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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS MATANIKAU (CVE-101)
(later CVU-101 and AKV-36)

(Ex- DOLOMI BAY)

Unit Awards, Campaign and Service Medals and Ribbons

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

Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - Alpha - Bravo

CLASS - CASABLANCA
Displacement 7,800 Tons, Dimensions, 512' 3" (oa) x 65' 2" x 22' 4" (Max)
Armament 1 x 5"/38AA 8 x 40mm, 12 x 20mm, 27 Aircraft.
Machinery, 9,000 IHP; 2 Skinner, Uniflow engines, 2 screws
Speed, 19 Knots, Crew 860.

Click On Image For Full Size Image	Size	Image Description	Contributed By And/Or Copyright
Name
NS0310110	99k	CVE-101 was initially named *Dolomi Bay* for a bay on the southeast coast of Prince of Wales Island, Alexander Archipelago, Alaska (NS0310110). Renamed *Matanikau*, 26 April 1944, after a river on the northwest coast of Guadalcanal, Solomons, between Point Cruz and Lunga Point (NS0310110a). During the protracted ground war for control of Guadalcanal, U.S. Marines battled Japanese troops along its banks in September and October 1942, while tenaciously defending their defense perimeter around Henderson Field. NS0310110b: A US Marines patrol crosses the Matanikau River on Guadalcanal in September 1942. (Maps NS0310110 and NS0310110a courtesy of Google Maps. Photo NS0310110b courtesy of the US National Archives and Records Administration.)	NavSource
NS0310110a	102k
NS0310110b	210k
World War II
NS0310107	231k	*Matanikau* (CVE-101), shown during launching, Monday, 22 May 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376551.	NARA
NS0310101	138k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101)	Russ Padden
NS0310101a	49k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101)	Tom Kermen
NS0310104	124k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) underway.	Ronald Crespin, son of WW II crew member John Crespin (June 4, 1924–October 4, 2002)
NS0310102	127k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) underway shortly after her commissioning, July 1944. National Naval Aviation Museum, photo No. 1996.488.035.001.	Mike Green Robert Hurst
NS0310111	343k	Undated port side photo of USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) wearing camouflage Measure 32, Design 16A. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-376613.	Courtesy of C. Lee Johnson, usndazzle.com, via Mike Green
NS0310117	449k	FM-2 Wildcats flying in formation. Aircraft from USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), circa 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), photo # 80-G-376613.	NARA
NS0310109	346k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), broadside view, taken on 13 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376566.	NARA
NS0310109a	391k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), pilot house boat approaches, taken on 13 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376567.	NARA
NS0310109b	281k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), docked, taken on 13 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376569.	NARA
NS0310109c	217k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), heading out to sea, taken on 13 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376570.	NARA
NS0310108	599k	An FM-2 Wildcat fighter preparing for launch aboard USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), Thursday, 27 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376559.	NARA
NS0310108a	323k	An FM-2 Wildcat fighter preparing for launch aboard USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), Thursday, 27 July 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376560.	NARA
NS0310118	409k	Implementation tool used to fill in grooves with tar on flight deck. Shown on flight deck of USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), 4 August 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376571.	NARA
NS0310119	713k	Two crewmembers of USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), chief and sailor, use an implement to sink tar into grooves in the escort carrier's flight deck, 11 August 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376575.	NARA
NS0310120	372k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), with K-blimp coming in to be secured, 14 October 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376580.	NARA
NS0310120a	229k	A mock attack on USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) by a squadron of TBM Avengers coming in for the "kill," 14 October 1944. The ship's first carrier qualification cruise, with Composite Squadron (VC) 94 aboard, began on this date. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376586.	NARA
NS0310121	514k	TBM Avenger recovering aboard USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), 16 October 1944. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA) photo, # 80-G-376588.	NARA
NS0310103	96k	An Advanced Carrier Training Group Pacific (ACTGPac) TBM Avenger pilot taxis to the port catapult of USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) during training exercises off San Diego, California. *Matanikau* provided carrier qualification deck services for the Pacific Fleet during October 1944–July 1945. USN photo. From "Carrier Air War in Original WWII Color," by Robert Lawson and Barrett Tillman.	Robert Hurst
NS0310105	122k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101) circa 1945, location unknown.	David Perich for his father, Thomas, who served aboard USS Matanikau in the Pacific in WWII
NS0310106	171k	Official copy of the service history of USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101).	David Perich for his father, Thomas, who served aboard USS Matanikau in the Pacific in WWII
NS0310112	5.19M	USS *Matanikau* Bullhorn, Vol. 1, No. 1, 24 June 1944.	Joe Gardella for his father, Paul, who served aboard USS Matanikau in the Pacific in WWII
NS0310113	6.85M	USS *Matanikau* Bullhorn, Vol. 1, No. 2, August 1944.
NS0310114	3.46M	USS *Matanikau* Bullhorn, Vol. 1, No. 7, 15 February 1945.
NS0310115	470k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), "Happy Hour."
NS0310116	757k	USS *Matanikau* (CVE-101), Plank Owner Certificate for MME3c Paul Richard Gardella, Jr.
For more information about this ship, see: Commanding Officers of USS Matanikau (CVE-101)