USS Santee (CVE-29)

USS Santee
History
United States
Name	SS Esso Seakay
Owner	Standard Oil Company of New Jersey
Builder	Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Chester, Pennsylvania
Laid down	31 May 1938
Launched	4 March 1939
Sponsored by	Mrs. Charles Kurz
Fate	Purchased by the US Navy
U.S. Navy
Name	USS Santee
Namesake	Santee River in South Carolina
Acquired	18 October 1940
Commissioned	30 October 1940, as AO-29
Decommissioned	Early 1942
Recommissioned	24 August 1942, as ACV-29
Decommissioned	21 October 1946
Reclassified	CVHE-29, 12 June 1955
Stricken	1 March 1959
Fate	Sold, 5 December 1959 Scrapped in Hamburg in May 1960.
General characteristics as escort carrier
Class and type	Sangamon-class escort carrier
Displacement	6,534 long tons (6,639 t)
Length	559 ft (170 m)
Beam	75 ft (23 m) 114 ft 3 in (34.82 m) (extreme width)
Draft	32 ft 4 in (9.86 m)
Propulsion	2 × steam turbines 2 × shafts
Speed	18 kn (21 mph; 33 km/h)
Complement	860 officers and men
Armament	2 × 5 in (127 mm)/51 cal guns[1]
Aircraft carried	31
Aviation facilities	2 × elevators
Service record
Commanders:	William Sample (1942–44)
Operations:	World War II
Awards:	9 battle stars

USS Santee (CVE-29) (originally launched as AO-29, then ACV-29) was an American escort carrier. The second ship with this name, it 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. It was acquired by the United States Navy on 18 October 1940 and commissioned on 30 October 1940 as AO-29.

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. Her original model was a type T3-S2-A1 tanker.