World War II
Thetis Bay got underway for San Diego where she conducted brief shakedown training. On 2 June, she moved to San Pedro to load planes and passengers for Pacific bases. The new escort carrier stood out to sea on 5 June; called at Pearl Harbor on the 11th; and continued on, via Makin and Majuro, to Kwajalein. There, she embarked the Army's 50th Engineer Battalion which she offloaded at Pearl Harbor on 5 July. Two days later, the carrier got underway for Alameda with 41 aircraft that needed repairs. She arrived on 13 July and, after offloading the aircraft, proceeded to Terminal Island for a three-week yard period. Between 11 August and 13 September, the escort carrier delivered spare parts, replacement aircraft, and personnel to Hawaii and the Marshalls. From September 1944 through mid-April 1945, Thetis Bay made five round-trip voyages from California ports to bases in the Pacific ranging from Pearl Harbor to Finschhaven, New Guinea.
On 12 June 1945, Thetis Bay arrived at Pearl Harbor from San Diego with a load of aircraft. There, the aircraft were readied for combat within 72 hours; and the ship got underway for Guam. She arrived at Apra Harbor on 25 June and was assigned to Task Group 30.8 for duty as a replenishment carrier. Thetis Bay made her first rendezvous with Task Force 38 on 12 July when she transferred 40 planes to various carriers. She returned to Guam on 22 July and remained there until 24 July to load more aircraft before joining the fast carriers again on the 31st. The ship reloaded at Guam once more and resupplied the task force from 14 August to 8 September when she returned to Apra Harbor en route to the United States.
Thetis Bay arrived at Alameda on 7 September 1945 and was assigned to "Magic-Carpet" duty, returning veterans from overseas bases to the United States. She served in this capacity until January 1946 when she began inactivation. The ship was placed out of commission, in reserve, at Bremerton, Washington, on 7 August 1946.
Read more about this topic: USS Thetis Bay (CVE-90)
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