The escort carrier
departed bayside on 2 July for shakedown training in Puget Sound and
then sailed for San Francisco to take on fuel oil and aviation gas.
She arrived at San Diego on 14 July for further training before
becoming a unit of the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet,
with the task of transporting aircraft, material, and personnel to
support front line carrier operations.
After a brief pause at Pearl Harbor, Admiralty Islands got underway
for the Marshall Islands. She disembarked her cargo at Majuro Atoll
on 9 August and immediately returned to Pearl Harbor. The carrier
then shuttled more planes and personnel back to San Francisco,
arriving there on the 24th. She spent the month of September making
a shuttle from the west coast to Finschhafen, New Guinea, and back.
Upon her arrival at San Diego on 7 October, the ship underwent
alterations from the 8th through the 26th. On 29 October, Admiralty
Islands sailed for Naval Air Station Alameda, to load Army aircraft
and personnel for transportation to New Guinea. She reached
Finschhafen on 21 November, unloaded, and continued on to Manus
Island. After a brief pause at Seeadler Harbor on 23 November, she
touched at Pearl Harbor on 6–7 December before reaching San Diego a
week later to load aircraft and military personnel. She returned to
Pearl Harbor on 24 December and on the day after Christmas got
underway for Guam.
Admiralty Islands reached Guam on 6 January 1945. She conducted
refresher aircraft landing operations off that island for two days,
then sailed for Pearl Harbor on the 10th. The carrier reached Hawaii
on the 20th and began repairs to her main engine. After the yard
work was finished on 31 January, she took on 61 aircraft, slated to
replace combat losses. Admiralty Islands left Pearl Harbor on 2
February to support carrier operations in the campaign to seize Iwo
Jima. After short stops at Eniwetok and Ulithi, Admiralty Islands
got underway on 16 February as part of Task Group 50.8 (TG 50.8),
the logistics support group for Task Force 58 (TF 58). Throughout
the rest of February Admiralty Islands launched aircraft and
provided replacement pilots to make good the carriers' losses. She
returned to Guam on 2 March for provisioning and to make minor hull
repairs. On 13 March, she again sailed with TG 50.8, this time to
support action against Okinawa. The carrier interrupted her
logistics supply role only for brief returns to Guam for
replenishment.
On 18 April 1945, Admiralty Islands suffered her first operational
casualty near Okinawa. After sounding flight quarters at 1217, she
began launching new replacement aircraft at 1352. The pilots
delivered one F6F Hellcat, two TBM Avengers and two SB2C Helldivers
to Essex. At 1406, Admiralty Islands began recovering the pilots and
ten combat-fatigued Essex aircraft (commonly known as "Flyable Duds")
for repair or disposal.
Ensign Roy Edward Jones, piloting Grumman Hellcat F6F-5 #71332, was
the first to return for landing. He was not able to respond well to
"low" and "opposite slant" flag signals, received a late "wave off"
from the Landing Signal Officer (LSO) and applied full throttle for
another go-around. The aircraft continued to settle and the tailhook
caught the No. 5 arresting wire. The accelerating Hellcat impacted
the ship's gun mount with terrific force, breaking in two. The
forward part of the plane went over the port side with the trapped
pilot. The tail of the aircraft remained hooked to the No. 5 wire,
resting on the ship's catwalk. The LSO was forced to jump into the
safety net, breaking his leg.
Ensign Jones was lost at sea and his name is inscribed at the Courts
of the Missing in Honolulu, Hawaii.
The Admiralty Islands returned to Guam on 24 April to undergo
repairs on her boilers two of which had become inoperative by the
time she arrived. Her repairs completed, the escort carrier sailed
on 14 May to rejoin TG 50.8 and operations off Okinawa. She
delivered numerous aircraft to American forces before arriving, via
Guam, at Saipan, on 15 June. She remained there for approximately
two weeks before she received orders to join TG 30.8 and support air
and bombardment strikes on the Japanese home islands.
Admiralty Islands sustained another operational casualty on 20 July.
An external fuel tank that would not release in flight detached on
landing. The fuel tank exploded on the wooden flight deck. Three
aircraft were burned, and one man died as a result of the ensuing
fire.
On 21 July, the ship was detached from the 3rd Fleet and headed for
Guam, where she unloaded her cargo while refueling for the trip back
to the west coast. The carrier reached San Diego on 11 August, then
sailed to San Pedro, California to undergo repairs and alterations.
The majority of the alterations were canceled because of Japan's
surrender and, following completion of essential repairs, Admiralty
Islands sailed on 1 September to become a member of the Operation
Magic Carpet fleet for assistance in the return of American troops
to home. On 25 September, operational control of the carrier was
transferred to the Carrier Transport Squadron, Pacific Fleet.
"Magic Carpet" duties occupied Admiralty Islands until she was
decommissioned on 24 April 1946. Her name was struck from the Naval
Vessel Register on 8 May 1946, and the ship was sold on 2 January
1947 to the Zidell Machinery and Supply Company, Portland, Oregon.
Zidell scrapped her only miles from the Kaiser shipyards where she
had been built only a few years before. |