The origin of this name is obscure, but it apparently refers to a bay indenting the coast of the Aleutian island of Anguilla (Spanish for "eel") in the Gulf of Esquibel, Alexander Archipelago, named by the Spanish explorers Francisco Antonio Maurille and Juan Francisco Quadra between 1774 and 1779.
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The unnamed auxiliary aircraft carrier ACV-58 was laid down under a Maritime Commission contract (MC hull 1095) on 17 November 1942 at Vancouver, Wash., by the Kaiser Co.; named Anguilla Bay on 22 January 1943; but, prior to the ship's launching, renamed Corregidor (q.v.) on 3 April 1943 to commemorate the heroic but doomed defense of that island during the Philippine campaign of 1941-1942.
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The name Anguilla Bay was reassigned to CVE-96 on 28 June 1943, but that escort aircraft carrier was renamed Salamaua (q.v.) on 6 November 1943, prior to the laying of the ship's keel, commemorating the recent (15 September 1943) taking of that New Guinean town by Allied forces.
