The bay in turn was named after Ensign John H. Shipley, an officer on the ship surveying the Alexander Archipelago.

She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph).

[5] By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty 20-mm cannons, and the amount of 40-mm guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts.

[5][6] The escort carrier was laid down on 22 November 1943, under a Maritime Commission contract, MC hull 1122, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington.

She was launched on 12 February 1944; sponsored by Mrs. Lawrence B. Richardson; transferred to the United States Navy and commissioned on 21 March 1944, with Captain Edgar Tilghman Neale in command.

She operated off the Southern California coast until 3 May, when she took on a load of aircraft and personnel, and ferried them to Pearl Harbor and stops in the South Pacific.

She conducted these transport missions until October, making stops at the West Coast, Pearl Harbor, Majuro Atoll, Guadalcanal, and Tulagi.

Her third and final transfer happened between 26 December 1944 and 12 January 1945 whilst Shipley Bay was 350 mi (560 km) northwest of Luzon, as an armada of carriers supported the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf.

She cruised around the Pacific, making stops at San Francisco, Pearl Harbor, Okinawa, and Kwajalein, ultimately returning several thousand troops back to the United States.

[7] Shipley Bay sailed to Boston, Massachusetts in February 1946 in order to undergo deactivation, arriving on 9 March.