Ingram ' s 4th Fleet . Designated as the center of TG 47 . 7 , the escort carrier put to sea on 22 August with the four destroyer escorts of CortDiv 24 to operate against a homeward - bound German submarine estimated to pass at 25° south latitude and 5° west longitude . After a fruitless search pursuing two fading sonar contacts in the mid - South Atlantic narrows , " Tripoli " and her group returned to Recife on 11 September for provisioning and fuelling . Underway again two days later , TG 47 . 7 headed out to conduct another search - this time along the estimated track of two U - boats slated to rendezvous for refuelling . One of the target U - boats was , bound from Penang , British Malaya with a cargo of valuable petroleum products for the German war effort . Ordered to fuel , outward - bound for the Far East , " U - 1062 " prepared to rendezvous with her smaller sister boat in the South Atlantic narrows - directly in the path of the " Tripoli " escort group . Passing to the westward of the Cape Verdes , TG 47 . 7 made rendezvous with ' s escort group to conduct a joint hunter - killer operation against the two enemy boats . Round - the - clock searches by radar - equipped Avengers continued until 40 minutes after sunset on 28 September , when an Avenger piloted by Lieutenant William R . Gillespie reported a definite contact with the surfaced " U - 219 " only 11 miles from the enemy ' s estimated track . Gillespie went in to conduct a low - level rocket attack , but was shot down by heavy flak . Another Avenger , drawn to the battle , braved the flak to conduct another rocket run and also dropped depth bombs , while a Wildcat strafed the U - boat which struggled desperately to dodge the harassing attacks by the American aircraft . " U - 219 " emerged from the firefight unscathed , but " U - 1062 " did not enjoy similar good fortune . , one of " Mission Bay " s screen , homed in on sonobuoy indications on 30 September and sank the " Milch Cow " with a four - charge pattern . In the meantime , " U - 219 " was not yet home free - one of " Tripoli " s Avengers dropped depth bombs on the fleeing boat on 2 October . American sonar - men felt that they had definitely " killed " the U - boat , but post - war accounting showed that " U - 219 " had escaped to Batavia , Java . When fuel supplies ran low , " Tripoli " returned to Recife on 12 October . She conducted one further search of the narrows from 26 October - 12 November before heading for a much - needed overhaul at Norfolk . Subsequently , the escort carrier sailed for the Pacific and , after transiting the Panama Canal and touching at San Diego , arrived at Pearl Harbor on 10 January 1945 . Pacific . " Tripoli " transferred Composite Squadron 8 ashore to conduct operations from Hilo , Hawaii , before she loaded a miscellaneous cargo of fighters and bombers to be offloaded at Roi , in the Marshall Islands , where she made port on 20 February 1945 . Returning to Pearl Harbor after this ferry run , the escort carrier commenced training operations which would continue through the end of the war , and into late 1945 . With Japan ' s surrender and the end of hostilities in the Pacific , " Tripoli " was assigned to the " Magic Carpet " operation . Arriving at San Diego on 29 August with 500 Navy veterans , " Tripoli " returned to Pearl Harbor on 8 September before resuming local operations - including night carrier qualifications - through November . She subsequently made one trip with Army passengers to San Pedro , California , and a further " Magic Carpet " run to San Diego . The carrier departed the west coast on 15 January 1946 for deactivation overhaul at Norfolk . On 22 May 1946 , the need for her services required , " Tripoli " was decommissioned and laid up in reserve . Korean War . The outbreak of the Korean War in the summer of 1950 resulted in the return of many of the Navy ' s reserve ships to active service to support American operations in the Far East . Accordingly , " Tripoli " was recommissioned at New York on 5 January 1952 , Captain Raymond N . Sharp in command . Assigned to the Military Sealift Command ( MSC ) , Atlantic Area , the former " hunter - killer " began her new career as an aircraft transport and ferry . Over the next six years , " Tripoli " conducted 44 transport voyages , mostly to European and Mediterranean ports , but with one visit to Hawaii and two to the Far East . Following the ship ' s third voyage to Europe , " Tripoli " was berthed at the Port Newark Terminal on 5 August 1952 , where she loaded 45 F - 84 Thunderjet s , 90 wingtip fuel tanks , and related gear for transport to the Far East . After going to sea on 7 August , bound for Japan , " Tripoli " steamed via the Panama Canal and San Diego and made port at Yokosuka with her vital cargo on 5 September , where cranes lifted the reinforcements ashore - soon to be in action in their ground - attack role in Korea . After loading battle - damaged aircraft for repairs in the United States , the carrier embarked 245 Navy and Marine Corps personnel for rotation back to Alameda Naval Air Station , California . Making port on the West Coast on 22 September , she then put to sea for the Far East a second time , once again carrying jet aircraft to Yokosuka , as well as transporting men of the Sea Echelon of Boat Unit 1 . Loading a cargo of helicopters and military passengers , " Tripoli " returned to the west coast and arrived at Alameda on 11 November 1952 . Subsequently making her sole Hawaiian voyage with the MSC , " Tripoli " then headed east to finish her career with transport voyages to European and Mediterranean ports . Receiving " smart ship " awards from in the intervening years , " Tripoli " was reclassified a utility carrier and redesignated CVU - 64 on 12 June 1955 . Again redesignated T - CVU - 64 on 1 July 1958 , " Tripoli " was decommissioned at New Orleans , La . , on 25 November 1958 and subsequently struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 February 1959 . Her hulk was then scrapped by a Japanese firm in January 1960 .