- USS Rabaul (CVE-121)
USS "Rabaul" (CVE/CVHE/AKV-121) was a
United States Navy "Commencement Bay"-classescort aircraft carrier , named forRabaul , a strategically significant port in the Pacific theater ofWorld War II ."Rabaul" was laid down 2 January 1945 by
Todd Pacific Shipyards ,Tacoma, Washington , launched 14 June 1945, sponsored by Alice Schade (wife of United States Navy naval architect Commodore Henry Adrian "Packy" Schade), completed by theCommercial Iron Works ,Portland, Oregon , and delivered to the Navy 30 August 1946.Accepted into the 19th Fleet, (the
Pacific Reserve Fleet ), "Rabaul" was berthed at Tacoma without seeing any active service. The warship was mothballed there during the early years of theCold War and served as a mobilization reserve in case of war with theSoviet Union . Reclassified CVHE-121 in June 1955, she was transferred to the San Diego Group, Pacific Reserve Fleet in June 1958 and reclassified AKV-21 in May of the following year. She remained in reserve at San Diego until1 September 1971 when she was struck from theNaval Vessel Register . "Rabaul" was sold on 25 August 1972 to theNicolai Joffe Corporation ofBeverly Hills, California , for scrapping.References
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