USS Santee ( CVE - 29 ) The second USS " Santee " ( CVE - 29 ) ( originally launched as AO - 29 , following reclassification as an escort carrier , was originally ACV - 29 ) was launched on 4 March 1939 as " Esso Seakay " under a Maritime Commission contract ( MC hull 3 ) by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Chester , Pennsylvania , sponsored by Mrs . Charles Kurz ; acquired by the United States Navy on 18 October 1940 ; and commissioned on 30 October 1940 as AO - 29 , with Commander William G . B . Hatch in command . Prior to her acquisition by the Navy , " Esso Seakay " had been operated by Standard Oil of New Jersey on the west coast . During her commercial service , she set several records for fast oil hauling . Its original model was a type T3 - S2 - A1 tanker . World War II . After commissioning , " Santee " served in the Atlantic . When American neutrality ended on 7 December 1941 , " Santee " was carrying oil for a secret airdrome at NS Argentia , Newfoundland . In the spring of 1942 , " Santee " s conversion to an aircraft carrier was begun at the Norfolk Navy Yard . 1942 . On 24 August 1942 , " Santee " was commissioned as an escort carrier with designation ACV - 29 , with Commander William Sample in command . The ACV was fitted with such haste that workmen from Norfolk were still on board during her shakedown training and her decks were piled high with stores . After conversion , nominally completed on 8 September , " Santee " reported to Task Force 22 ( TF 22 ) and the first plane landed on her flight deck on 24 September . After shakedown , " Santee " departed Bermuda on 25 October and headed for the coast of Africa . While the escort carrier was " en route " on 30 October , an SBD Dauntless being launched from a catapult dropped a depth bomb onto the flight deck . It rolled off the deck and detonated close to the port bow shaking the entire ship , carrying away the rangefinder and a searchlight base , and damaging radar antennas . Nevertheless , " Santee " continued steaming with Task Group 34 . 2 ( TG 34 . 2 ) . On 7 November , the escort carrier , with and and , left the formation and , the following morning , took positions off Safi , French Morocco . " Santee " launched planes and fueled ships until 13 November , when she rejoined TG 34 . 2 and returned to Bermuda . The group departed that island on 22 November and anchored in Hampton Roads , Virginia two days later . 1943 . After voyage repairs and drydock , " Santee " got underway with destroyer , on 26 December . On 1 January 1943 , " Santee " anchored at Port of Spain , Trinidad . Two days later , with " Eberle " and , she headed for the coast of Brazil . After disembarking passengers at Recife , she sailed to join Task Unit 23 . 1 . 6 ( TU 23 . 1 . 6 ) at sea in tightening the noose on enemy merchant shipping and naval activity in the South Atlantic . For a month , her planes flew anti - submarine missions and regular patrols . On 15 February , the escort carrier put in at Recife , remaining until 21 February . Back conducting routine sorties in the same manner , " Santee " operated from 21 February – 2 March when she again put in to Recife . Her next period at sea , which began on 4 March , brought action . On 10 March , light cruiser and destroyer " Eberle " were investigating a cargo liner which had been spotted by " Santee " s aircraft and which had been tentatively identified as the " Karin " , a Dutch merchantman . It turned out to be the German blockade runner " Kota Nopan " ( ex - Dutch " Kota Pinang " ) . As the " Eberle " boarding party drew alongside , explosives placed by the abandoning crew detonated , killing eight boarders . On 15 March , " Santee " set out for Norfolk and anchored at Hampton Roads on 28 March . Underway again on 13 June , with destroyers , , and , " Santee " reached Casablanca on 3 July . Four days later , the escort carrier departed the harbor with a convoy of homeward - bound empties . No submarine s were sighted , but one of her Avengers made a forced landing in Spain , and its crew was interned . " Santee " s small task group left the convoy on 12 July with orders to operate independently against Nazi submarine concentrations south of the Azores . She remained at this anti - submarine work until 25 July and managed to attack seven surfaced U - boat s , at the price of two Dauntlesses . On the 25th , she joined a west - bound convoy , which reached the Virginia coast on 6 August . On 26 August , " Santee " , with " Bainbridge " and , again headed into the Atlantic ; and two days steaming brought them to Bermuda . " Santee " made another convoy run from Bermuda to Casablanca and back to Hampton Roads from 29 August – 13 October . On 25 October , the escort carrier departed the east coast for Casablanca , reaching Basin Delpit on 13 November . Standing out of Casablanca the next day , she rendezvoused on 17 November with battleship , carrying President Franklin D . Roosevelt . After providing air cover for the battleship and her escorts for several days , " Santee " was ordered to the Bay of Biscay , where she engaged in anti - submarine work until the end of November . As TG 21 . 11 , " Santee " and a trio of four - stackers patrolled the North Atlantic from 1 – 9 December . The group was dissolved upon arrival at the Norfolk Navy Yard on 10 December , and " Santee " , minus her aircraft , stood out of Norfolk on 21 December , and headed for New York in company with battleship , and several destroyers . From 22 – 28 December , the escort carrier packed her hangar and flight decks with P - 38 Lightning fighter planes at Staten Island . Getting underway in convoy on 29 December , she steamed unchallenged across the North Atlantic , reaching Glasgow on 9 January 1944 . 1944 . Emptied of her P - 38 cargo , " Santee " departed Glasgow in convoy on 13 January and returned to Norfolk on 24 January . She stood out of Norfolk on 13 February with destroyer escort , transited the Panama Canal on 18 – 19 February and moored at San Diego , California , on 28 February . There , she embarked 300 Navy and Marine Corps personnel and 31 aircraft for delivery to Pearl Harbor . She also took on 24 F4F Wildcat s and TBF Avenger s as her own air group . Standing out of San Diego Bay on 2 March , " Santee " unloaded her ferried aircraft and personnel at Pearl Harbor upon her arrival on 9 March . , , and " Santee " , all former oilers , swarmed out of Pearl Harbor with a flock of destroyers on 15 March , heading southwest . Designated Carrier Division 22 ( CarDiv 22 ) , they joined the fast carriers of the United States Fifth Fleet on 27 March and sped west to the Palaus . There , their planes of CarDiv 22 flew patrols over vulnerable tankers before setting course for Espiritu Santo in the New Hebrides on 4 April . In this , the closing phase of the New Guinea campaign , " Santee " fueled and provisioned near Espiritu Santo from 7 – 10 April ; then sailed to Purvis Bay , Solomons on 13 April . CarDiv 22 joined CarDiv 24 and a destroyer squadron on 16 April and set course for New Guinea . " Santee " s air group aircraft aided in destroying 100 enemy aircraft and ripping up enemy airfields before the landings , prior to departing for Manus Island , Admiralties , on 24 April . Arriving at Seeadler Harbor the next day , she and her sister ships took on fuel and food ; then sailed again on 26 April for Hollandia ( currently known as Jayapura ) . From 12 May – 1 June , she traded in her own air arm for 66 F4U Corsair s and 15 F6F Hellcat s and personnel of Marine Air Group 21 ( MAG 21 ) . On 2 June , CarDiv 22 started north for Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshalls . On 4 August , " Santee " reached newly - won Guam . The 81 aircraft of MAG 21 became the first planes to operate from the reconquered island . After training exercises and the re - embarkment of her own planes at Manus , " Santee " got underway on 10 September and rendezvoused with TF 77 near Mapia Island . At Morotai in the Molucca s , her Avengers bombed ground installations . One plane was lost to the enemy , but " Santee " herself had no contact with the Japanese . By 1 October , she was back in Seeadler Harbor . Sailing from Manus on 12 October , " Santee " and accompanying combatants reached Philippine waters on 20 October . Her gunners shot down an enemy plane during an air attack that morning , and her aircraft splashed two more . At 07 : 36 on 25 October , " Santee " launched five Avengers and eight Wildcats for an attack against Japanese surface units some to the north . At 07 : 40 , a " kamikaze " — carrying what was estimated to be a bomb – crashed through the flight deck and damaged the hangar deck . At 07 : 56 , a torpedo fired from a Japanese submarine struck the ship , causing flooding of several compartments and creating a 6° list . Emergency repairs were completed by 09 : 35 . Between 18 and 27 October , " Santee " planes shot down 31 Japanese planes and sank one ammunition ship , in addition to damage inflicted by strafing during their 377 sorties . On 31 October , she anchored in Seeadler Harbor for temporary repairs . Underway again on 9 November , she moored at Pearl Harbor on 19 November . Following more repairs , she embarked 98 Marines for transportation to the U . S . and entered Los Angeles Harbor on 5 December . " Santee " completed the year undergoing repairs to battle damage and general overhaul . 1945 . After post repair trials at San Diego , the escort carrier headed toward Hawaii on 31 January 1945 , and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 8 February . On 7 March , she got underway for Ulithi in the Western Carolines , altering her course " en route " to assist in the search for the B - 24 Liberator which had disappeared while carrying Army Lieutenant General Millard F . Harmon , before anchoring on 19 March . Two days later " Santee " steamed toward Leyte Gulf . On 27 March , " Santee " departed the Philippines to provide air coverage for southern transport groups Dog and Easy " en route " to the objective area at Okinawa Gunto for the invasion of Okinawa Jima , the largest combined operation of the Pacific war . On Easter Sunday , 1 April 1945 , " Santee " provided direct support to the American ground forces landing on Okinawa and she continued this duty until 8 April , when she turned to aid British carriers in denying the use of Sakishima Gunto airfields to the enemy . For 42 consecutive dawns , " Santee " s aircraft winged over target sectors in the East China Sea , with daily returns to Okinawa itself for routine ground support . On 16 June , " Santee " launched a fighter bomber mission against specified targets on Kyūshū , Japan . Pulling out of the Okinawa area that day , " Santee " reached Leyte Gulf on 19 June , where minor repairs were made . Out again on 1 July , she operated west of Okinawa from 5 – 14 July , covering minesweeping operations . On 7 July , a tail hook broke on a landing aircraft , allowing it to clear all barriers , crash among parked planes , and cause a fire . Four fighters and two torpedo bombers were jettisoned , six torpedo bombers were rendered non - flyable duds , and one of the pilots of the parked aircraft was killed . " Santee " was detached from the task unit on 15 July and proceeded to Guam , arriving at Apra Harbor four days later . Following flight deck repairs and general upkeep , the escort carrier got underway on 5 August for Saipan , engaging in carrier aircraft training for squadrons flown from that island " en route " . Anchoring in Saipan Harbor on 9 August , the CVE got underway for the Philippines on 13 August . " Santee " received word of the cessation of the hostilities against Japan on 15 August and anchored in San Pedro Bay , Leyte , two days later . On 4 September , while " en route " to Korea to support occupation forces there , " Santee " was ordered to northern Formosa to evacuate ex - prisoners of war . On 5 September , the escort carrier received 155 officers and men of the British and Indian Armies from destroyer escort . These soldiers had been captured by the Japanese in Malaya in 1942 . They were given medical aid and berthed on the hangar deck . The next day , " Santee " picked up additional men from and , making a total of 322 officers and men . They included 30 American Army and Navy officers and men who had been taken on Bataan and Corregidor , and 10 officers and men from the Dutch Army and Merchant Marine , captured in Java . On 9 September , " Santee " disembarked the 477 evacuees at Manila Bay . Five days later , " Santee " stood out of Manila Bay and steamed for Okinawa , anchoring at Buckner Bay on 19 September . Underway again the next day , " Santee " reached Wakanoura Wan , Honshū , Japan , on 22 September . From 24 – 26 September , " Santee " steamed along the coast , providing air coverage for occupation forces landing at Wakayama . Post - war . " Santee " departed Wakanoura Wan on 3 October , leaving her formation on 6 October to search for a missing PBM Mariner flying boat carrying Rear Admiral William D . Sample , the ship ' s first commanding officer after her conversion to an escort carrier . On 20 October , " Santee " got underway for Okinawa , arriving two days later at Buckner Bay . On 23 October , " Santee " got underway for Pearl Harbor , disembarking 375 passengers there on 4 November . The next day , " Santee " continued her role in " Operation Magic Carpet " by embarking 18 Marines bound for the west coast . Anchoring at San Diego on 11 November , " Santee " remained there until 26 November , when she got underway for Guam on additional " Magic Carpet " duty . On 27 February 1946 , " Santee " departed San Diego and arrived at Boston Harbor on 25 March , via the Panama Canal . The CVE was placed in reserve on 21 October . " Santee " was reclassified on 12 June 1955 as an escort helicopter aircraft carrier , CVHE - 29 , and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 . On 5 December , she was sold to the Master Metals Company for scrap . Awards . " Santee " received nine battle star s and the Presidential Unit Citation for her World War II service .