USS Saint Lo CVE-63 (formerly Midway), & Composite Squadron 65 (VC 65)

All Photos from Evan Crawforth

(Some Pictures enlarge with a click)

The Commissioning of the USS Midway, October 23, 1943. 
The ship was commissioned as the USS Midway and the
name was changed to St. Lo just before it left Manus Harbor
for the Leyte invasion.  The ship only had the name of St. Lo for
two weeks before it was sunk in the battle. 

Bomb Stowage, St. Lo

Captain McKenna presenting medals at Pearl Harbor sometime in November 1944. 
More than 1/3 of the crew of the St. Lo were wounded or killed and
received purple hearts.

 

All six Taffy 3 carriers (Midway/St. Lo, White Plains, Kalinin Bay, Fanshaw Bay, Kitkun Bay and Gambier Bay) in various stages of construction in the shipyard at Vancouver, Washington (across the river from Portland, OR).  The ships in the picture, from left to right are: Gambier Bay (CVE 73), Natoma Bay (CVE 62), Midway/St. Lo (CVE 63), Tripoli (CVE 64), Wake Island (CVE 65), White Plains (CVE 66), Solomons (CVE67), Kalinin Bay (CVE 68), Kasaan Bay (CVE 69), Fanshaw Bay (CVE70), Kitkun Bay (CVE 71), Tulagi
(CVE 72).

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Below is an incredible sequence of photos showing an airplane coming in, missing the
hook and crashing into guns, wrecking them and the airplane.

Coming In

Missed the hook

The crash

Wrecked Guns

The Wrecked Plane

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The Photo Shop.  Standing second from left, Evan Crawforth.  Extreme right with
 moustache is Marleau Cragin who was killed in action at Samar on 10-25-44.

The pilots in the Ready room.  Standing in the foreground is the Air Intelligence Officer, Elmer Collette.  At left in the second row with cigar is Wayne "Arab" Hammett, next to him is Leonard "Tex" Waldrop, who earned the Navy Cross at Samar.  In the front row right with helmet is Ralph Jones, Squadron skipper (KIA at Samar 10/25/44) next to him is Stan Cook, Squadron Exec. (KIA at Saipan)