The USS Attu (CVE-102) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier built for the United States Navy during World War II. As part of the most numerous class of aircraft carriers ever constructed, she measured approximately 512 feet 3 inches in overall length, with a beam of 65 feet 2 inches and a draft of 20 feet 9 inches. Her standard displacement was 8,188 long tons, which increased to 10,902 long tons when fully loaded. The vessel was powered by two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, delivering 9,000 horsepower to drive two shafts, enabling her to reach a top speed of 19 knots. She had a cruising range of over 10,240 nautical miles at 15 knots. Her flight deck stretched 477 feet in length, accommodating a hangar deck of 257 feet, with facilities equipped for up to 27 aircraft, although her hangar could hold more. The ship featured a single 5-inch/38 caliber dual-purpose gun at her stern for self-defense, along with a suite of anti-aircraft weapons: initially eight 40mm Bofors guns and twelve 20mm Oerlikon cannons, later increased to thirty 20mm and sixteen 40mm guns to counter kamikaze threats. The ship's design included a bow-mounted aircraft catapult and two elevators—fore and aft—to facilitate aircraft movement. Constructed by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company in Vancouver, Washington, she was laid down on 16 March 1944, launched on 27 May 1944, and commissioned on 30 June 1944 under Captain Henry Fahnestock MacComsey. Her service included transporting aircraft and personnel across the Pacific, supporting major operations such as the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Notably, during the Okinawa campaign, she weathered Typhoon Connie, experiencing intense winds and damage, narrowly avoiding collisions and sustaining aircraft and structural losses. Following the war's end, Attu participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from the Pacific. She was decommissioned in June 1946 and struck from the Navy list shortly after. An attempted transfer to the Jewish Agency for use in transporting Jewish refugees to Palestine was thwarted by U.S. government intervention, leading to her scrapping in 1949. Attu earned two battle stars for her wartime service and remains a representative example of the Casablanca-class escort carriers' role in Allied naval operations during WWII.

This description has been generated using GPT-4.1-NANO based on the Vessel's wikidata information and then modified by ShipIndex.org staff.