Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as enjoyable and as informative as possible.

NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS PRINCE WILLIAM (ACV-31)
(later CVE-31 and CVHE-31)

Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Yankee - Juliet - Alpha

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

Precedence of awards is from top to bottom, left to right
Top Row: American Campaign Medal
2nd Row: Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal / World War II Victory Medal / Navy Occupation Service Medal ("Asia" clasp)

Ordered	Laid down	Launched	Commissioned	Decommissioned	Stricken
*(Repeat) Bogue Class Escort Carrier*
(see below)	18 May 1942	23 Aug 1942	9 Apr 1943	29 Aug 1946	1 Mar 1959
Builder: Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corp., Seattle, Wash.

Named for a sound, or inlet, on the Gulf of Alaska.
Built under a Maritime Commission contract (hull number 242), type C3-S-A1.
Lead ship, and only one retained by the USN, of a second group of Bogue-class carriers. They were built from the keel up as carriers, rather than being converted from merchant hulls. Often referred to as the Prince William-class, they were in most respects identical to the first group of Bogues, and included changes which had been gradually applied to the initial batch.
Originally classified as an "Aircraft Escort Vessel" and designated AVG-31.
Reclassified as an "Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated ACV-31, 20 August 1942 (prior to commissioning).
Reclassified as an "Escort Carrier" and redesignated CVE-31, 15 July 1943.
Reclassified as a "Helicopter Escort Carrier" and redesignated CVHE-31, 12 June 1955, while in reserve.
Fate: Sold for scrap. Arrived Kobe, Japan, 24 March 1961 for scrapping.

Specifications
(As commissioned, 1943)
Displacement: 8,333 tons standard; 16,620 tons full load
Dimensions (wl): 465' x 69.5' x 23.25' / 141.7 x 21.2 x 7.1 meters
Dimensions (max.): 495' 8" x 111.5' / 151.1 x 34 meters
Armor: None
Power plant: 2 boilers (285 psi); 1 steam turbine; 1 shaft; 8,500 shp
Speed: 16.5 knots
Endurance:
Armament: 2 single 5"/38 gun mounts; 10 twin 40-mm/56-cal gun mounts; 27 single 20-mm/70-cal gun mounts
Aircraft: 24
Aviation facilities: 2 elevators; 1 hydraulic catapult
Crew: 890

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
Name
NS0303116	106k	ACV-31 was named *Prince William* for a sound, or inlet, 70 miles wide, 30 miles N off the Gulf of Alaska, E of Kenai Peninsula. The sound was named by Captain Cook, RN, in 1778. (The name Prince William had been initally assigned to AVG-19.) (Map courtesy of Google Maps.)	NavSource
World War II
Commissioning
NS0303118	299k	Captain [Lucian F.] Kimball (Bremerton Navy Yard) Admiral [Sherwoode A.] Taffinder [(Commandant, 13th Naval District)] Captain [Herbert E.] Regan (reading orders, taking command of ship) Commander [David B.] Young	Brian Miller
NS0303118a	404k	Chaplain offering benediction at commissioning Captain Kimball (Captain of Bremerton Navy Yard) Rear Admiral Taffinder Captain H. E. Regan (Captain of ship) Commander D. B. Young (Executive Officer)
NS0303118b	321k	Rear Admiral Taffinder commissioning ship Captain Kimball (Bremerton Navy Yard) Captain Regan Commander Young (Last 2 Unknown)
NS0303118c	446k	Rear Admiral Taffinder at mike. (Turning ship over to Captain Regan)

NS0303108	30k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) underway, date and location unknown.	Robert Hurst
NS0303102	48k	*Prince William*, apparently while fitting out, early 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303103	24k	USS *Prince William* (ACV-31), Puget Sound Navy Yard, 15 April 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303104	39k	USS *Prince William* (ACV-31) underway off Port Townsend, Wash., 8 May 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303105	37k	USS *Prince William* (ACV-31) underway off Port Townsend, Wash., 8 May 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303106	39k	USS *Prince William* (ACV-31) underway off Port Townsend, Wash., 8 May 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303107	36k	USS *Prince William* (ACV-31) underway off Port Townsend, Wash., 8 May 1943. Seattle Branch of the National Archives photo.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303101	149k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) underway in the Pacific, 7 August 1943, with a deck load of 12 Douglas SBD Dauntlesses, a Grumman J2F Duck, two Curtiss SOC Seagulls, a Vought OS2U Kingfisher and a dismantled Douglas R4D. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command (#NH 106579).	Naval History & Heritage Command
NS0300940	637k	Bogue and *Prince William* classes. ONI 54-CV, Division of Naval Intelligence, Identification and Characteristics Section, 11-43. Photos of USS Bogue (ACV/CVE-9), 24 June 1942.	Gerd Matthes, Germany
NS0303110	103k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) at Mare Island, February 1944. National Archives photo (# 80-G-K-16409).	Darryl Baker
NS0303109	94k	Broadside view of USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) off Mare Island on February 13, 1944. She was undergoing repairs at the yard from January 15–February 13, 1944. Official Mare Island photo # 1007-44.	Darryl Baker
NS0303109c	42k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) departing Mare Island on February 13, 1944. Official Mare Island photo # 1008-44. Source: Mare Island Shipyard Photos, Ship Files, NARA San Francisco.	Tracy White, Researcher @ Large
NS0303109a	95k	Bow on view of USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) departing Mare Island on February 13, 1944. Official Mare Island photo # 1009-44.	Darryl Baker
NS0303109b	138k	Stern view of USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) departing Mare Island on February 13, 1944. Official Mare Island photo # 1012-44.	Darryl Baker
NS0303114	227k	View of port side of flight deck, looking forward, of USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) moored at Townsville, Queensland, Australia in April 1944. Three single 20mm AA guns, mounted on the port quarter, and there are more mounted forward along the deck. The presence of the P-47 Thunderbolt indicates that the ship is being used as an aircraft ferry. Source: Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 302713.	Mike Green
NS0303114a	229k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) moored at Townsville, Queensland, Australia in April 1944. Visible here are the after gun sponsons; the lower, stern sponson mounting a single 5"/38 gun and the upper, flight deck sponsons mounting twin 40mm AA guns. Source: Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 302714.
NS0303114b	223k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) moored at Townsville, QSL, Australia in April 1944. Crew members are disembarking the ship. Source: Australian War Memorial, Photo No. 302715.
NS0303119	463k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31), aerial starboard view, 20 October 1944. Camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 4A. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-281827.	NARA
NS0303119a	487k	USS *Prince William* (CVE-31), aerial aft port quarter view, 20 October 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-281828.	NARA
The Crew
NS0303112	1.35M	Two photos from the scrapbook of Leonard Bates Jaudon, who served aboard USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) in 1943, under Captain Herbert E. Regan.	John Bednar, grandson of Leonard Bates Jaudon
NS0303113	872k		John Bednar, grandson of Leonard Bates Jaudon
Memorabilia
NS0303115	1.12M	The Flattop Squawker, vol. 1, No. 41, 10 June 1945.	Michael Mannschreck, for his grandfather George Mannschreck, who was stationed aboard *Prince William* during WW II
NS0303117	8.60M	Victory Log, USS *Prince William* (CVE-31).	Jerry Elarton
In "Mothballs"
NS0303120	341k	Ex-USS *Prince William* (CVE-31) shown in her Delaware River berth while in the Atlantic Reserve Force in 1955. Ex-USS Tennessee (BB-43) and ex-USS California (BB-44) are behind her. From collections of Dave Boone and Dave Schroeder.	John Chiquoine
NS0303120a	280k		John Chiquoine
NS04020308	1.30M	Reserve Fleet Basin, Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Pennsylvania, photographed on 19 May 1955 with numerous cruisers, escort carriers, and auxiliaries in reserve. The nearest ship is the never-completed Hawaii (CB-3), which lacks her previously-installed three 12" gun turrets. The cruisers outboard of Hawaii are (in unknown order) Honolulu (CL-48), Columbia (CL-56), Denver (CL-58), Galveston (CL-93), and Portsmouth (CL-102). To their left are Tranquility (AH-14), Sanctuary (AH-17), and Pocono (AGC-16). Behind Hawaii (from left to right) are Montpelier (CL-57), Houston (CL-81), Huntington (CL-107), Savannah (CL-42), Cleveland (CL-55), and Wilkes Barre (CL‑103). Beyond them (from left to right) are Wichita (CA-45), Oregon City (CA-122), Chester (CA-27), and New Orleans (CA-32). The cruisers on the left side of the basin (from front to rear) are Minneapolis (CA-36), Tuscaloosa (CA-37), San Francisco (CA-38), Augusta (CA-31), Louisville (CA-28), and Portland (CA-33). Among the other ships in reserve in the basin are Fomalhaut (AE-20), Webster (ARV-2), Albemarle (AV-5), Tangier (AV-8), Pocomoke (AV-9), Chandeleur (AV-10), Abatan (AW-4), Mission San Carlos (AO-120), *Prince William* (CVE-31), Anzio (CVE-57), Block Island (CVE-106), Palau (CVE-122), and San Carlos (AVP-51). Moored in the shipyard at the extreme left are Tennessee (BB-43), California (BB-44), and Cabot (CVL-28). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-668655).	Robert Hurst
For more photos and information about this ship, see: Commanding Officers of USS Prince William (CVE-31)