USS Commencement Bay - CVE-105 (Escort Carrier)

USS Commencement Bay (CVE-105), originally named St. Joseph Bay, was the lead ship of her class and served as an escort carrier and later a helicopter carrier in the U.S. Navy. Launched on May 9, 1944, she was commissioned on November 27, 1944, under Captain Roscoe Leroy Bowman's command. Commencement Bay primarily functioned as a training ship, training hundreds of officers and men for other escort carriers and qualifying numerous pilots in carrier takeoffs and landings. After her training mission, she was placed in reserve status in November 1946. She underwent reclassification, changing to CVHE-105 on June 12, 1955, and later to AKV-37 on May 7, 1959. The ship was struck from the Navy List on April 1, 1971, and sold for scrap on August 25, 1972.