The second USS Chenango (CVE-28) (originally designated as oiler AO-31, after redesignation as escort carrier, was first ACV-28) was launched on 1 April 1939
as Esso New Orleans by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, in Chester, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Mrs. Rathbone; acquired by the United States Navy on 31 May 1941; and commissioned on 20 June 1941 as AO-31, with Commander W. H. Mays in command.
USS Chenango in The War That Came Early
The escort carrier USS Chenango, along with her sister ship, the USS Suwannee, were both attached to the Ranger Task Force, in order to give the US Pacific Fleet more naval air power. Although painfully slow and lacking the fire power of a proper fleet carrier, the Chenango small compliment of aircraft still added much needed carrier planes to the battle.
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