Laid down as Elbour Bay (ACV-66), MC hull 1103, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Vancouver, Washington, 11 Feb 1943. Renamed White Plains, 3 Apr 1943; redesignated CVE-66, 15 July 1943. Launched 27 Sep 1943; commissioned 15 Nov 1943.
Decommissioned 10 Jul 1946. Reclassified as an "Utility Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated CVU-66, 12 Jun 1955, while in reserve.
| Click On Image For Full Size Image |
Size | Image Description | Contributed By And/Or Copyright |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
 NS0306605 |
14k | White Plains (CVE-66) at San Diego, 8 March 1944, with Wildcat fighters and Avenger torpedo bombers on her deck. She is followed by a Fletcher-class destroyer in the pattern camouflage widely used in the Pacific during 1944. National Archives photo # 80-G-381865. |
NHC | |
 NS0306601 |
134k | USS White Plains (CVE-66) in San Diego harbor, California, circa April 1944. She is being assisted by the harbor tug Wenonah (YT-148). White Plains is painted in Camouflage Measure 33, Design 10A. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (#80-G-302258). |
Courtesy of Scott Koen & ussnewyork.com | |
 NS0306608 |
85k | General Motors FM-2 Wildcat fighters from USS White Plains (CVE-66) fly an escort mission, probably during air strikes on Japanese facilities on Rota Island, Marianas, 24 June 1944. Note island in the distance. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-384058). |
Robert Hurst | |
 NS0306606b |
46k | Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944—The starboard aft battery of 20 mm guns aboard USS White Plains (CVE-66) try to track the fast-moving target, a kamikaze, a near impossibility as it swung across the carrier's stern from starboard to port. The sailor in the center foreground—probably a "yellow shirt" plane director—seems to be undecided which direction is safer. Photo NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) facility College Park, MD. Partial text from Fire From The Sky, by Robert C. Stern. |
Gerd Matthes Robert Hurst |
|
 NS0306606 |
65k | This kamikaze apparently "expected to land on the after end of the flight deck." CAPT Sullivan, White Plains commanding officer, avoided a direct hit by ordering a hard turn to starboard: the plane and its bomb exploded just off the port side of the carrier and caused only minor damage; eleven men were injured, none seriously. |
Hugh Stratford, USS White Plains | |
 NS0306606a |
51k | Same photo as NS0306606, uncropped. |
Gerd Matthes, Germany | |
 NS0306606c |
94k | Sailor to the right is the same "yellow shirt" seen in NS0306606b. Photo NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) facility College Park, MD. Photo and text from Fire From The Sky, by Robert C. Stern. |
Robert Hurst | |
 NS0306609 |
258k | USS White Plains (CVE-66) transporting aircraft, off the California coast, circa the first half of 1945. |
David Buell | |
 NS0306607 |
332k | Letter from President Truman, sent to all who served and survived. | Hugh Stratford, USS White Plains | |
| Ex-USS White Plains |
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 NS0306602 |
67k | Castle Island, South Boston, 1959. | © Richard Leonhardt | |
 NS0306603 |
120k | Castle Island, South Boston, 1959. | © Richard Leonhardt | |
 NS0306604 |
120k | Castle Island, South Boston, 1959. | © Richard Leonhardt | |
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Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan. Official U.S. Navy Carrier Website Escort Carrier Sailors & Airmen Association 
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This page was created by Paul Yarnall and is maintained by Fabio Peña
Last update: 15 January 2012