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In early May 1960, USS Santee (CVEH 29) ended a trans-Atlantic tow by the German salvage tug Seefalke at a ship breakers in Bremerhaven[i] and was subsequently dismantled for scrap, thus ending a long career. The voyage, which began on April 18, 1960, at the Navy Reserve Fleet in Boston, started inauspiciously when the towline parted and had to be reattached and the crossing begun anew. It was a sad end for the war-weary ship, whose final configuration and utilization was far different from what its builders initially planned.
USS Santee (AO 29) underway in Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia, 99 days prior to entering Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) to be converted to aircraft carrier (NNSY) |
Concurrently, the Maritime Commission under Chairman Joseph P. Kennedy, who later became Ambassador to the Court of St. James, announced a major program. This called for the Commission to build twelve so-called “National Defense Tankers” in four civilian yards from Massachusetts to Newport News, Virginia. The procurement contract of $37,000,000, funded in part by Standard Oil of New Jersey and the U.S. Maritime Administration, was signed by officials of the Standard Oil Company of New Jersey, known commonly as “Esso,” though it was understood that the ships might be operated by companies other than Esso. The Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company of Chester, Pennsylvania, built SS Seakay, later renamed USS Santee (AO 29). The two other ships constructed were USS Chenango (CVE 28) and USS Cimarron (AO 24). Sponsored by Mrs. Charles L. Kurz, wife of the Chairman of Keystone Transportation, Seakay was launched on March 4, 1939, and delivered to Keystone 25 days later.[v]
SS Seakay operated on the West Coast of the United States delivering crude oil to refineries until early October 1940, and on the 18th of that month it was sold to the United States Navy for conversion to a fleet oiler. Seakay’s commanding officer was Commander William Gibb Bartlett Hatch, a 1913 Annapolis graduate who had earlier commanded the destroyers Toucey and Blakely. He had been praised as an “easygoing and a nice man” by his commanding officer, Vice Admiral Elliot B. Strauss.[vi] The ship and its crew carried out the normal duties of a fleet oiler until March 19, 1942, when Seakay entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard (NNSY) and was decommissioned for conversion to a “Baby Flattop,” as the original CVEs were initially nicknamed.
USS Santee (ACV 29), re-designated CVE 29 on July 15, 1943, anchored in Hampton Roads. (NNSY) |
Flight deck of USS Santee showing SBD-3 Dauntlesses and Wildcats with Torch markings near the fuselage stars (NHHC) |
Map of objective area, Safi, Morocco (History of the U.S. Navy in WWII, Samuel Eliot Morison) |
LCDR John Thomas Blackburn in 1943 as commanding officer of Fighter Squadron Seventeen (NHHC) |
LCDR John Thomas Blackburn being returned to USS Santee in a coaling bag by highline on November 11, 1942, after spending 64 hours in the ocean after a crash (NHHC) |
On November 9, 1942, Lieutenant Commander Joseph A. Ruddy carried out a hazardous, low-level reconnaissance flight on the Marrakech airfield. Although his aircraft was struck by ground fire, he made a second approach and made a direct hit on the hangar, inflicting considerable damage, and later attacked a column of enemy trucks he observed, which were bound for Safi. He was awarded the Navy Cross for his achievements. On November 11, 1942, after an armistice had been declared, Santee aviators struck Marrakech a final time and destroyed twelve aircraft on the airfield. The Southern Attack Group assault was one in which, according to Admiral Morison, “everything clicked.” The operational commander Rear Admiral Lyal Davidson observed that:
There is some indication that Admiral Davidson was not impressed with carrier aviator performance and used aircraft from battleship USS New York (BB 34) and the cruiser USS Philadelphia (CL 41) to execute certain missions, such as sinking the Vichy submarine Medeuse. In any event, on November 13, 1942, with its part in Torch complete, Santee left the theater, bound for its Norfolk homeport. It reached home station on November 24, 1942, two days before Thanksgiving. The NNSY Drydock log shows that Santee was docked on December 8, 1942, for voyage and battle damage repairs and was undocked four days later.[xiii]
"The Southern Attack Group was able to land at Safi with but two naval casualties and no material damage other than 8 landing craft…and with comparatively light casualties (8 killed in action and 75 wounded in action) among Army Assault troops is attributable to Divine Providence, good weather, surprise, retention of the initiative and accurate and overpowering gunnery."[xii]
Page from log book showing Santee as part of Operation Torch (NNSY) |
Note from the author: Special thanks to Marcus Robbins, NNSY, and Dave Kavanagh for their assistance with the research of this blog.
Notes:
[i] Weser Kurier, May 5, 1960.
[ii] Public Law 75-528 of May 17, 1938
[iii] The Vinson-Walsh Act, Public Law 76-757, was the largest naval procurement bill in United States History and increased the size of the fleet by 70%
[iv] “Peacetime Naval Re-Armament 1933-39, Lessons for today,” Naval War College Review, Volume 72, Spring 2019, pp 88-103.
[v] “Standard Oil Contracts to Build Twelve Fast Tankers,” From Bulletin of Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Historical Society, May 1940.
[vi] Reference to Commander William G.B. Hatch, USN at page 85, Oral History of Vice Admiral Elliott B. Strauss, USN, in Oral Histories of the United States Naval Institute, Annapolis, Maryland
[vii] United States Naval Operations in World War II, Operations in North African Waters, Rear Admiral Samuel Eliot Morison, USN (Ret.) p. 133-155; See Docking Log Norfolk Naval Shipyard for August 20, 1942, slightly before its commissioning. The first flight was made on September 24, 1942.
[viii] “A Torch for Africa,” Archives of the Sun Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, p.34.
[ix] Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships, Volume VI, Historical Sketches R-S, p.326
[x] Operations in North African Waters, p. 150
[xi] CVE Piper, Escort Carrier Sailors and Airman’s Association, June 20, 2020
[xii] Ibid. p. 133.
[xiii]Record of Dockings, Drydock 3, Norfolk Naval Shipyard, December 8 and 12, 1942
[xiv] On July 8, 2022, prior to completion of this essay, the Museum was visited by the granddaughter of Petty Officer Jethroe Midgette, a former Gunner’s Mate who served in USS Santee (CVE 29) during Torch. She related that her grandfather served aboard not only during Torch but for the entire war.
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