ACV-66 was initially named Elbour Bay. (Note: DANFS spells the name assigned to ACV/CVE-66 as Elbour Bay, but the correct name was, probably, Elbow Bay, a bay off Cordova Bay, on the east coast of Long Island, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska.)

Renamed White Plains, 3 April 1943, for a city in, and the seat of government for, Westchester County, N.Y. (NS0306612). After the Battle of Long Island on 27 August 1776, during the Revolutionary War, George Washington was forced to evacuate Long Island and, later, the entire state of New York. During the retreat through New York and New Jersey, contingents of American soldiers fought a series of sharp rearguard actions which held up the British forces and allowed the Continental Army to escape intact to Pennsylvania. On 28 October 1776, the second of those engagements was fought near White Plains, N.Y. Though the American troops were ultimately driven from the field, they held the British back long enough to allow General Washington's main force to make good its retreat.

NS0306612a: A 1796 map depicting the military positions of the Battle of White Plains, October 1776.

(Map NS0306612 courtesy of Google Maps Aircraft Carriers: An Illustrated Design History, by Norman Friedman.. Photo NS0306612a courtesy of The New York Public Library Digital Collections.)

Poncho, the mascot of USS White Plains (CVE-66), 11 December 1943.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-384069.

USS 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. Photographed from USS Savo Island (CVE-78). National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-381865.

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.

Spectacular sunrise as seen from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 20 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384135.

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 and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384058.

Aerials of Saipan Island. Taken by plane from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 24 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384139.

Sinking of Japanese transport off Rota Island, Mariana Islands. Photographed by plane from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 24 June 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384151.

Aerials of bombing of seaplane base at Flores Point, Saipan, by plane from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 3 July 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384164.

Bombing of Tinian Island on D-Day, taken by plane from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 24 July 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384173.

Bombing of Tinian Island, taken by plane from USS White Plains (CVE-66), 25 July 1944.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), # 80-G-384179.

USS White Plains (CVE-66) refueling at sea, circa late 1944.

As seen from USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71), USS White Plains (CVE-66) has an enemy salvo hitting off her port side on 25 October 1944. Note that White Plains is camouflaged in Measure 33, Design 10A.

US Navy and Marine Corps Museum/Naval Aviation Museum, photo # 1996.253.7387.016, Robert L. Lawson Photograph Collection.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, 25 October 1944—The starboard aft battery of 20 mm guns aboard USS White Plains (CVE-66) tries to track the fast-moving target, a kamikaze (a Zeke fighter), 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. The plane crashed just off the ship's port side. Photo NARA (National Archives and Records Administration) facility College Park, MD., #80-G-288881.

Partial text from Fire From The Sky, by Robert C. Stern.

This kamikaze (a Zeke fighter) 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.

Same photo as NS0306606, uncropped.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, #80-G-288882.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, 24–26 October 1944. USS White Plains (CVE-66) after suicide dive by Japanese Zeke. Smoke from explosion still present, 25 October 1944. Sailor to the right is the same "yellow shirt" seen in NS0306606b.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-384159.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. USS Heermann (DD-532), closer to camera, camouflaged in Ms.32, 24D, and a John C. Butler-escort—possibly John C. Butler (DE-339) herself, as she appears to be painted in Ms.32, Design 11D—lay a smoke screen to protect their escort carrier group from attacking Japanese surface ships. Photographed from USS White Plains (CVE-66). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), #80-G-288885.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. Splashes from Japanese shells near USS White Plains (CVE-66) during the Japanese fleet's attack on Carrier Division 25. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), #80-G-288886.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, Battle off Samar, 25 October 1944. Japanese shells fall near USS White Plains (CVE-66) during the Japanese fleet's attack on Carrier Division 25. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), #80-G-288925.

Battle of Leyte Gulf, 24–26 October 1944. A CVE, possibly USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73), attacked by Japanese surface units, as seen from USS White Plains (CVE-66).

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-384160.

THE SECRETARY OF THE NAVY
WASHINGTON

The President of the United States takes pleasure in presenting the PRESIDENTIAL UNIT CITATION to the

TASK UNIT SEVENTY-SEVEN POINT FOUR POINT THREE, consisting of the U.S.S. FANSHAW BAY and VC-68; U.S.S. GAMBIER BAY and VC-10; U.S.S. KALININ BAY and VC-3; U.S.S. KITKUN BAY and VC-5; U.S.S. SAINT LO and VC-65; U.S.S. WHITE PLAINS and VC-4; U.S.S. HOEL; U.S.S. JOHNSTON; U.S.S. HEERMAN; U.S.S. SAMUEL B. ROBERTS; U.S.S. RAYMOND; U.S.S. DENNIS and U.S.S. JOHN C. BUTLER

for service as set forth in the following

CITATION:

   "For extraordinary heroism in action against powerful units of the Japanese Fleet during the Battle off Samar, Philippines, October 25, 1944. Silhouetted against the dawn as the Central Japanese Force steamed through San Bernardino Strait toward Leyte Gulf, Task Unit 77.4.3 was suddenly taken under attack by hostile cruisers on its port hand, destroyers on the starboard and battleships from the rear. Quickly laying down a heavy smoke screen, the gallant ships of the Task Unit waged battle fiercely against the superior speed and fire power of the advancing enemy, swiftly launching and rearming aircraft and violently zigzagging in protection of vessels stricken by hostile armor-piercing shells, anti-personnel projectiles and suicide bombers. With one carrier of the group sunk, others badly damaged and squadron aircraft courageously coordinating in the attacks by making dry runs over the enemy Fleet as the Japanese relentlessly closed in for the kill, two of the Unit's valiant destroyers and one destroyer escort charged the battleships point-blank and, expending their last torpedoes in desperate defense of the entire group, went down under the enemy's heavy shells as a climax to two and one half hours of sustained and furious combat. The courageous determination and the superb teamwork of the officers and men who fought the embarked planes and who manned the ships of Task Unit 77.4.3 were instrumental in effecting the retirement of a hostile force threatening our Leyte invasion operations and were in keeping with the highest traditions of the United States Naval Service."

For the President,

James Forrestal
Secretary of the Navy

USS White Plains (CVE-66), wearing Camouflage Measure 33, Design 10A, at San Diego, 27(?) November 1944, having arrived there earlier the same day. The ship was there for repair of damages received in the Battle off Samar a month earlier. The colors are navy blue, haze gray and pale gray.

National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-272915.

USS White Plains (CVE-66) transporting aircraft, off the California coast, circa the first half of 1945.

Composite Squadron (VC) 4 patch.

VC-4 was aboard USS White Plains (CVE-66), May–November 1944.

History of the U.S.S. White Plains CVE-66, 27 September 1943–8 October 1945.

Declassified — Authority: E.O. 13526 — By: NDC   NARA Date: Dec 31, 2012.

In reserve, South Boston Naval Annex, circa 30 May 1958. Shamrock Bay (CVE-84) in foreground.