USS ''Prince William'' (CVE-31) (originally AVG-31, later ACV-31), ex-MC Hull 242, was laid down by the

Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation The Seattle-Tacoma Shipbuilding Corporation (also operating as Todd Pacific) was an American corporation which built escort carriers, destroyers, cargo ships and auxiliaries for the United States Navy and merchant marine during World War II i ...

Tacoma, Washington Tacoma ( ) is the county seat of Pierce County, Washington, United States. A port city, it is situated along Washington's Puget Sound, southwest of Seattle, northeast of the state capital, Olympia, Washington, Olympia, and northwest of Mount ...

, 18 May 1942 as AVG-31; redesignated ACV-31 on 20 August 1942; launched 23 August 1942; sponsored by Mrs. Paul Foley; and commissioned 9 April 1943,

Captain Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...

Herbert E. Regan in command. The ship was named after Prince William sound, Alaska.

Service history

Following an abbreviated shakedown off the west coast, ''Prince William'' reported for duty with the Pacific Fleet’s air arm to ferry planes and transport personnel to forward areas. Redesignated CVE-31 on 15 July 1943, she operated between the west coast and such places as

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Canton Island Canton Island (also known as Kanton or Abariringa), previously known as Mary Island, Mary Balcout's Island or Swallow Island, is the largest, northernmost, and , the sole inhabited island of the Phoenix Islands, in the Republic of Kiribati. It i ...

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and

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until the spring of 1944. Then, a brief assignment at

San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the List of United States cities by population, eigh ...

, training and qualifying pilots, preceded her return to ferrying duties in mid-April 1944. She completed a run to

Townsville Townsville is a city on the north-eastern coast of Queensland, Australia. With a population of 180,820 as of June 2018, it is the largest settlement in North Queensland; it is unofficially considered its capital. Estimated resident population, 3 ...

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, 7 May 1944, and, on her return to San Diego, was reassigned to the Atlantic Fleet. Unloading aircraft and cargo at

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, 21 June 1944, she continued on to

Norfolk Norfolk () is a ceremonial and non-metropolitan county in East Anglia in England. It borders Lincolnshire to the north-west, Cambridgeshire to the west and south-west, and Suffolk to the south. Its northern and eastern boundaries are the No ...

where new navigational equipment (

LORAN LORAN, short for long range navigation, was a hyperbolic radio navigation system developed in the United States during World War II. It was similar to the UK's Gee system but operated at lower frequencies in order to provide an improved range u ...

) was installed. During July and into August, she qualified pilots in the

Chesapeake Bay The Chesapeake Bay ( ) is the largest estuary in the United States. The Bay is located in the Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region and is primarily separated from the Atlantic Ocean by the Delmarva Peninsula (including the parts: the ...

area, then, on 24 August 1944 , resumed plane and personnel ferry services with a run to

Casablanca Casablanca, also known in Arabic as Dar al-Bayda ( ar, الدَّار الْبَيْضَاء, al-Dār al-Bayḍāʾ, ; ber, ⴹⴹⴰⵕⵍⴱⵉⴹⴰ, ḍḍaṛlbiḍa, : "White House") is the largest city in Morocco and the country's econom ...

. Returning with worn airplane engines and parts, she moored at Norfolk 26 September 1944 for availability. ''Prince William'' returned to training duties in mid-October 1944. Until 26 January 1945, she qualified pilots in the Narrangansett Bay area, then shifted to

Key West Key West ( es, Cayo Hueso) is an island in the Straits of Florida, within the U.S. state of Florida. Together with all or parts of the separate islands of Dredgers Key, Fleming Key, Sunset Key, and the northern part of Stock Island, it cons ...

. There she continued to carry out her mission as a training carrier until returning to Norfolk in May. On 2 June 1945, the CVE got underway for the

Panama Canal The Panama Canal ( es, Canal de Panamá, link=no) is an artificial waterway in Panama that connects the Atlantic Ocean with the Pacific Ocean and divides North and South America. The canal cuts across the Isthmus of Panama and is a conduit ...

and on the 8th rejoined the Pacific Fleet. Again assigned to ferrying duties, she transported planes and personnel between the

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and

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for the remainder of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. After the cessation of hostilities, ''Prince William'' was assigned to “Magic Carpet” duty and for the next seven months returned military personnel and equipment to the United States. Completing her last run at San Diego, 21 March 1946, she was ordered to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and on 8 April 1946 got underway for the

. Arriving at Norfolk on 23 April 1946, she continued on, two days later, to

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

where she decommissioned 29 August 1946. Reclassified CVHE-31, 12 June 1955, ''Prince William'' remained a unit of the Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet until struck from the

Naval Register A Navy Directory, formerly the Navy List or Naval Register is an official list of naval officers, their ranks and seniority, the ships which they command or to which they are appointed, etc., that is published by the government or naval author ...

1 March 1959. She was sold for scrap in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north ...

in March 1961.

References

External links

Photo gallery
at navsource.org {{DEFAULTSORT:Prince William (Cve-31) Bogue-class escort carriers of the United States Navy Ships built in Tacoma, Washington 1942 ships World War II escort aircraft carriers of the United States