USS Santee (CVE-29)

The second USS Santee (CVE-29) (originally launched as AO-29, following reclassification as an escort carrier, was originally ACV-29) was launched on 4 March 1939 as Esso Seakay under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 3) by the Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company at Chester, Pennsylvania, sponsored by Mrs. Charles Kurz; acquired by the United States Navy on 18 October 1940; and commissioned on 30 October 1940 as AO-29, with Commander William G. B. Hatch in command.

Prior to her acquisition by the Navy, Esso Seakay had been operated by Standard Oil of New Jersey (Esso) on the west coast. During her commercial service, she set several records for fast oil hauling. Its original model was a type T3-S2-A1 tanker.

World War II

After commissioning, Santee served in the Atlantic. When American neutrality ended on 7 December 1941, Santee was carrying oil for a secret airdrome at NS Argentia, Newfoundland. In the spring of 1942, Santee's conversion to an aircraft carrier was begun at the Norfolk Navy Yard.

USS Santee

Three ships of the United States Navy have been named USS Santee, after the Santee River of South Carolina.

SS Arvonian

SS Arvonian was a 2,794 GRT British freighter built in 1905, with a long and complex history under several names. She served in the British merchant marine, and was commissioned in the United States and British navies during World War I, before returning to merchant service, and eventually being sold to Latvia. In World War II she was taken over by the Soviet Union, then captured by Germany. Post-war she sailed under the Latvian and Costa Rican flags, until finally scrapped in West Germany in 1958.

Service history

The ship was built by the Richardson, Duck & Co. shipyard in Stockton-on-Tees, England, and launched on 1 August 1905 as Rosedale. A month later, on 1 September 1905 she was sold to the Golden Cross Line of, and renamed Arvonian.

In August 1917 the Arvonian was requisitioned by the Royal Navy and converted into Q-ship, designed to decoy U-boats into attacking before revealing her concealed weaponry. She was armed with three 4-inch guns, three 12-pounder guns, two .30-calibre machine guns and four 18-inch torpedo tubes.

USS Santee (1855)

USS Santee (1855) was a wooden-hulled, three-masted sailing frigate of the United States Navy. She was the first US Navy ship to be so named and was one of its last sailing frigates in service. She was acquired by the Union Navy at the start of the American Civil War, outfitted with heavy guns and a crew of 480, and was assigned as a gunship in the Union blockade of the Confederate States of America. She later became a training ship for the U.S. Naval Academy.

Laid down in New Hampshire in 1820

Rated at 44 guns, she was laid down in 1820 by the Portsmouth Navy Yard, but due to a shortage of funds, she long remained uncompleted on the stocks. She was finally launched on 16 February 1855, but not commissioned until 9 June 1861, Captain Henry Eagle in command.

Civil War service

Assigned to the Gulf of Mexico blockade

Santee departed Portsmouth, New Hampshire on 20 June 1861, stopped at Hampton Roads, Virginia to load ammunition, and resumed her voyage to the Gulf of Mexico on 10 July.