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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 / Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal / World War II Victory Medal

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
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
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
In "Mothballs"
NS014444	138k	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 its 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)