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{{short description|Commencement Bay-class escort carrier of the US Navy}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image= USS Rabaul (CVE-121) in June 1945.jpg
|Ship image size = 300px
|Ship caption=USS ''Rabaul'' after her launch, 14 July 1945
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1972}}
|Ship name=USS ''Rabaul''
|Ship operator=
|Ship ordered=
|Ship builder=[[Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation|Todd Pacific Shipyards]]
|Ship laid down= 29 January 1945
|Ship launched= 14 June 1945
|Ship acquired=30 August 1946
|Ship struck=1 September 1971
|Ship fate= Sold for scrapping, 25 August 1972
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=
|Ship class={{sclass|Commencement Bay|escort carrier}}
|Ship displacement={{convert|21397|LT|t|lk=on}}
|Ship length={{cvt|557|ft|1|in|m}} [[length overall|loa]]
|Ship beam={{cvt|75|ft|m}}
|Ship draft={{cvt|32|ft|m}}
|Ship power=
*{{cvt|16000|shp|kW|lk=on}}
*4 × [[boiler]]s
|Ship propulsion=
*2 × [[Steam turbines]]
*2 × [[screw propeller]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|19|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range=
|Ship endurance=
|Ship complement=1,066
|Ship sensors=
|Ship armament=
*2 × [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|mm|0}}]] [[dual-purpose gun]]s
*36 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|1}} Bofors]] [[Anti-aircraft warfare|AA gun]]s
*20 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|1}} Oerlikon]] AA guns
|Ship aircraft=33
|Ship aircraft facilities=2 × [[aircraft catapult]]s
|Ship notes=
}}
|}
'''USS ''Rabaul''''' was a {{sclass|Commencement Bay|escort carrier}} of the [[United States Navy]]. The ''Commencement Bay'' class were built during [[World War II]], and were an improvement over the earlier {{sclass|Sangamon|escort carrier|4}}, which were converted from [[oil tanker]]s. They were capable of carrying an air group of 33 planes and were armed with an anti-aircraft battery of [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{convert|5|in|abbr=on|0}}]], [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|1}}]], and [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|1}}]] guns. The ships were capable of a top speed of {{convert|19|kn|lk=in}}, and due to their origin as tankers, had extensive fuel storage. She was delivered on 30 August 1946, but never commissioned. After spending 26 years in reserve, she was scrapped in 1973.

==Design==
{{main|Commencement Bay-class escort carrier|l1=''Commencement Bay''-class escort carrier}}

In 1941, as United States participation in [[World War II]] became increasingly likely, the [[US Navy]] embarked on a construction program for [[escort carrier]]s, which were converted from [[transport ship]]s of various types. Many of the escort carrier types were converted from [[Type C3-class ship|C3-type transports]], but the {{sclass|Sangamon|escort carrier|1}}s were instead rebuilt [[oil tanker]]s. These proved to be very successful ships, and the {{sclass|Commencement Bay|escort carrier|4}}, authorized for Fiscal Year 1944, were an improved version of the ''Sangamon'' design. The new ships were faster, had improved aviation facilities, and had better internal [[Compartment (ship)|compartmentation]].{{sfn|Friedman 1986|pp=107–111}} They proved to be the most successful of the escort carriers, and the only class to be retained in active service after the war, since they were large enough to operate newer aircraft.{{sfn|Friedman 1983|p=199}}{{sfn|Stille|p=47}}

''Rabaul'' was {{cvt|557|ft|1|in|m}} [[long overall]], with a [[beam (nautical)|beam]] of {{cvt|75|ft|m}} at the [[waterline]], which extended to {{cvt|105|ft|2|in}} at maximum. She [[Displacement (ship)|displaced]] {{convert|21397|LT|t}} at [[full load]], of which {{cvt|12876|LT|t}} could be [[fuel oil]] (though some of her storage tanks were converted to permanently store seawater for [[ballast]]), and at full load she had a [[Draft (ship)|draft]] of {{cvt|27|ft|11|in}}. The ship's [[superstructure]] consisted of a small island. She had a complement of 1,066 officers and enlisted men.{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=111}}

The ship was powered by two [[Allis-Chalmers]] geared [[steam turbine]]s, each driving one [[screw propeller]], using steam provided by four [[Combustion Engineering]]-manufactured [[water-tube boilers]]. The propulsion system was rated to produce a total of {{cvt|16000|shp|lk=in}} for a top speed of {{convert|19|kn|lk=in}}. Given the very large storage capacity for oil, the ships of the ''Commencement Bay'' class could steam for some {{convert|23900|nmi|lk=in}} at a speed of {{convert|15|kn}}.{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=111}}

Her defensive [[anti-aircraft]] armament consisted of two [[5"/38 caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|mm|0}}]] [[dual-purpose gun]]s in single mounts, thirty-six [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|0}} Bofors guns]], and twenty [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|0}} Oerlikon light AA cannon]]s. The Bofors guns were placed in three quadruple and twelve twin mounts, while the Oerlikon guns were all mounted individually. She carried 33 planes, which could be launched from two [[aircraft catapult]]s. Two elevators transferred aircraft from the [[hangar]] to the [[flight deck]].{{sfn|Friedman 1986|p=111}}

==History==

The first fifteen ships of the ''Commencement Bay'' class were ordered on 23 January 1943, allocated to Fiscal Year 1944.{{sfn|Friedman 1983|p=199}} The [[keel]] for ''Rabaul'' was [[keel laying|laid down]] at the [[Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation|Todd Pacific Shipyards]] in [[Tacoma, Washington|Tacoma]], Washington on 29 January 1945. She was named for the island of [[Rabaul]] in [[New Georgia]], a major Japanese base during World War II, which was neutralized during a lengthy campaign in 1943 and 1944. The ship was [[ceremonial ship launching|launched]] on 14 June, and was delivered to the US Navy on 30 August, shortly after the end of the war.{{sfn|Silverstone|p=27}}{{sfn|DANFS}}

The ship was not [[ship commissioning|commissioned]], and was instead assigned to the [[Pacific Reserve Fleet]], based in Tacoma.{{sfn|DANFS}} Ten of the ''Commencement Bay''-class ships saw significant service postwar as [[anti-submarine warfare]] (ASW) carriers, but they were small and had difficulty operating the new [[Grumman AF Guardian]] patrol planes, so the rest of the class remained [[laid up]], and they were soon replaced in the ASW role by much larger {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier|1}}s.{{sfn|Friedman 1983|p=337}} She was reclassified as a helicopter escort carrier, with the [[hull number]] CVHE-121, in June 1955. Three years later, in June 1958, she was moved to the San Diego Group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.{{sfn|DANFS}}

In May 1959, ''Rabaul'' was reclassified as an aircraft ferry, with the hull number AKV-121.{{sfn|DANFS}} In the mid-1960s, the US Army explored the concept of a Floating Aircraft Maintenance Facility (FAMF), and in September 1967, the [[Department of Defense]] selected ''Rabaul'' to be converted for FAMF II, but the project ultimately came to nothing.{{sfn|Historical Office|pp=257–259}} She remained part of the reserve fleet until she was struck from the [[Naval Vessel Register]] on 1 September 1971. The ship was eventually sold for [[scrap]] on 25 August 1972 to the Nicholai Joffe Corporation, based in [[Beverly Hills]], California.{{sfn|DANFS}} Shortly before scrapping, she was used in the closing scenes of the 1973 movie ''[[Magnum Force]]''.{{cn|date=April 2024}}

==Notes==
{{Reflist|20em}}

==References==
* {{cite book
|last=Friedman
|first=Norman
|chapter=United States of America
|pages=105–133
|editor1-last=Gardiner
|editor1-first=Robert
|editor2-last=Gray
|editor2-first=Randal
|title=Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921
|year=1986
|location=London
|publisher=Conway Maritime Press
|isbn=978-0-85177-245-5
|ref={{sfnRef|Friedman 1986}}
| url=https://archive.org/details/allworldsfightin00rgre
|name-list-style=amp
}}
* {{cite book
|last= Friedman
|first= Norman
|date= 1983
|title= U.S. Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History
|location= Annapolis
|publisher= Naval Institute Press
|isbn= 978-0-87021-739-5
|ref={{sfnref|Friedman 1983}}
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Historical Office
|title=Arsenal for the Brave: A History of the United States Army Materiel Command, 1962–1968
|year=1969
|publisher=US Army Materiel Command
|location=Washington, D.C.
|oclc=124856
|ref={{sfnref|Historical Office}}
}}
* {{cite DANFS
| title = Rabaul (CVE-121)
| url = https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/r/rabaul.html
| date = 11 January 2016
| access-date = 27 April 2024
| ref = {{sfnRef|DANFS}}
}}{{PD-notice}}
* {{cite book
| last = Silverstone
| first = Paul H.
| title = The Navy of World War II, 1922–1947
| publisher = Routledge
| year = 2012
| location = New York
| isbn = 978-1-135-86472-9
|ref={{sfnref|Silverstone}}
}}
* {{cite book
|last=Stille
|first=Mark
|title=US Navy Escort Carriers 1942–45
|year=2017
|location=London
|publisher=Osprey
|isbn=9781472818126
|ref={{sfnref|Stille}}
}}

==External links==
{{Commons category}}
* [http://www.navsource.net/archives/03/121.htm Photo gallery] at navsource.net

{{Commencement Bay class escort carrier}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Rabaul (Cve-121)}}
[[Category:Commencement Bay-class escort carriers]]
[[Category:1945 ships]]

USS Rabaul - Revision history

imported>Parsecboy: /* Design */