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NavSource Online: Escort Carrier Photo Archive

USS RUDYERD BAY   (CVE-81)
(later CVU-81 and AKV-29)



Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Kilo - X-Ray - Sierra

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 (5 stars)
2nd Row: World War II Victory Medal / Philippine Presidential Unit Citation / Philippine Liberation Medal (2 stars)

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
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308128
134k

CVE-81 (later CVU-81 and AKV-29) was named Rudyerd Bay for an estuary on the mainland, extending southwest to Behm Canal, Coast Mts., Alaska (NS0308128). The bay was named in 1879 by William H. Dall, U.S. Coast and Geodetic Survey (USC&GS), for the English engineer John Rudyerd, who rebuilt the Eddystone lighthouse after its destruction in 1703.

(Map courtesy of Hamstermap.com.)

NavSource
Construction
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308115
14k

Rudyerd Bay was sponsored on Wednesday, January 12, 1944 by Mrs. Scott Ernest Peck, wife of Captain Peck, USN.

(From "Bo's'n's Whistle," Vol. 4, No. 2; January 28, 1944; pages 4–5.)

Courtesy of Ron Gough,
Bea Dee, Ltd.,
Kaiser Vancouver / Swan Island & Oregon Shipyards website
World War II
Mr. Lowell Reistad Collection
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308101
61k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308102
65k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308103
95k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308104
55k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad. USS Rudyerd Bay was camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 15A (thanks to Aryeh Wetherhorn.)

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308105
40k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308106
97k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

NS0308130d is the same photo, differently cropped.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308107
72k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308108
58k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308109
58k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308110
50k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308111
57k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308112
69k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308113
74k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308114
67k

From the collection of Mr. Lowell Reistad.

Lowell Reistad via Paul Neacsu
Mr. Clint Daniel Collection
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308119
48k

CAPT Curtis S. Smiley, CO, USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), 1944.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308126
43k

CDR Robert Ward Cooper, XO, USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), February 1944–June 1945.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308120
75k

Dr. Wilson, Dr. Ellis, Dr. Slavin.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308121
62k

LCDR Frank J. Peterson, CO, VC-77. KIA, 19 February 1945, Iwo Jima (TBM-1C Avenger, BuNo 73254).

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308122
64k

From the C.E. Daniel Collection.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308123
119k

From the C.E. Daniel Collection.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308124
81k

From the C.E. Daniel Collection.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308125
51k

From the C.E. Daniel Collection.

C.E. Daniel Collection - A Private Collection of WWII Aviation Memorabilia
Mr. Duane Earlywine Collection
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129
641k

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 15A. Naval Air Station, North Island, San Diego, California, first half of 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129a
771k
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129e
572k

Practice with Bofors 40mm guns, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129g
254k

Checking position and keeping watch, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129j
782k

Crew making the engine purr on an FM-2 Wildcat, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129k
313k

Crew preparing TBM Avenger for action, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129l
531k

Crew, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129m
598k

Crew, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129n
572k

Crew, 1944. Fireman First Class Earlywine 1st row, second from left.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130
166k

Landing Signal Officer (LSO), 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130a
569k

L-class blimp touching down on deck, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130b
501k

Practicing with a 20mm Oerlikon gun, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130e
323k

Receiving provisions at sea, 1944.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130f
743k
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130g
739k
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130d
685k

"Pilot recovery from large cruiser, 1944."

This may be 18 October 1944. From USS Rudyerd Bay's War Diary for the Month of October 1944: "At 1030 U.S.S. Birmingham (CL62) came alongside and transferred six (6) officers and one hundred twenty-seven (127) enlisted personnel from the U.S.S. Houston [(CL-81)] for transportation." Birmingham was camouflaged in Measure 33, Design 6D, which matches the photo.

NS0308106 is the same photo, differently cropped.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308130c
506k

Pilot recovery from destroyer, 1944.

This is probably 11 December 1944. From USS Rudyerd Bay's War Diary for the Month of December 1944: "1721 TBM-1C, BuAer #46015, piloted by Lt.(jg) John J. Scannell, [...], U.S. Naval Reserve; with air crewmen Keller, J.D., ARM2c, [...], U.S. Naval Reserve; and Erwert, P. (n), AOM2c, [...], U.S. Navy, crashed into the water and sank while attempting to make a landing in Lat. 14°26' N., Long. 134°47.6' E. All personnel recovered by USS Thorn (DD647)." Thorn was camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 16D, which matches the photo.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129b
570k

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) recovering an Avenger, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129c
770k

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), Avenger mishap, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129d
698k

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), Avenger hard landing, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129f
698k

Crewmen carrying bombs to aircraft, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129i
261k

Refueling TBM Avenger, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129o
284k

Delivering L-5 Sentinels, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129p
743k

FM-2 Wildcat in flight, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129q
743k

FM-2 Wildcat hard landing after action, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129r
652k

Recovering an FM-2 Wildcat, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129s
758k

Launching an FM-2 Wildcat, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129t
517k

Ferrying F4U Corsairs and arriving in theater, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129u
580k

Burial at sea, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129v
861k

Pilots go over the day's results, 1945.

C. Duane Earlywine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308129h
808k

Crew entertainment. This photo was taken between the end of the war and 23 January 1946, during Operation Magic Carpet.

C. Duane Earlywine
Mr. David R. Cook
From His Uncle, Donald Edward Schwarz's, Collection
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308131
101k

Donald Edward Schwarz served as a Seaman 1st Class, and was promoted to Coxswain during his tour.

David R. Cook,
for his uncle Donald Edward Schwarz
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308131a
380k

"Thank You" from the 5th Marine Division after the battle of Iwo Jima.

CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay + AO-81
NS0308117
135k

USS Kennebago (AO-81) and USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) are on a post-shakedown cruise from San Diego to Pearl Harbor, 31 March 1944. Logs report that practice unrep exercises between them were carried out.

US Navy photo.

David Buell
John Chiquoine
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308116
265k

USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) underway on 19 July 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval History and Heritage Command (#NH 106584).

Naval History & Heritage Command, via Robert Hurst
Larger copy from the National Naval Aviation Museum, via Mike Green
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308118
188k

FM-2 Wildcats and TBM-3 Avengers of Composite Squadron (VC) 96 aboard USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81), circa April 1945.

Robert Rocker
CVE-81 Rudyerd Bay
NS0308127
336k

Aircraft of Composite Squadron (VC) 96 and a Karry Krane are visible on the flight deck of USS Rudyerd Bay (CVE-81) in this overhead shot taken off Guam on 20 May 1945. US Navy photo, now in the collection of the US National Archives at College Park, Maryland (# 80-G-346180).

Tracy White, Researcher @ Large

For more photos and information about this ship, see:

Read the USS RUDYERD BAY (CVE-81 / CVU-81 / AKV-29) DANFS History entry

Crew Contact And Reunion Information

Contact Name: Mr. Malcom Sullivan
Address:3330 Springs Rd NE Hickory, NC, 28601-9100
Phone: 704-256-6008
E-mail: None

Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Escort Carrier Sailors & Airmen Association

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This page was created by Paul Yarnall and is maintained by Fabio Peña
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Last update: 19 December 2023