(CV-6: dp. 19,800; l. 809'6"; b. 83'1"; ew. 114'; dr. 28'; s. 33 k.;

cpl. 2919; a. 8 5", 38 cal.; cl. Yorktown)

The seventh Enterprise (CV-6) was launched 3 October 1936 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. Claude A. Swanson, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned 12 May 1938, Captain N. H. White in command.

Enterprise sailed south on a shakedown cruise which took her to Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. After her return she operated along the east coast and in the Caribbean until April of 1939 when she was ordered to duty in the Pacific. Based first on San Diego and then on Pearl Harbor, the carrier trained herself and her aircraft squadrons for any eventuality, and carried aircraft among the island bases of the Pacific. Enterprise had just completed one such mission, delivering Marine Corps Fighter Squadron 211 to Wake Island on 2 December 1941, and was en route to Hawaii when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor.

Enterprise's scout planes arrived over Pearl Harbor during the attack and, though surprised, immediately went into action in defense of the naval base. The carrier, meanwhile, launched her remaining aircraft in a fruitless search for the Japanese striking force. Enterprise put into Pearl Harbor for fuel and supplies on December and sailed early the next morning to patrol against possible additional attacks on the Hawaiian Islands. While the group did not encounter any surface ships, Enterprise aircraft scored a kill by sinking submarine 1-170 in 23º 45' N., 155º 35' W., on 10 December 1941.

During the last 2 weeks of December 1941, Enterprise and her group steamed to the westward of Hawaii to cover those islands while two other carrier groups made a belated attempt to relieve Wake Island. After a brief rest at Pearl Harbor, the Enterprise group sailed on 11 January to protect convoys reinforcing Samoa. On 1 February the task force dealt a hard blow to Kwajalein, Wotje, and Maloelap in the Marshall Islands, sinking three ships, damaging eight, and destroying numerous airplanes and ground facilities. Enterprise received only minor damage in the Japanese counterattack, as her force retired to Pearl Harbor.

During the next month Enterprise's force swept the central Pacific, blasting enemy installations on Wake and Marcus Islands, then received minor alterations and repairs at Pearl Harbor. On 8 April 1942 she departed to rendezvous with Hornet (CV-8) and sail westward to launch 16 Army B-25 bombers in a raid on Tokyo. While Enterprise fighters flew combat air patrol, the B-25s roared into the air on 18 April and raced undetected the 600 miles to their target. The task force, its presence known to the enemy, reversed course and returned to Pearl Harbor on 25 April.

Five days later, the "Big E" was speeding toward the South Pacific to reinforce the U.S. carriers operating in the Coral Sea. Distance proved too great to conquer in time, and the Battle of the Coral Sea was history before Enterprise could reach her destination. Ordered back to Hawaii, the carrier entered Pearl Harbor on 26 May and began intensive preparations to meet the expected Japanese thrust at Midway Island. Two days later she sortied as flagship of Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, CTF 16, with orders "to hold Midway and inflict maximum damage on the enemy by strong attrition tactics." With Enterprise in TF 16 were Hornet, 6 cruisers, and 10 destroyers. On 30 May, TF 17, Rear Admiral Frank J. Fletcher in Yorktown (CV-6), with two cruisers, and six destroyers, sailed to support TF 16; as senior officer, Rear Admiral Fletcher became "Officer in Tactical Command."

Battle was joined on the morning of 4 June 1942 when four Japanese carriers, unaware of the presence of U.S. forces, launched attacks on Midway Island. Just 3 hours after the first bomb fell on Midway, planes from Hornet struck the enemy force, and 30 minutes later Enterprise and Yorktown aircraft streaked in to join in smashing the Japanese carriers. Each side hurled attacks at the other during the day in one of history's most decisive battles. Though the forces were in contact to 7 June, by the end of the 4th the outcome had been decided and the tide of the war in the Pacific had been turned in the United States' favor. Yorktown and Hammann (DD-412) were the only United States ships sunk, but TFs 16 and 17 lost a total of 113 planes, 61 of them in combat, during the battle. Japanese losses, far more severe, consisted of 4 carriers, 1 cruiser, and 272 carrier aircraft. Enterprise and all other ships of TFs 16 and 17 came through undamaged, returning to Pearl Harbor on 13 June 1942.

After a month of rest and overhaul, Enterprise sailed on 15 July for the South Pacific where she joined TF 61 to support the amphibious landings in the Solomon Islands on 8 August. For the next 2 weeks, the carrier and her planes guarded seaborne communication lines southwest of the Solomons. On 24 August a strong Japanese force was sighted some 200 miles north of Guadalcanal and TF 61 sent planes to the attack. An enemy light carrier was sent to the bottom and the Japanese troops intended for Guadalcanal were forced back. Enterprise suffered most heavily of the United States ships, 3 direct hits and 4 near misses killed 74, wounded 9S, and inflicted serious damage on the carrier. But well- trained damage control parties, and quick hard work patched her up so that she was able to return to Hawaii under her own power.

Repaired at Pearl Harbor from 10 September to 16 October, Enterprise departed once more for the South Pacific where with Hornet, she formed TF 61. On 26 October, Enterprise scout planes located a Japanese carrier force and the Battle of the Santa Cruz Island was underway. Enterprise aircraft struck carriers, battleships, and cruisers during the struggle, while the "Big E" herself underwent intensive attack. Hit twice by bombs, Enterprise lost 44 killed and had 75 wounded. Despite serious damage, she continued in action and took on board a large number of planes from Hornet when that carrier had to be abandoned. Though the American losses of a carrier and a destroyer were more severe than the Japanese loss of one light cruiser, the battle gained priceless time to reinforce Guadalcanal against the next enemy onslaught.

Enterprise entered Noumea, New Caledonia, on 30 October for repairs, but a new Japanese thrust at the Solomons demanded her presence and she sailed on 11 November, repair crews from Vestal (AR-4) still on board, working vigorously. Two days later, "Big E" planes swarmed down on an enemy force and disabled a battleship which was sunk later by other American aircraft, and on 14 November, aviators from Enterprise helped to despatch a heavy cruiser. When the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal ended on 15 November 1942, Enterprise had shared in sinking 16 ships and damaging 8 more. The carrier returned to Noumea on 16 November to complete her repairs.

Sailing again on 4 December, Enterprise trained out of Espiritu Santo, New Hebrides, until 28 January 1943 hen she departed for the Solomons area. On 30 January her fighters flew combat air patrol for a cruiser- destroyer group during the Battle of Rennell Island. Despite the destruction of a large majority of the attacking Japanese bombers by Enterprise planes, Chicago (CA-29) was sunk by aerial torpedoes. Detached after the battle, the carrier arrived at Espiritu Santo on 1 February, and for the next 3 months operated out of at base, covering U.S. surface forces up to the Solomons. Enterprise then steamed to Pearl Harbor where, 27 May 1943, Admiral Chester W. Nimitz presented the ship with the first Presidential Unit Citation won by an aircraft carrier. On 20 July 1943 she entered Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Wash., for a much needed overhaul.

Back in action waters by mid-November, Enterprise joined in providing close air support to the Marines landing on Makin Island, from 19 to 21 November. On the night of 26 November 1943, the "Big E" introduced carrier-based night fighter operations in the Pacific when a three-plane team from the ship broke up a large group of land-based bombers attacking TG 50.2. After heavy strike by aircraft of TF 50 against Kwajalein on 4 December, Enterprise returned to Pearl Harbor 6 days later.

The carrier's next operation was with TF 58 in softening up the Marshall Islands and supporting the landings on Kwajalein, from 29 January to 3 February. Then Enterprise sailed, still with TF 58, to strike the Japanese naval base at Truk in the Caroline Islands, on 7 February. Again the "Big E" made aviation history when she launched the first night radar bombing attack from any U.S. carrier. The 12 torpedo bombers in this strike achieved excellent results, accounting for nearly one- third of the 200,000 tons of shipping destroyed by the aircraft of the task force.

Detached from TF 58, Enterprise launched raids on Jaluit Atoll on 20 February, then steamed to Majuro and Espiritu Santo. Sailing 15 March in TG 36.1, she provided air cover and close support for the landings on Emirau Island (19-25 March). The carrier rejoined CF 58 on 26 March and for the next 12 days joined in the series of hard-hitting strikes against the Yap, Ulithi, Woleai, and the Palau Islands. After a week's rest and replenishment at Majuro, Enterprise sailed 14 April to support landings in the Hollandia area of few Guinea, and then hit Truk again (29-30 April).

On 6 June 1944, the "Big E" and her companions of TG 58.3 sortied from Majuro to strike with the rest of TF 58, the Mariana Islands. Blasting Saipan, Rota, and Guam between 11 and 14 June, Enterprise pilots gave direct support to the landings on Saipan on 15 June, and covered the troops ashore for the next 2 days. Aware of a major Japanese attempt to break up the invasion of Saipan, Admiral Raymond A. Spruance, Commander 6th Fleet, positioned TF 58 to meet the thrust. On 19 June 1944 took place the greatest carrier aircraft battle in history. For over 8 hours airmen of the United States and Imperial Japanese navies fought in the skies over TF 58 and the Marianas. By the end of the day, a United States victory was apparent, and at the conclusion of the strikes against the Japanese fleet on 20 Tune, the triumph became complete. Six American ships had been damaged, and 130 planes and a total of 76 pilots and aircrewmen had been lost. But with a major assist from U.S. submarines, 3 Japanese carriers were sunk, and 426 ship-based aircraft were destroyed. Japanese naval aviation never recovered from this blow.

The Battle of the Philippine Sea over, Enterprise and her companions continued to support the Saipan campaign through 5 July. Enterprise then sailed for Pearl Harbor and a month of rest and overhaul. Back in action waters on 24 August, the carrier sailed with TF 38 in that force's aerial assault on the Volcano and Bonin Islands from 31 August to 2 September, and Yap, Ulithi, and the Palaus from 6 to 8 September. After operating west of the Palau Islands, the "Big E" joined other units of TF 38 on 7 October, and shaped course to the northward. From 10 to 20 October her aviators roared over Okinawa, Formosa, and the Philippines, blasting enemy airfields, shore installations, and shipping in preparation for the assault on Leyte. After supporting the Leyte landings on 20 October, Enterprise headed for Ulithi to replenish but the approach of the Japanese fleet on 23 October, brought her racing back into action. In the Battle for Leyte Gulf (23-26 October), Enterprise planes struck all three groups of enemy forces, battering battleships and destroyers before the action ended. The carrier remained on patrol east of Samar and Leyte until the end of October, then retired to Ulithi for supplies. During November, her aircraft struck targets in the Manila area, and the island of Yap. The "Big E" returned to Pearl Harbor on 6 December 1944.

Sailing 24 December for the Philippine area, Enterprise carried on board an air group specially trained in night carrier operations. She joined TG 38.5 and swept the waters north of Luzon and of the China Sea during January of 1945, striking shore targets and shipping from Formosa to Indo-China. After a brief visit to Ulithi, the "Big E" joined TG 58.5 on 10 February 1945 and provided day and night combat air patrol for TF 58 as it struck Tokyo on 16 and 17 February. She then supported the marines on Iwo Jima from the day of the landings, 19 February, until 9 March when she sailed for Ulithi. During one part of that period, Enterprise kept aircraft aloft continuously over Iwo Jima for 174 hours. Departing Ulithi 15 March, the carrier continued her night work in raids against Kyushu, Honshu, and shipping in the Inland Sea of Japan. Damaged slightly by an enemy bomb on 18 March, Enterprise entered Ulithi 6 days later for repairs. Back in action on 5 April, she supported the Okinawa operation until again damaged (11 April), this time by a suicide plane, and forced back to Ulithi. Off Okinawa once more on 6 May, Enterprise flew patrols around the clock as the menace of the kamikaze increased. On 14 May 1945, the "Big E" suffered her last wound of World War II when a suicide plane destroyed her forward elevator, killing 14 and wounding 34 men. The carrier sailed for repairs at the Puget Sound Navy Yard, arriving 7 June 1945.

Restored to peak condition, Enterprise voyaged to Pearl Harbor, returning to the States with some 1,100 servicemen due for discharge, then sailed on to New York, arriving 17 October 1945. Two weeks later she proceeded to Boston for installation of additional berthing facilities, then began a series of "Magic Carpet" voyages to Europe, bringing more than 10,000 veterans home in her final service to her country. Enterprise entered the New York Naval Shipyard on 18 January 1946 for inactivation, and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. The "Big E" was sold on 1 July 1958.

In addition to her Presidential Unit Citation, Enterprise received the Navy Unit Commendation and 20 battle stars for World War II service.

(CV-7: dp. 14,700; 1. 741' 4"; b. 80' 8"; ew. 109' 0"; dr. 19' 11" (mean), s. 29.5 k., cpl. 2,367; a. 8 6", 16 1.1", 16 .50-cal. mg.; ac. 80; cl. Wasp)

The eighth Wasp (CV-7) was laid down on 1 April 1936 at Quincy, Mass., by the Bethlehem Shipbuilding Co., launched on 4 April 1939; sponsored by Mrs. Charles Edison, the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy Charles Edison; and commissioned on 25 April 1940 at the Army Quartermaster Base, South Boston, Mass., Capt. John W. Reeves, Jr., in command.

Wasp remained at Boston through May, fitting out, before she got underway on 5 June 1940 for calibration tests on her radio direction finder gear. After further fitting out while anchored in Boston harbor, the new aircraft carrier steamed independently to Hampton Roads, Va., anchoring there on 24 June. Four days later, she sailed for the Caribbean in company with Morris (DD-417).

En route, she conducted the first of many carrier qualification tests. Among the earliest of the qualifiers was Lt. (jg.) David T. McCampbell, who later became the Navy's top-scoring "ace" in World War II. Wasp arrived at Guantanamo Bay in time to "dress ship" in honor of Independence Day.

Tragedy marred the carrier's shakedown. On 9 July, one of her Vought SB2U-2 Vindicators crashed two miles from the ship. Wasp bent on flank speed to close, as did the plane-guarding destroyer Morris. The latter's boats recovered items from the plane's baggage compartment, but the plane itself had gone down with its crew of two.

Wasp departed Guantanamo Bay on 11 July and arrived at Hampton Roads four days later. There, she embarked planes from the 1st Marine Air Group and took them to sea for qualification trials. Operating off the southern drill grounds, the ship and her planes honed their skills for a week before the marines and their planes were disembarked at Norfolk, and the carrier moved north to Boston for post-shakedown repairs.

While civilian workmen from the Bethlehem Steel Co. [143] came on board the ship to check their workmanship and to learn how it had stood up under the rigors of shakedown, Wasp lay alongside the same pier at which she had been commissioned. While at Boston, she fired a 21-gun salute and rendered honors to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, whose yacht, Potomac (AG-25), stopped briefly at the Boston Navy Yard on 10 August.

Wasp departed the Army Quartermaster Base on the 21st to conduct steering drills and full-power trials. Late the following morning, she got underway for Norfolk. For the next few days, while Ellis (DD-164) operated as plane guard, Wasp launched and recovered her aircraft: fighters from Fighter Squadron (VF) 7 and scout-bombers from Scouting Squadron (VS) 72. The carrier put into the Norfolk Navy Yard on 28 August for repair work on her turbines-alterations which kept the ship in dockyard hands into the following month. Drydocked during the period from 12 to 18 September, Wasp ran her final sea trials in Hampton Roads on 26 September 1940.

Ready now to join the fleet and assigned to Carrier Division (CarDiv) 3, Patrol Force, Wasp shifted to Naval Operating Base (NOB), Norfolk from the Norfolk Navy Yard on 11 October. There she loaded 24 P-40's from the 8th Army Pursuit Group and nine O-47A's from the 2d Observation Squadron, as well as her own spares and utility unit Grumman J2F's on the 12th. Proceeding to sea for maneuvering room, Wasp flew off the Army planes in a test designed to compare the take-off runs of standard Navy and Army aircraft. That experiment, the first time that Army planes had flown from a Navy carrier, foreshadowed the use of the ship in the ferry role that she performed so well in World War II.

Wasp then proceeded on toward Cuba in company with Plunkett (DD-431) and Niblack (DD-424). The carrier's planes flew routine training flights, including dive-bombing and machine gun practices, over the ensuing four days. Upon arrival at Guantanamo, Wasp's saluting batteries barked out a 13-gun salute to Rear Admiral Hayne Ellis, Commander, Atlantic Squadron, embarked in Texas (BB-35), on 19 October.

For the remainder of October and into November, Wasp trained in the Guantanamo Bay area. Her planes flew carrier qualification and refresher training flights while her gunners sharpened up their skills in short-range battle practices at targets towed by the new fleet tug Seminole (AT-65). While operating in the Culebra, Virgin Islands, area, Wasp again teamed with the aviators of the 1st Marine Air Wing, giving the flying leathernecks practice in carrier take-offs and landings.

Her work in the Caribbean finished, Wasp sailed for Norfolk and arrived shortly after noon on 26 November. She remained at the Norfolk Navy Yard through Christmas of 1940. Then, after first conducting degaussing experiments with Hannibal (AG-1), she steamed independently to Cuba.

Arriving at Guantanamo Bay on 27 January 1941, Wasp conducted a regular routine of flight operations into February. With Walke (DD-416) as her plane guard, Wasp operated out of Guantanamo and Culebra, conducting her maneuvers with an impressive array of warships-Texas, Ranger (CV-4), Tuscaloosa (CA-37), Wichita (CA-45) and a host of destroyers. Wasp ran gunnery drills and exercises, as well as routine flight training evolutions, into March. Underway for Hampton Roads on 4 March, the aircraft carrier conducted a night battle practice into the early morning hours of the 5th.

During the passage to Norfolk, heavy weather sprang up on the evening of 7 March. Wasp was steaming at standard speed, 17 knots, a pace that she had been maintaining all day. Off Cape Hatteras, a lookout in the carrier spotted a red flare arcing into the stormy black night skies at 2245. The big ship swung around to head in the direction of the distress signal while a messenger notified the captain, who reached the bridge in an instant. Capt. Reeves himself took the conn, as a second set of flares was seen at 2259.

Finally, at 2329, with the aid of her searchlights probing the wet night, Wasp located the stranger in trouble. She proved to be the lumber schooner George E. Klinck, bound from Jacksonville, Fla., to Southwest Harbor, Maine.

The sea, in the meantime, worsened from a state 5 to a state 7. Wasp lay to, maneuvering alongside at 0007 on 8 March. At that time, four men from the schooner clambered up a swaying jacob's ladder buffeted by gusts of wind. Then, despite the raging tempest, Wasp lowered a boat, at 0016, and brought the remaining four men aboard from the foundering 152-foot schooner.

Later that day, Wasp disembarked her rescued mariners and immediately went into drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard. The ship received vital repairs to her turbines. Port holes on the third deck were welded over to provide better watertight integrity, and steel splinter shielding around her 5-inch and 1.1-inch batteries was added. After those repairs and alterations were finished, Wasp got underway for the Virgin Islands on 22 March, the carrier arriving at St. Thomas three days later. She soon shifted to Guantanamo Bay and loaded marine stores for transportation to Norfolk.

Returning to Norfolk on 30 March, Wasp conducted routine flight operations out of Hampton Roads over the ensuing days, into April. In company with Sampson (DD-394), the carrier conducted an abortive search for a downed patrol plane in her vicinity on 8 April. For the remainder of the month, Wasp operated off the eastern seaboard between Newport, R.I., and Norfolk conducting extensive flight and patrol operations with her embarked air group. She shifted to Bermuda in mid-May, anchoring at Grassy Bay on the 12th. Eight days later, the ship got underway in company with Quincy (CA-39), Livermore (DD-429), and Kearny (DD-432) for exercises at sea before returning to Grassy Bay on 3 June. Wasp sailed for Norfolk three days later with Edison (DD-439) as her antisubmarine screen.

After a brief stay in the Tidewater area, Wasp headed back toward Bermuda on 20 June. Wasp and her escorts patrolled the stretch of the Atlantic between Bermuda and Hampton Roads until 5 July, as the Atlantic Fleet's neutrality patrol zones were extended eastward. Reaching Grassy Bay on that day, she remained in port a week before returning to Norfolk sailing on 12 July in company with Tuscaloosa (CA-37), Grayson (DD-435), Anderson (DD-411), and Rowan (DD-405).

Following her return to Norfolk on the 13th, Wasp and her embarked air group conducted refresher training off the Virginia capes. Meanwhile, the situation in the Atlantic had taken on a new complexion, with American participation in the Battle of the Atlantic only a matter of time, when the United States took another step toward involvement on the side of the British. To protect American security and to free British forces needed elsewhere, the United States made plans to occupy Iceland. Wasp played an important role in the move.

Late on the afternoon of 23 July, while the carrier lay alongside Pier 7, NOB Norfolk, 32 Army Air Force (AAF) pilots reported on board "for temporary duty." At 0630 the following day, Wasp's crew watched an interesting cargo come on board, hoisted on deck by the ship's cranes: 30 Curtiss P-40C's and three PT-17 trainers from the AAF 33d Pursuit Squadron, 8th Air Group, Air Force Combat Command, home-based at Mitchell Field, N.Y. Three days later, four newspaper correspondents-including the noted journalist Fletcher Pratt-came on board.

The carrier had drawn the assignment of ferrying those vital army planes to Iceland because of a lack of British aircraft to cover the American landings. The American P-40's would provide the defensive fighter [144] cover necessary to watch over the initial increment of American occupying forces. Wasp consequently cast off from Pier 7 and slipped out to sea through the swept channel at 0932 on 28 July, with O'Brien (DD-415) and Walke as plane guards. Vincennes (CA-44) later joined the formation at sea.

Within a few days, Wasp's group joined the larger Task Force (TF) 16-consisting of Mississippi (BB-41), Quincy, Wichita, five destroyers, Semmes (AG-24), American Legion (AP-35), Mizar (AF-12), and Almaack (AK-27). Those ships, too, were bound for Iceland with the first occupation troops embarked. On the morning of 6 August, Wasp, Vincennes, Walke, and O'Brien parted company from TF 16. Soon thereafter, the carrier turned into the wind and commenced launching the planes from the 33d Pursuit Squadron. As the P-40's and the trio of trainers droned on to Iceland, Wasp headed home for Norfolk, her three escorts in company. After another week at sea, the group arrived back at Norfolk on 14 August.

Underway again on 22 August, however, Wasp put to sea for carrier qualifications and refresher landings off the Virginia capes. Two days later, Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, Commander Cruisers, Atlantic Fleet, shifted his flag from Savannah (CL-42) to Wasp, while the ships lay anchored in Hampton Roads. Underway on the 25th, in company with Savannah, Monssen (DD-436) and Kearny, the aircraft carrier conducted flight operations over the ensuing days. Scuttlebutt on board the carrier had her steaming out in search of a German heavy cruiser, Admiral Hipper, which was reportedly roaming the western Atlantic in search of prey. Suspicions were confirmed for many on the 30th when the British battleship HMS Rodney was sighted some 20 miles away, on the same course as the Americans.

In any event, if they had been in search of a German raider, they did not make contact with her. Wasp and her escorts anchored in the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad, on 2 September, where Admiral Hewitt shifted his flag back to Savannah. The carrier remained in port until 6 September, when she again put to sea on patrol "to enforce the neutrality of the United States in the Atlantic."

While at sea, the ship received the news of a German U-boat unsuccessfully attempting to attack the destroyer Greer (DD-146). The United States had been getting more and more involved in the war; American warships were now convoying British merchantmen halfway across the Atlantic to the "mid-ocean meeting point" (MOMP).

Wasp's crew looked forward to returning to Bermuda on 18 September, but the new situation in the Atlantic meant a change in plans. Shifted to the colder climes of Newfoundland, the carrier arrived at Placentia Bay on 22 September and fueled from Salinas (AO-19) the following day. The respite in port was a brief one, however, as the ship got underway again, late on the 23d, for Iceland. In company with Wichita, four destroyers, and the repair ship Vulcan (AR-6), Wasp arrived at Hvalfjordur, Iceland, on the 28th. Two days earlier, Admiral Harold R. Stark, the Chief of Naval Operations had ordered American warships to do their utmost to destroy whatever German or Italian warships they found. The "short-of-war" operations were drawing frightfully close to the real thing!

With the accelerated activity entailed in the United States Navy's conducting convoy escort missions, Wasp put to sea on 6 October in company with Vincennes and four destroyers. Those ships patrolled the foggy, cold, North Atlantic until returning to Little Placentia Bay, Newfoundland, on the 11th, anchoring during a fierce gale that lashed the bay with high winds and stinging spray. On 17 October, Wasp set out for home-Norfolk-patrolling en route, and arrived at her destination on the 20th. The carrier soon sailed for Bermuda and conducted qualifications and refresher training flights en route. Anchoring in Grassy Bay on 1 November, Wasp operated on patrols out of Bermuda for the remainder of the month.

October had seen the incidents involving American and German warships multiplying on the high seas. Kearny was torpedoed on 17 October, Salinas took a "fish" on the 28th, and in the most tragic incident that autumn, Reuben James (DD-246) was torpedoed and sunk with heavy loss of life on 30 October. Meanwhile, in the Pacific, tension between the United States and Japan increased almost with each passing day.

Wasp slipped out to sea from Grassy Bay on 3 December and rendezvoused with Wilson (DD-408). While the destroyer operated as plane guard, Wasp's air group flew day and night refresher training missions. In addition, the two ships conducted gunnery drills before returning to Grassy Bay two days later.

Wasp lay at anchor on 7 December 1941, observing "holiday routine"-it being a Sunday. In the Pacific, the Japanese broke the Sunday morning peace in a devastating surprise attack on the Pacific Fleet at Pearl Harbor. Their daring attack plunged the United States into World War II in both oceans. On 11 December, Germany and Italy followed Japan into war against the United States.

Meanwhile, naval authorities felt considerable anxiety that French warships in the Caribbean and West Indies were prepared to make a breakout and attempt to get back to France. Accordingly, Wasp, Brooklyn (CL-40), and two destroyers, Sterett (DD-407) and Wilson, departed Grassy Bay and headed for Martinique. Faulty intelligence gave American authorities in Washington the impression that the Vichy French armed merchant cruiser Barfleur had gotten underway for sea. The French were accordingly warned that the auxiliary cruiser would be sunk or captured unless she returned to port and resumed her internment. As it turned out, Barfleur had not departed after all, but had remained in harbor. The tense situation at Martinique eventually dissipated, and the crisis abated.

With tensions in the West Indies lessened considerably, Wasp departed Grassy Bay and headed for Hampton Roads three days before Christmas, in company with Long Island (AVG-1), and escorted by Stack (DD-406) and Sterett. Two days later, the carrier moored at the Norfolk Navy Yard to commence an overhaul that would last into 1942.

After departing Norfolk on 14 January 1942, Wasp headed north and touched at Argentia, Newfoundland, and Casco Bay, Maine, while operating in those northern climes. On 16 March, as part of Task Group (TG) 22.6, she headed back toward Norfolk. During the morning watch the next day, visibility lessened considerably; and, at 0650, Wasp's bow plunged into Stack's starboard side, punching a hole and completely flooding the destroyer's number one fireroom. Stack was detached and proceeded to the Philadelphia Navy Yard, where her damage was repaired.

Wasp, meanwhile, made port at Norfolk on the 21st without further incident. Shifting back to Casco Bay three days later, she sailed for the British Isles on 26 March, with Task Force (TF) 39 under the command of Rear Admiral John W. Wilcox, Jr., in Washington (BB-56). That force was to reinforce the Home Fleet of the Royal Navy. While en route, Rear Admiral Wilcox was swept overboard from the battleship and drowned. Although hampered by poor visibility conditions, Wasp planes took part in the search. Wilcox' body was spotted an hour later, face down in the raging seas, but it was not recovered.

Rear Admiral Robert C. Giffen, who flew his flag in Wichita, assumed command of TF-39. The American ships were met by a force based around the light cruiser HMS Edinburgh on 3 April. Those ships escorted them to Scapa Flow in the Orkney Islands.

While the majority of TF 39 joined the British Home Fleet-being renumbered to TF 99 in the process-to cover convoys routed to North Russia, Wasp departed Scapa Flow on 9 April, bound for the Clyde [145] estuary and Greenock, Scotland. On the following day, the carrier sailed up the Clyde River, past the John Brown Clydebank shipbuilding facilities. There, shipyard workers paused long enough from their labors to accord Wasp a tumultuous reception as she passed. Wasp's impending mission was an important one-one upon which the fate of the island bastion of Malta hung. That key isle was then being pounded daily by German and Italian planes. The British, faced with the loss of air superiority over the island, requested the use of a carrier to transport planes that could wrest air superiority from the Axis aircraft. Wasp drew ferry duty once again.

Having landed her torpedo planes and dive bombers, Wasp loaded 47 Supermarine "Spitfire" Mk. V fighter planes at the King George Dock, Glasgow, on 13 April, before she departed the Clyde estuary on the 14th. Her screen consisted of Force "W" of the Home Fleet-a group that included the battlecruiser HMS Renown and antiaircraft cruisers HMS Cairo and HMS Charbydis. Madison (DD-425) and Lang (DD-399) also served in Wasp's screen.

Wasp and her consorts passed through the Straits of Gibraltar under cover of the pre-dawn darkness on 19 April, avoiding the possibility of being discovered by Spanish or Axis agents. At 0400 on 20 April, Wasp spotted 11 Grumman F4F-4 Wildcat fighters on her deck and quickly launched them to form a combat air patrol (CAP) over Force "W". Meanwhile, the "Spitfires" were warming up their engines in the hangar deck spaces below. With the Wildcats patrolling overhead, the Spitfires were brought up singly on the after elevator, spotted for launch, and then given the go-ahead to take off. One by one, they roared down the deck and over the forward rounddown, until each Spitfire was aloft and winging toward Malta.

When the launch was complete, Wasp retired toward England, having safely delivered her charges. Unfortunately, those "Spitfires," which flew in to augment the dwindling numbers of "Gladiator" and "Hurricane" fighters, were tracked by efficient Axis intelligence and their arrival pinpointed. The unfortunate "Spitfires" were decimated by heavy German air raids which caught many planes on the ground.

As a result, it looked as if the acute situation required a second ferry run to Malta. Accordingly, Prime Minister Winston Churchill, fearing that Malta would be "pounded to bits," asked President Roosevelt to allow Wasp to have "another good sting." Roosevelt responded in the affirmative. Rising to the occasion, Wasp loaded another contingent of "Spitfire" V's and sailed for the Mediterranean on 3 May. Again, especially vigilant for submarines, Wasp proceeded unmolested. This time, the British aircraft carrier HMS Eagle accompanied Wasp, and she, too, carried a contingent of Spitfires bound for the "unsinkable aircraft carrier," Malta.

The two Allied flattops reached their launching points early on Saturday, 9 May, with Wasp steaming in column ahead of Eagle at a distance of 1,000 yards. At 0630, Wasp commenced launching planes-11 F4F4's of VF-71 to serve as CAP over the task force. The first "Spitfire" roared down the deck at 0643, piloted by Sergeant-Pilot Herrington, but lost power soon after takeoff and plunged into the sea. Both pilot and plane were lost.

Undaunted by the loss of Herrington, the other planes flew off safely and formed up to fly to Malta. Misfortune, however, again seemed to dog the flight when one pilot accidentally released his auxiliary fuel tank as he climbed to 2,000 feet. He obviously could not make Malta, as the slippery tank fitted beneath the belly of the plane had increased the range of the plane markedly. With that gone, he had no chance of making the island. His only alternatives were to land back on board Wasp or to ditch and take his chances in the water.

Sergeant-Pilot Smith chose the former. Wasp bent on full speed and recovered the plane at 0743. The "Spitfire" came to a stop just 15 feet from the forward edge of the flight deck, making what one Wasp sailor observed to be a "one wire" landing. With her vital errand completed, the carrier set sail for the British Isles while a German radio station broadcast the startling news that the American carrier had been sunk! Most in the Allied camp knew better, however; and, on 11 May, Prime Minister Churchill sent a witty message to the captain and ship's company of Wasp: "Many thanks to you all for the timely help. Who said a Wasp couldn't sting twice?"

While Wasp was conducting those two important missions to Malta, a train of events far to the westward beckoned the carrier to the Pacific theater. Early in May, almost simultaneously with Wasp's second Malta run-Operation "Bowery"-the Battle of the Coral Sea had been fought. That action turned back the Japanese thrust at Port Moresby. One month later from 4 to 6 June, an American carrier force smashed its Japanese counterpart in the pivotal Battle of Midway. These two victories cost the United States two precious carriers: Lexington (CV-2) at Coral Sea and Yorktown (CV-5) at Midway. While the Japanese had suffered the damaging of two at Coral Sea and the loss of four carriers at Midway, the United States could scarcely afford to be left with only two operational carriers in the western and central Pacific-Enterprise (CV-6) and Hornet (CV-8). Saratoga (CV-3) was still undergoing repairs and modernization after being torpedoed off Oahu in early January 1942.

To prepare to strengthen the American Navy in the Pacific, Wasp was hurried back to the United States for alterations and repairs at the Norfolk Navy Yard. During the carrier's stay in the Tidewater region, Capt. Reeves-who had been promoted to flag rank-was relieved by Capt. Forrest P. Sherman on 31 May Departing Norfolk on 6 June, the last day of the critical Battle of Midway, Wasp sailed with TF 37 which was built around the carrier and the new battleship North Carolina (BB-55) and escorted by Quincy (CA-39) and San Juan (CL-54) and a half-dozen destroyers. The group transited the Panama Canal on 10 June, at which time Wasp and her consorts became TF 18, the carrier flying the two-starred flag of Rear Admiral Leigh Noyes.

Arriving at San Diego on 19 June, Wasp embarked the remainder of her complement of aircraft, Grumman TBF-1's and Douglas SBD-3's-10 of the former and 12 of the latter conducting their carrier qualification on 22 and 23 June, respectively-the latter replacing the old Vindicators. On 1 July, she sailed for the Tonga Islands as part of the convoy for the five transports that had embarked the 2d Marine Regiment.

While TF 18 and the transports were en route to Tongatabu, Wasp received another congratulatory message-this time from Admiral Noyes, embarked in the ship. "During the two weeks my flag has been in Wasp I have been very favorably impressed by the fine spirit of her ship's company and the way that all hands have handled their many problems. Since we have been at sea, every day has shown marked improvement in operations. I am sure that when our opportunity comes to strike the enemy in this ocean, Wasp and her squadrons will add more glory to the name she bears." Noyes' hopes were to be realized, but for all too brief a time.

Four days out of Nukualofa harbor, Wasp developed serious engine trouble. The ship's "black gang," however, worked diligently to do the preliminary work in lifting, repairing, and replacing the ship's starboard high-pressure turbine. The work done en route substantially helped enough to allow speedy completion of the repairs after the ship dropped her hook at Tongatabu on 18 July.

Meanwhile, preparations to invade the Solomon Islands were proceeding apace. Up to that point, the Japanese had been on the offensive, establishing their [146] defensive perimeter around the edge of their "Greater East Asia Co-Prosperity Sphere."

On 4 July, while Wasp was en route to the South Pacific, the Japanese landed on Guadalcanal. Allied planners realized that if the enemy operated land-based aircraft from that key island, then it immediately imperiled Allied control of the New Hebrides and New Caledonia area. Rather than wait until the Japanese were firmly entrenched, they proposed to evict the Japanese before they got too deeply settled. Vice Admiral Robert L. Ghormley-who had attained a sterling record in London as Special Naval Observer-was detailed to take command of the operation; and he established his headquarters at Auckland, New Zealand. Since the Japanese had gotten a foothold on Guadalcanal, time was of the essence. Preparations for the invasion proceeded apace with the utmost secrecy and speed.

Wasp-together with the carriers Saratoga and Enterprise-was assigned to the Support Force under Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. Under the tactical command of Rear Admiral Noyes, embarked in Wasp, the carriers were to provide air support for the invasion.

Wasp and her airmen worked intensively practicing day and night operations to hone their skills to a high degree. Pilot qualification and training, necessitated by the ship's recent operations in the Atlantic and by the re-equipment of her air group and newer types of planes, proceeded at an intensive pace and, by the time the operations against Guadalcanal were pushed into high gear, Capt. Sherman was confident that his airmen could perform their mission. "D-day" had originally been set for 1 August, but the late arrival of some of the transports carrying marines pushed the date to 7 August.

Wasp, screened by San Francisco (CA-38), Salt Lake City (CA-25), and four destroyers, steamed westward toward Guadalcanal on the evening of 6 August until midnight. Then, she changed course to the eastward to reach her launch position 84 miles from Tulagi one hour before the first rays of sunlight crept over the horizon. A fresh breeze whipped across the carrier's darkened flight deck as the first planes were brought up to prepare for launch. The night offshore was bright, but clouds hung heavily over the assigned objective. So far, so good. No Japanese patrols had been spotted.

At 0530, the first planes from Wasp's air group barreled down the deck: 16 F4F-4's under Lt. Comdr. Courtney Shands. Then, 15 SBD-3's under Lt. Comdr. John Eldridge, Jr. and the TBF-1 flown by the air group commander, Lt. Comdr. Wallace M. Beakley, fitted with a larger gasoline tank in its bomb bay to lengthen its time in the air-followed seven minutes later. At 0557, the first combat air patrol fighter took off.

The early flights of F4F's and SBD's were assigned specific targets: Tulagi, Gavutu, Tanambogo, Halavo, Port Purvis, Haleta, Bungana, and the radio station dubbed "Asses' Ears." After taking off, the 16 Wildcats split up into sections and raced off to their respective hunting areas. At about 0600, the planes passed over the transport area off Lunga Point, as the ships were preparing to disembark their troops. In the pre-dawn darkness, the ships were almost invisible until the fighters passed directly over them. Soon, the fourth division of Shands' flight climbed to 5,000 feet above Tulagi to serve as CAP for the strafers. The third division broke off and headed for their target-Haleta-before Shands took three planes around the northwest tip of Tulagi.

Shands and his wingman, Ens. S. W. Forrer, then swung down the north coast toward Gavatu. The other two headed for Tanambogo, to work over the seaplane facilities there. The Japanese appeared to be caught flat-footed, and the Grummans, arriving simultaneously at daybreak, shot up all of the patrol planes and fighter-seaplanes that were in the area. Fifteen Kawanishi flying boats and seven Nakajima floatplane fighters-the seaplane derivative of the Mitsubishi "Zero"-were destroyed by Shands' fighters that flew almost "on the deck." Shands himself bagged at least four Nakajima single-float fighter seaplanes and one four-engined flying boat. His wingman, Forrer, bagged three floatplane fighters and one patrol plane Lt. Wright and Ens. Kenton bagged three patrol planes apiece and destroyed a motorboat apparently attempting to tend the flying boats; Ensigns Reeves and Conklin each bagged two and shared a fifth patrol plane between them. In addition, the strafing F4F's destroyed an aviation fuel truck and a truck loaded with spare parts.

The SBD's, too, laid their bombs "on the money." Post-attack assessment estimated that the antiaircraft and shore battery sites pinpointed by intelligence had been destroyed by the dive bombers in their first attack. So complete was the enemy's unpreparedness that none of Wasp's planes was shot down. Only one plane from the 16 Grummans failed to return, and, in that case, its pilot, Ensign Reeves, put her down on board Enterprise after having run low on fuel.

That was not all, however. At 0704, 12 Grumman TBF-1's, led by Lt. H. A. Romberg, rolled ponderously down the deck, loaded with bombs for use against land targets. Having encountered resistance, the initial landing forces called for help. Romberg's dozen Avengers blasted enemy troop concentrations east of the nob of land known as Hill 281, in the Makambo-Sasapi sector, and the prison on Tulagi Island. "All enemy resistance," the official report later stated, was "apparently effectively silenced by this flight."

The first day's operations against Guadalcanal had proved successful. Some 10,000 men had been put ashore there and met only slight resistance. On Tulagi, however, the Japanese resisted stoutly, retaining about one-fifth of the island by nightfall. Wasp, Saratoga, and Enterprise, with their screens, retired to the southward at nightfall.

Wasp returned the next morning, 8 August, to maintain a continuous CAP over the transport area until noon. These fighters were led by Lt. C. S. Moffett. Meanwhile, she also launched a scouting flight of 12 SBD-3's led by Lt. Comdr. E. M. Snowden. The Dauntlesses searched a sector to a radius of 220 miles from their carrier, extending it to include all of the Santa Isabel Island and the New Georgia group.

The Dauntless pilots sighted nothing that morning and made no contact with the enemy during their two hours in the air. But that was soon to change for the flight leader. At 0815, Snowden sighted a "Rufe" some 40 miles from Rekata Bay and gave chase. The Japanese airman, seeing that he had been spotted, had no stomach for a fight. He pulled up and attempted to use the clouds for cover. Each time the dogged dive bomber pilot gunned the SBD-3 after him: twice the "Rufe" headed for the clouds. Snowden finally pulled within close range, and, using his two fixed .50-caliber guns, fired a short burst that hit home, causing the "Rufe" to spin into the Solomon Sea.

Meanwhile, a large group of Japanese planes approached from Bougainville, apparently bent upon attacking the transports off Lunga Point. Upon learning of their approach, Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner ordered all transports to get underway and to assume cruising disposition. The Americans accordingly cleared the decks for action. Wasp's planes took part in the melee that followed-some planes by accident.

Lt. Comdr. Eldridge-again leading a formation of SDB-3's from VS-71-had led his planes against Mbangi Island, off Tulagi, the site of some still fierce Japanese resistance. Eldridge's rear seat gunner, Aviation Chief Radioman L. A. Powers, suddenly spotted a formation of planes coming in from the northeast: but thinking them to be a relief flight, Eldridge continued on his present course. The Americans did a double- [147] take, however, and discovered that the planes were, in fact, enemy. At that instant, six "Zeroes" showed up and bounced the first section, but showed remarkably little skill in the attack, for they made 12 firing passes but could not down any of the Dauntlesses.

Meanwhile, the leader of the last section of VS-71, Lt. (jg.) Robert L. Howard, spotted a cluster of twin-engined G4M1 "Betty" bombers heading for the American transports. Howard dove to the attack; but, in his excitement, failed to flip his armament switch to "on." After two runs during which his guns had failed to fire-thinking that the guns needed to be recharged-he discovered his error-but too late to do anything about the Mitsubishi bombers. At that moment, four "zeroes," escorts for the bombers, attacked the single SBD.


Howard's rear gunner, Seaman 2d Class Lawrence P. Lupo, handled his twin 30-caliber mount magnificently and kept the enemy fighters at arm's length, his bullets scoring several hits on them as well. After about eight passes, one "Zero" veered up sharply and made a head-on run that Howard met with simultaneous fire from his fixed .50's. The "Zero" caught fire like a flying tinder box, passed close aboard the Dauntless' left wing, and crashed in flames amidst the American landing craft far below. At the same time Howard was downing the "Zero" ahead, Seaman Lupo was firing on another "Zero" making an attack from the stern. Lupo kept the enemy away, but he had to shoot through his own plane's vertical stabilizer to do it. Eventually the enemy tired of sporting with the SBD and retired to leave Howard and his squadron mates in VS-71 to return safely to their carrier.

At 1807 on 8 August, Vice Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher recommended to Ghormley, at Noumea, that the air support force be withdrawn. Fletcher, concerned by the large numbers of enemy planes that had attacked on the 8th, reported that he had only 78 fighters left (he had started with 99) and that fuel for the carriers was running low. Ghormley approved the recommendation, and Wasp joined Enterprise and Saratoga in retiring from Guadalcanal. By midnight on 8 August, the landing had been a success, having attained the immediate objectives of the landing. All Japanese resistance-but a few snipers-on Gavutu and Tanombogo had been overcome. Early on 9 August, a Japanese surface force engaged an American one off Savo Island and retired at very little cost to themselves. The Allied force suffered loss of four heavy cruisers off Savo Island, including two that had served with Wasp in the Atlantic: Vincennes and Quincy. The early and unexpected withdrawal of the support force, including Wasp, when coupled with Allied losses in the Battle of Savo Island, jeopardized the success of the operation in the Solomons.

After the initial day's action in the Solomons campaign, the carrier spent the next month engaged in patrol and covering operations for convoys and resupply units headed for Guadalcanal. The Japanese, while reacting sluggishly to the initial thrust at Guadalcanal, soon began pouring reinforcements down to contest the Allied forces.

Wasp was ordered south by Vice Admiral Fletcher to refuel and did not participate in the Battle of Eastern Solomons on 24 August 1942. That engagement cost the American force the use of the valuable Enterprise. Saratoga was torpedoed a week later and departed the South Pacific war zone for repairs as well. That left only two carriers in the southwest Pacific: Hornet-which had been in commission for only a year-and Wasp.

On Tuesday, 16 September, those two carriers and North Carolina-with 10 other warships-were escorting the transports carrying the 7th Marine Regiment to Guadalcanal as reinforcements. Wasp had drawn the job of ready-duty carrier and was operating some 150 miles southeast of San Cristobal Island. Her gasoline system was in use, as planes were being refueled and rearmed for antisubmarine patrol missions; and Wasp had been at general quarters from an hour before sunrise until the time when the morning search returned to the ship at 1000. Thereafter, the ship was in condition 2, with the air department at flight quarters. There was no contact with the enemy during the day, with the exception of a Japanese four-engined flying boat downed by a Wasp Wildcat at 1215.

About 1420, the carrier turned into the wind to launch eight fighters and 18 SBD-3's and to recover eight F4F-3's and three SBD's that had been airborne since before noon The ship rapidly completed the recovery of the 11 planes, she then turned easily to starboard, the ship heeling slightly as the course change was made. The air department at flight quarters, as they had done in earlier operations, worked coolly at refueling and respotting the ship's planes for the afternoon mission. Suddenly, at 1444, a lookout called out, "three torpedoes . . . three points forward of the starboard beam!"

A spread of four torpedoes, fired from the tubes of the Japanese submarine I-19, churned inexorably closer. Wasp put over her rudder hard-a-starboard, but it was too late. Two torpedoes smashed home in quick succession while a fourth passed ahead. Both hit in the vicinity of gasoline tanks and magazines.

In quick succession, fiery blasts ripped through the forward part of the ship. Aircraft on the flight and hangar decks were thrown about as if they were toys and dropped on the deck with such force that landing gears snapped. Planes triced up in the hangar overheads fell and landed upon those on the hangar deck; fires broke out almost simultaneously in the hangar and below decks. Soon, the heat of the intense gasoline fires detonated the ready ammunition at the forward antiaircraft guns on the starboard side, and fragments showered the forward part of the ship. The number two 1.1-inch mount was blown overboard and the corpse of the gun captain was thrown onto the bridge where it landed next to Capt. Sherman.

Water mains in the forward part of the ship proved useless, since they had been broken by the force of the explosions. There was no water available to fight the conflagration forward; and the fires continued to set off ammunition, bombs, and gasoline. As the ship listed to starboard between 10 and 15 degrees, oil and gasoline, released from the tanks by the torpedo hit, caught fire on the water.

Sherman slowed to 10 knots, ordering the rudder put to port to try to get the wind on the starboard bow; he then went astern with right rudder until the wind was on the starboard quarter, in an attempt to keep the fire forward. At that point, some flames made central station untenable, and communication circuits went dead. Soon, a serious gasoline fire broke out in the forward portion of the hanger, within 24 minutes of the initial attack, three additional major gasoline vapor explosions occurred. Ten minutes later, Capt. Sherman consulted with his executive officer, Comdr. Fred C. Dickey. The two men saw no course but to abandon, as all fire-fighting was proving ineffectual. The survivors would have to be gotten off quickly if unnecessary loss of life was not to be incurred.

Reluctantly, after consulting with Rear Admiral Noyes, Capt. Sherman ordered "abandon ship" at 1520. All badly injured men were lowered into rafts or rubber boats. Many unwounded men had to abandon from aft because the forward fires were burning with such intensity. The departure, as Capt. Sherman observed it, looked "orderly," and there was no panic. The only delays occurred when many men showed reluctance to leave until all the wounded had been taken off. The abandonment took nearly 40 minutes; and, at 1600-satisfied that no one was left on deck, in the galleries, or in the hangar aft-Capt. Sherman swung over the lifeline on the fantail and slid into the sea.

Although the submarine hazard caused the accompanying destroyers to lie well clear or to shift position, the "tin cans" carried out the rescue efforts with persistence and determination until Laffey (DD-459), Lansdowne (DD-486), Helena (CL-50), and Salt Lake City had 1,946 men embarked. The abandoned ship drifted with her crew of remaining dead. The fires greedily traveled aft; four more violent explosions boomed as night began to fall. Lansdowne drew the duty of destruction, and she fired five torpedoes into the dying ship's fire-gutted hull. Three hit, but she remained afloat. By now, the orange flames had enveloped the stern. The carrier literally floated in a burning pool of gasoline and oil. She sank at 2100 by the bow.

Wasp received two battle stars for her World War II service.

(CV-3 dp. 33,000; l. 888' 0"; b. 106' 0"; dr. 24' 1 1/2"; s. 33.91 k.; cpl. 2,111; a. 8 8", 12 5", 4 6-pdrs., 81 ac.; cl. Lexington)

The fifth Saratoga (CV-3) was laid down on 25 September 1920 as Battle Cruiser #3 by the New York Shipbuilding Co., Camden, N.J.; ordered converted to an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July 1922 in accordance with the Washington Treaty limiting naval armaments, launched on 7 April 1925, sponsored by Mrs. Curtis D. Wilbur, wife of the Secretary of the Navy; and commissioned on 16 November 1927, Capt. Harry E. Yarnell in command.

Saratoga, the first fast carrier in the United States Navy, quickly proved the value of her type. She sailed from Philadelphia on 6 January 1928 for shakedown; and, on 11 January, her air officer, the future World War II hero, Marc A. Mitscher, landed the first aircraft on board. In an experiment on 27 January, the rigid airship Los Angeles (ZR-3) moored to Saratoga's stern and took on fuel and stores. The same day

Saratoga sailed for the Pacific via the Panama Canal. She was diverted briefly between 14 and 16 February to carry marines to Corinto, Nicaragua, and finally joined the Battle Fleet at San Pedro, California, on 21 February. The rest of the year was spent in training and final machinery shakedown.

On 15 January 1929, Saratoga sailed from San Diego with the Battle Fleet to participate in her first fleet exercise, Fleet Problem IX. In a daring move Saratoga was detached from the fleet with only a single cruiser as escort to make a wide sweep to the south and "attack" the Panama Canal, which was defended by the Scouting Fleet and Saratoga's sister ship, Lexington. She successfully launched her strike [340] on 26 January, and despite being "sunk" three times later in the day, proved the versatility of a fast task force centered around a carrier. The idea was incorporated into fleet doctrine and reused the following year in Fleet Problem X in the Caribbean. This time, however, Saratoga and carrier, Langley, were "disabled" by a surprise attack from Lexington, showing how quickly air power could swing the balance in a naval action.

Following the fleet concentration in the Caribbean Saratoga took part in the Presidential Review at Norfolk in May and returned to San Pedro on 21 June 1930.

During the remaining decade before World War II Saratoga exercised in the San Diego-San Pedro area, except for the annual fleet problems and regular overhauls at the Bremerton Navy Yard. In the fleet problems, Saratoga continued to assist in the development of fast carrier tactics, and her importance was recognized by the fact that she was always a high priority target for the opposing forces. The fleet problem for 1932 was planned for Hawaii, and, by coincidence occurred during the peak of the furor following the "Manchurian incident" in which Japan started on the road to World War II. Saratoga exercised in the Hawaii area from 31 January to 19 March and returned to Hawaii for fleet exercises the following year between 23 January and 28 February 1933. On the return trip to the west coast, she launched a successful air "attack" on the Long Beach area.

Exercises in 1934 took Saratoga to the Caribbean and the Atlantic for an extended period, from 9 April to 9 November, and were followed by equally extensive operations with the United States Fleet in the Pacific the following year. Between 27 April and 6 June 1936, she participated in a fleet problem in the Canal Zone, and she then returned with the fleet to Hawaii for exercises from 16 April to 28 May 1937. On 15 March 1938, Saratoga sailed from San Diego for Fleet Problem XIX, again conducted off Hawaii. During the second phase of the problem, Saratoga launched a surprise air attack on Pearl Harbor from a point 100 miles off Oahu, setting a pattern that the Japanese copied in December 1941. During the return to the west coast, Saratoga and Lexington followed this feat with "strikes" on Mare Island and Alameda. Saratoga was under overhaul during the 1939 fleet concentration, but, between 2 April and 21 June 1940, she participated in Fleet Problem XXI, the last to be held due to the deepening world crisis.

Between 14 and 29 October 1940, Saratoga transported a draft of military personnel from San Pedro to Hawaii, and, on 6 January 1941, she entered the Bremerton Navy Yard for a long deferred modernization, including widening her flight deck forward and fitting a blister on her starboard side and additional small antiaircraft guns. Departing Bremerton on 28 April 1941, the carrier participated in a landing force exercise in May and made two trips to Hawaii between June and October as the diplomatic crisis with Japan came to a head.

When the Japanese struck at Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, Saratoga was just entering San Diego after an interim drydocking at Bremerton. She hurriedly got underway the following day as the nucleus of a third carrier force (Lexington and Enterprise were already at sea), carrying Marine aircraft intended to reinforce the vulnerable garrison on Wake Island. Presence of these aircraft on board made Saratoga the logical choice for the actual relief effort. She reached Pearl Harbor on 15 December and stopped only long enough to fuel. She then rendezvoused with Tangier (AV-8), which had relief troops and supplies on board, while Lexington and Enterprise provided distant cover for the operation. However, the Saratoga force was delayed by the low speed of its oiler and by a decision to refuel destroyers on 21 December. After receiving reports of Japanese carrier aircraft over the island and Japanese landings on it, the relief force was recalled on 22 December. Wake fell the next day.

Saratoga continued operations in the Hawaiian Island region; but, on 11 January 1942, when heading towards a rendezvous with Enterprise, 500 miles south-west of Oahu, she was hit without warning by a deep-running torpedo fired by Japanese submarine, 1-16. Although six men were killed and three firerooms were flooded, the carrier reached Oahu under her own power. There, her 8-inch guns, useless against aircraft, were removed for installation in shore defenses, and the carrier proceeded to the Bremerton Navy Yard for permanent repairs and installation of a modern anti-aircraft battery.

Saratoga departed Puget Sound on 22 May for San Diego. She arrived there on 25 May and was training her air group when intelligence was received of an impending Japanese assault on Midway. Due to the need to load planes and stores and to collect escorts, the carrier was unable to sail until 1 June and arrived at Pearl Harbor on the 6th after the Battle of Midway had ended. She departed Pearl Harbor on 7 June after fueling; and, on 11 June, transferred 34 aircraft to Hornet and Enterprise to replenish their depleted air groups. The three carriers then turned north to counter Japanese activity reported in the Aleutians, but the operation was canceled and Saratoga returned to Pearl Harbor on 13 June.

Between 22 and 29 June, Saratoga ferried Marine and Army aircraft to the garrison on Midway. On 7 July, she sailed for the southwest Pacific; and, from 28 to 30 July, she provided air cover for landing rehearsals in the Fiji Islands in preparation for landings on Guadalcanal. As flagship of Real Admiral F. J. Fletcher, Saratoga opened the Guadalcanal assault early on 7 August when she turned into the wind to launch aircraft. She provided air cover for the landings for the next two days. On the first day, a Japanese air attack was repelled before it reached the carriers, but since further attacks were expected, the carrier force withdrew on the afternoon of 8 August towards a fueling rendezvous. As a result, it was too far away to retaliate after four Allied cruisers were sunk that night in the Battle of Savo Island. The carrier force continued to operate east of the Solomons, protecting the sealanes to the beachhead and awaiting a Japanese naval counterattack.

The counterattack began to materialize when a Japanese transport force was detected on 23 August, and Saratoga launched a strike against it. The aircraft were unable to find the enemy, however, and spent the night on Guadalcanal. As they were returning on board the next day, the first contact report on enemy carriers was received. Two hours later, Saratoga launched a strike which sent Japanese carrier Ryujo to the bottom. Later in the afternoon, as an enemy strike from other carriers was detected, Saratoga hastily launched the aircraft on her deck, and these found and damaged seaplane tender Chitose. Meanwhile, due to cloud cover, Saratoga escaped detection by the Japanese aircraft, which concentrated their attack on, and damaged, Enterprise. The American force fought back fiercely and weakened enemy air strength so severely that the Japanese recalled their transports before they reached Guadalcanal.

After landing her returning aircraft at night on 24 August, Saratoga refueled on the 25th and resumed her patrols east of the Solomons. A week later, a destroyer reported torpedo wakes heading toward the carrier, but the 888-foot flattop could not turn quickly enough. A minute later, a torpedo from I-26 slammed into the blister on her starboard side. The torpedo killed no one and only flooded one fireroom, but the impact caused short circuits which damaged Saratoga's turbo-electric propulsion system and left her dead in the water. Cruiser Minneapolis took the carrier under tow while she flew her aircraft off to shore bases. By [341] early afternoon, Saratoga's engineers had improvised a circuit out of the burned wreckage of her main control board and had given her a speed of 10 knots. After repairs at Tongatabu from 6 to 12 September, Saratoga arrived at Pearl Harbor on 21 September for permanent repairs.

Saratoga sailed from Pearl Harbor on 10 November and proceeded, via Fiji, to Noumea which she reached on 5 December. She operated in the vicinity of Noumea for the next twelve months, providing air cover for minor operations and protecting American forces in the Eastern Solomons. Between 17 May and 31 July 1943, she was reinforced by the British carrier, Victorious, and, on 20 October, she was joined by Princeton (CVL-23). As troops stormed ashore on Bougainville on 1 November, Saratoga's aircraft neutralized nearby Japanese airfields on Buka. Then, on 5 November, in response to reports of Japanese cruisers concentrating at Rabaul to counterattack the Allied landing forces, Saratoga conducted perhaps her most brilliant strike of the war. Her aircraft penetrated the heavily defended port and disabled most of the Japanese cruisers, ending the surface threat to Bougainville. Saratoga, herself, escaped unscathed and returned to raid Rabaul again on 11 November.

Saratoga and Princeton were then designated the Relief Carrier Group for the offensive in the Gilberts; and, after striking Nauru on 19 November, they rendezvoused on 23 November with the transports carrying garrison troops to Makin and Tarawa. The carriers provided air cover until the transports reached their destinations, and then maintained air patrols over Tarawa. By this time, Saratoga had steamed over a year without repairs, and she was detached on 30 November to return to the United States. She underwent overhaul at San Francisco from 9 December 1943 to 3 January 1944, and had her antiaircraft battery augmented for the last time, receiving 60 40-millimeter guns in place of 36 20-millimeter guns.

The carrier arrived at Pearl Harbor on 7 January, and, after a brief period of training, sailed from Pearl Harbor on 19 January with light carriers, Langley and Princeton, to support the drive in the Marshalls. Her aircraft struck Wotje and Taroa for three days, from 29 to 31 January, and then pounded Engebi, the main island at Eniwetok, the 3d to the 6th and from the 10th to the 12th of February. Her planes delivered final blows to Japanese defenses on the 16th, the day before the landings, and provided close air support and CAP over the island until 28 February.

Saratoga then took leave of the main theaters of the Pacific war for almost a year, to carry out important but less spectacular assignments elsewhere. Her first task was to help the British initiate their carrier offensive in the Far East. On 4 March, Saratoga departed Majuro with an escort of three destroyers, and sailed via Espiritu Santo; Hobart, Tasmania; and Fremantle, Australia, to join the British Eastern Fleet in the Indian Ocean. She rendezvoused at sea on 27 March with the British force, composed of carrier, Illustrious, and four battleships with escorts, and arrived with them at Trincomalee, Ceylon, on 31 March. On 12 April, the French battleship, Richelieu, arrived, adding to the international flavor of the force. During the next two days, the carriers conducted intensive training at sea during which Saratoga's fliers tried to impart some of their experience to the British pilots. On 16 April, the Eastern Fleet, with Saratoga, sailed from Trincomalee, and, on the 19th, the aircraft from the two carriers struck the port of Sabang, off the northwest tip of Sumatra. The Japanese were caught by surprise by the new offensive, and much damage was done to port facilities and oil reserves. The raid was so successful that Saratoga delayed her departure in order to carry out a second. Sailing again from Ceylon on 6 May, the force struck at Soerabaja, Java, on 17 May with equally successful results. Saratoga was detached the following day, and passed down the columns of the Eastern Fleet as the Allied ships rendered honors to and cheered each other.

Saratoga arrived at Bremerton, Washington, on 10 June 1944 and was under repair there through the summer. On 24 September, she arrived at Pearl Harbor and commenced her second special assignment, training night fighter squadrons. Saratoga had experimented with night flying as early as 1931, and many carriers had been forced to land returning aircraft at night during the war; but, only in August 1944, did a carrier, Independence, receive an air group specially equipped to operate at night. At the same time, Carrier Division 11, composed of Saratoga and Ranger (CV-4), was commissioned at Pearl Harbor to train night pilots and develop night flying doctrine. Saratoga continued this important training duty for almost four months, but as early as October, her division commander was warned that "while employed primarily for training, Saratoga is of great value for combat and is to be kept potentially available for combat duty." The call came in January 1945. Light carriers like Independence had proved too small for safe night operations, and Saratoga was rushed out of Pearl Harbor on 29 January 1945 to form a night fighter task group with Enterprise for the Iwo Jima operation.

Saratoga arrived at Ulithi on 7 February and sailed three days later, with Enterprise and four other carrier task groups. After landing rehearsals with marines at Tinian on 12 February, the carrier force carried out diversionary strikes on the Japanese home islands on the night of 16 and 17 February before the landings on Iwo Jima. Saratoga was assigned to provide fighter cover while the remaining carriers launched the strikes on Japan, but, in the process, her fighters raided two Japanese airfields. The force fueled on 18 and 19 February; and, on 21 February, Saratoga was detached with an escort of three destroyers to join the amphibious forces and carry out night patrols over Iwo Jima and night heckler missions over nearby Chi-chi Jima. However, as she approached her operating area at 1700 on the 21st, an air attack developed, and taking advantage of low cloud cover and Saratoga's insufficient escort, six Japanese planes scored five hits on the carrier in three minutes. Saratoga's flight deck forward was wrecked, her starboard side was holed twice and large fires were started in her hangar deck, while she lost 123 of her crew dead or missing. Another attack at 1900 scored an additional bomb hit. By 2015, the fires were under control and the carrier was able to recover aircraft, but she was ordered to Eniwetok and then to the west coast for repairs, and arrived at Bremerton on 16 March.

On 22 May, Saratoga departed Puget Sound fully repaired, and she resumed training pilots at Pearl Harbor on 3 June. She ceased training duty on 6 September, after the Japanese surrender, and sailed from Hawaii on 9 September transporting 3,712 returning naval veterans home to the United States under Operation "Magic Carpet." By the end of her "Magic Carpet" service, Saratoga had brought home 29,204 Pacific war veterans, more than any other individual ship. At the time, she also held the record for the greatest number of aircraft landed on a carrier, with a lifetime total of 98,549 landings in 17 years.

With the arrival of large numbers of Essex-class carriers, Saratoga was surplus to postwar requirements, and she was assigned to Operation "Crossroads" at Bikini Atoll to test the effect of the atomic bomb on naval vessels. She survived the first blast, an air burst on 1 July, with only minor damage, but was mortally wounded by the second on 25 July, an underwater blast which was detonated under a landing craft 500 yards from the carrier. Salvage efforts were prevented by radioactivity, and seven and one-half hours after the blast, with her funnel collapsed across her deck, Sara- [342] toga slipped beneath the surface of the lagoon. She was struck from the Navy list on 15 August 1946.

Saratoga received seven battle stars for her World War II service.

(CV-5: dp. 19,800; l. 809' 6"; b. 83' 1"; dr. 28' 0"; s. 32.5 k.; cpl. 2.919; a. 8 5", 22 .50-cal mg., ac. 81-85; cl. Yorktown.)

The third Yorktown (CV-5) was laid down on 21 May 1934 at Newport News, Va., by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co.; launched on 4 April 1936; sponsored by Mrs. Franklin D. Roosevelt; and commissioned at the Naval Operating Base (NOB), [534] Norfolk, Va., on 30 September 1937, Capt. Ernest D. McWhorter in command.

After fitting out, the aircraft carrier trained in Hampton Roads and in the southern drill grounds off the Virginia capes into January of 1938, conducting carrier qualifications for her newly embarked air group.

Yorktown sailed for the Caribbean on 8 January 1938 and arrived at Culebra, Puerto Rico, on 13 January. Over the ensuing month, the carrier conducted her shakedown, touching at Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, Virgin Islands; Gonaives, Haiti; Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, and Cristobal, Panama Canal Zone. Departing Colon Bay, Cristobal, on 1 March, Yorktown sailed for Hampton Roads and arrived there on the 6th and shifted to the Norfolk Navy Yard the next day for post-shakedown availability.

After undergoing repairs through the early autumn of 1938, Yorktown shifted from the navy yard to NOB Norfolk on 17 October and soon headed for the Southern Drill Grounds for training.

Yorktown operated off the eastern seaboard, ranging from Chesapeake Bay to Guantanamo Bay, into 1939. As flagship for Carrier Division (CarDiv) 2, she participated in her first war game-Fleet Problem XX-along with her sistership Enterprise (CV-6) in February 1939. The scenario for the exercise called for one fleet to control the sea lanes in the Caribbean against the incursion of a foreign European power while maintaining sufficient naval strength to protect vital American interests in the Pacific. The maneuvers were witnessed, in part, by President Roosevelt, embarked in the heavy cruiser Houston (CA-30).

The critique of the operation revealed that carrier operations-a part of the scenarios for the annual exercises since the entry of Langley (CV-1) into the war games in 1925-had achieved a new peak of efficiency. Despite the inexperience of Yorktown and Enterprise-comparative newcomers to the Fleet-both carriers made significant contributions to the success of the problem. The planners had studied the employment of carriers and their embarked air groups in connection with convoy escort, antisubmarine defense, and various attack measures against surface ships and shore installations. In short, they worked to develop the tactics that would be used when war actually came.

Following Fleet Problem XX, Yorktown returned briefly to Hampton Roads before sailing for the Pacific on 20 April. Transiting the Panama Canal a week later, Yorktown soon commenced a regular routine of operations with the Pacific Fleet. Operating out of San Diego into 1940, the carrier participated in Fleet Problem XXI that April.

Fleet Problem XXI-a two-part exercise-included some of the operations that would characterize future warfare in the Pacific. The first part of the exercise was devoted to training in making plans and estimates; in screening and scouting; in coordination of combatant units; and in employing fleet and standard dispositions. The second phase included training in convoy protection, the seizure of advanced bases, and, ultimately, the decisive engagement between the opposing fleets. The last pre-war exercise of its type, Fleet Problem XXI, contained two exercises (comparatively minor at the time) where air operations played a major role. Fleet Joint Air Exercise 114A prophetically pointed out the need to coordinate Army and Navy defense plans for the Hawaiian Islands, and Fleet Exercise 114 proved that aircraft could be used for high altitude tracking of surface forces-a significant role for planes that would be fully realized in the war to come.

With the retention of the Fleet in Hawaiian waters after the conclusion of Fleet Problem XXI, Yorktown operated in the Pacific off the west coast of the United States and in Hawaiian waters until the following spring, when the success of German U-boats preying upon British shipping in the Atlantic required a shift of American naval strength. Thus, to reinforce the Atlantic Fleet, the Navy transferred a substantial force from the Pacific including Yorktown, a battleship division, and accompanying cruisers and destroyers.

Yorktown departed Pearl Harbor on 20 April 1941 in company with Warrington (DD-383), Somers (DD-381), and Jouett (DD-396); headed southeast, transited the Panama Canal on the night of 6 and 7 May, and arrived at Bermuda on the 12th. From that time to the entry of the United States into the war, Yorktown conducted four patrols in the Atlantic, ranging from Newfoundland to Bermuda and logging 17,642 miles steamed while enforcing American neutrality.

Although Adolph Hitler had forbidden his submarines to attack American ships, the men who manned the American naval vessels were not aware of this policy and operated on a wartime footing in the Atlantic.

On 28 October, while Yorktown, battleship New Mexico (BB-41), and other American warships were screening a convoy, a destroyer picked up a submarine contact and dropped depth charges while the convoy itself made an emergency starboard turn, the first of the convoy's three emergency changes of course. Late that afternoon, engine repairs to one of the ships in the convoy, Empire Pintail, reduced the convoy's speed to 11 knots.

During the night, the American ships intercepted strong German radio signals, indicating submarines probably in the vicinity reporting the group. Rear Admiral H. Kent Hewitt, commanding the escort force sent a destroyer to sweep astern of the convoy to destroy the U-boat or at least to drive him under.

The next day, while cruiser scout-planes patrolled overhead, Yorktown and Savannah (CL-42) fueled their escorting destroyers, finishing the task just at dusk. On the 30th, Yorktown was preparing to fuel three destroyers when other escorts made sound contacts. The convoy subsequently made 10 emergency turns while Morris (DD-417) and Anderson (DD-411) dropped depth charges, and Hughes (DD-410) assisted in developing the contact. Anderson later made two more depth charge attacks, noticing "considerable oil with slick spreading but no wreckage."

The short-of-war period was becoming more like the real thing as each day went on. Elsewhere on 30 October and more than a month before Japanese planes attacked Pearl Harbor, U-562 torpedoed the destroyer Reuben James (DD-245), sinking her with a heavy loss of life-the first loss of an American warship in World War II.

After another Neutrality Patrol stint in November, Yorktown put into Norfolk on 2 December and was there five days later when American fighting men in Hawaii were rudely awakened to find their country at war.

The early news from the Pacific was bleak: the Pacific Fleet had taken a beating. With the battle line crippled, the unhurt American carriers assumed great importance. There were, on 7 December, only three in the Pacific. Enterprise, Lexington (CV-2), and Saratoga (CV-3). While Ranger (CV-4), Wasp (CV-7), and the recently commissioned Hornet (CV-8) remained in the Atlantic, Yorktown departed Norfolk on 16 December 1941 and sailed for the Pacific, her secondary gun galleries studded with new 20-millimeter Oerlikon machine guns. She reached San Diego, Calif., on 30 December 1941 and soon became flagship for Rear Admiral Frank Jack Fletcher's newly formed Task Force (TF) 17.

The carrier's first mission in her new theater was to escort a convoy carrying Marine reinforcements to American Samoa. Departing San Diego on 6 January 1942, Yorktown and her consorts covered the movement of marines to Tutuila and Pago Pago to augment the garrison already there.

Having safely covered that troop movement, Yorktown, in company with sistership Enterprise, departed Samoan waters on 25 January. Six days later, TF 8 built around Enterprise, and TF 17, built around Yorktown, parted company. The former headed for the [535] Marshall Islands, the latter for the Gilberts-each bound to take part in the first American offensive of the war, the Marshalls-Gilberts raids.

At 0517, Yorktown-screened by Louisville (CA-28) and St. Louis (CL-49) and four destroyers-launched 11 torpedo planes (Douglas TBD-1 Devastators) and 17 scout bombers (Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses) under the command of Comdr. Curtis W. Smiley. Those planes hit what Japanese shore installations and shipping they could find at Jaluit, but adverse weather conditions hampered the mission in which six planes were lost. Other Yorktown planes attacked Japanese installations and ships at Makin and Mili Atolls.

The attack by TF 17 on the Gilberts had apparently been a complete surprise since the American force encountered no enemy surface ships. A single, four-engined, Kawanishi E7K "Mavis," patrol-bomber seaplane attempted to attack American destroyers that had been sent astern in hope of recovering planes over-due from the Jaluit mission. Antiaircraft fire from the destroyers drove off the intruder before he could cause any damage.

Later, another "Mavis"-or possibly the same one that had attacked the destroyers-came out of low clouds 15,000 yards from Yorktown. The carrier with- held her antiaircraft fire in order not to interfere with the combat air patrol (CAP) fighters. Presently, the "Mavis," pursued by two Wildcats, disappeared behind a cloud. Within five minutes, the enemy patrol plane fell out of the clouds and crashed in the water.

Although TF 17 was slated to make a second attack on Jaluit, it was canceled because of heavy rainstorms and the approach of darkness. Therefore, the Yorktown force retired from the area.

Admiral Chester W. Nimitz later called the Marshalls-Gilberts raids "well conceived, well planned, and brilliantly executed." The results obtained by TF's 8 and 17 were noteworthy Nimitz continued in his subsequent report, because the task forces had been obliged to make their attacks somewhat blindly, due to lack of hard intelligence data on the Japanese-mandated islands.

Yorktown subsequently returned to Pearl Harbor and replenished there before she put to sea on 14 February, bound for the Coral Sea. On 6 March, she rendezvoused with TF 11-formed around Lexington and under the command of Rear Admiral Wilson Brown-and headed towards Rabaul and Gasmata to attack Japanese shipping there in an effort to check the Japanese advance and to cover the landing of Allied troops at Noumea, New Caledonia. However, as the two flattops-screened by a powerful force of eight heavy cruisers (including the Australian HMAS Australia) and 14 destroyers-steamed toward New Guinea, the Japanese continued their advance toward Australia with a landing on 7 March at the Huon Gulf, in the Salamana-Lae area on the eastern end of New Guinea.

Word of the Japanese operation prompted Admiral Brown to change the objective of TF 11's strike from Rabaul to the Salamana-Lae sector. On the morning of 10 March 1942, American carriers launched aircraft from the Gulf of Papua. Lexington flew off her air group commencing at 0749 and, 21 minutes later, Yorktown followed suit. While the choice of the gulf as the launch point for the strike meant that the planes would have to fly some 125 miles across the Owen Stanley mountains-a range not known for the best flying conditions-that approach provided security for the task force and ensured surprise.

In the attacks that followed, Lexington's SBD's from Scouting Squadron (VS) 2 commenced dive-bombing Japanese ships at Lae at 0922. The carrier's Torpedo Squadron (VT) 2 and Bombing Squadron (VB) 2 attacked shipping at Salamaua at 0938. Her fighters from Fighter Squadron (VF) 2 split up into four-plane attack groups: one strafed Lae and the other, Salamaua. Yorktown's planes followed on the heels of those from "Lady Lex." VB-5 and VT-5 attacked Japanese ships in the Salamaua area at 0950, while VS-5 went after auxiliaries moored close in shore at Lae. The fighters of VF-42 flew over Salamana on CAP until they determined that there was no air opposition and then strafed surface objectives and small boats in the harbor.

After carrying out their missions, the American planes returned to their carriers, and 103 planes of the 104 launched were back safely on board by noon. One SB3-2 of VS-2 had been downed by Japanese antiaircraft fire. The raid on Salamana and Lae was the first attack by many pilots of both carriers; and, while the resultant torpedo and bombing accuracy was inferior to that achieved in later actions, the operation gave the fliers invaluable experience which enabled them to do so well in the Battle of the Coral Sea and the Battle of Midway.

Task Force 11 retired at 20 knots on a southeasterly course until dark, when the ships steered eastward at 15 knots and made rendezvous with Task Group (TG) 11.7 (four heavy cruisers and four destroyers) under Rear Admiral John G. Crace, Royal Navy-the group that had provided cover for the carriers on their approach to New Guinea.

Yorktown resumed her patrols in the Coral Sea area, remaining at sea into April, out of reach of Japanese land-based aircraft and ready to carry out offensive operations whenever the opportunity presented itself. After the Lae-Salamaua raid, the situation in the South Pacific seemed temporarily stabilized, and Yorktown and her consorts in TF 17 put in to the undeveloped harbor at Tongatabu, in the Tonga Islands, for needed upkeep, having been at sea continuously since departing from Pearl Harbor on 14 February.

However, the enemy was soon on the move. To Admiral Nimitz, there seemed to be "excellent indications that the Japanese intended to make a seaborne attack on Port Moresby the first week in May." Yorktown accordingly departed Tongatabu on 27 April, bound once more for the Coral Sea. TF 11-commanded by Rear Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, who had relieved Brown in Lexington-departed Pearl Harbor to join Fletcher's TF 17 and arrived in the vicinity of Yorktown's group, southwest of the New Hebrides Islands, on 1 May.

At 1517 the next afternoon, two Dauntlesses from VS-5 sighted a Japanese submarine, running on the surface. Three Devastators took off from Yorktown sped to the scene, and carried out an attack that only succeeded in driving the submarine under.

On the morning of the 3d, TF 11 and TF 17 were some 100 miles apart, engaged in fueling operations. Shortly before midnight, Fletcher received word from Australian-based aircraft that Japanese transports were disembarking troops and equipment at Tulagi in the Solomon Islands. Arriving soon after the Australians had evacuated the place, the Japanese landed to commence construction of a seaplane base there to support their southward thrust.

Yorktown accordingly set course northward at 27 knots. By daybreak on 4 May, she was within striking distance of the newly established Japanese beachhead and launched her first strike at 0701-18 F4F-3's of VF-42, 12 TBD's of VT-5, and 28 SBD's from VS and BY-5. Yorktown's air group made three consecutive attacks on enemy ships and shore installations at Tulagi and Gavutu on the south coast of Florida Island in the Solomons. Expending 22 torpedoes and 76 1,000-pound bombs in the three attacks, Yorktown's planes sank a destroyer (Kikuzuki), three minecraft, and four barges. In addition, Air Group 5 destroyed five enemy seaplanes, all at the cost of two F4F's lost (the pilots were recovered) and one TBD (whose crew was lost).

Meanwhile, that same day, TF 44, a cruiser-destroyer force under Rear Admiral Crace (RN), joined Lexington's TF 11, thus completing the composition of the Allied force on the eve of the crucial Battle of the Coral Sea.

Elsewhere, to the northward, the enemy was on his [536] way. Eleven troop-laden transports-escorted by destroyers and covered by the light carrier Shoho, four heavy cruisers, and a destroyer-steamed toward Port Moresby. In addition, another Japanese task force-formed around the two Pearl Harbor veterans, carriers Shokaku and Zuikaku, and screened by two heavy cruisers and six destroyers-provided additional air cover.

On the morning of the 6th, Fletcher gathered all Allied forces under his tactical command as TF 17. At daybreak on the 7th, he dispatched Crace, with the cruisers and destroyers under his command, toward the Louisiade archipelago to intercept any enemy attempt to move toward Port Moresby.

Meanwhile, while Fletcher moved northward with his two flattops and their screens in search of the enemy, Japanese search planes located the oiler Neosho (AO-23) and her escort, Sims (DD-409) and identified the former as a "carrier." Two waves of Japanese planes-first high level bombers and then dive bombers-attacked the two ships. Sims-her antiaircraft battery crippled by gun failures-took three direct hits and sank quickly with a heavy loss of life. Neosho was more fortunate in that, even after seven direct hits and eight near-misses, she remained afloat until, on the 11th, her survivors were picked up by Henley (DD-391) and her hulk sunk by the rescuing destroyer.

In their tribulation, Neosho and Sims had performed a valuable service, drawing off the planes that might otherwise have hit Fletcher's carriers. Meanwhile, Yorktown and Lexington's planes found Shoho and punished that Japanese light carrier unmercifully, sending her to the bottom. One of Lexington's pilots reported this victory with the radio message, "Scratch one flattop."

That afternoon, Shokaku and Zuikaku-still unlocated by Fletcher's forces-launched 27 bombers and torpedo planes to search for the American ships. Their flight proved uneventful until they ran into fighters from Yorktown and Lexington, who proceeded to down nine enemy planes in the ensuing dogfight.

Near twilight, three Japanese planes incredibly mistook Yorktown for their own carrier and attempted to land. The ship's gunfire, though, drove them off; and the enemy planes crossed Yorktown's bow and turned away out of range. Twenty minutes later, when three more enemy pilots made the mistake of trying to get into Yorktown's landing circle, the carrier's gunners splashed one of the trio.

However, the Battle of the Coral Sea was far from over. The next morning, 8 May, a Lexington search plane spotted Admiral Takagi's carrier striking force-including Zuikaku and Shokaku, the flattops that had proved so elusive the day before. Yorktown planes scored two bomb hits on Shokaku, damaging her flight deck and thus preventing her from launching aircraft; in addition, the bombs set off explosions in gasoline storage tanks and destroyed an engine repair workshop. Lexington's Dauntlesses added another hit. Between the two American air groups, the hits scored killed 108 Japanese sailors and wounded 40 more.

While the American planes were bedeviling the Japanese flattops, however, Yorktown and Lexington-alerted by an intercepted message which indicated that the Japanese knew of their whereabouts-were preparing to fight off a retaliatory strike. Sure enough, shortly after 1100, that attack came.

American CAP Wildcats slashed into the Japanese formations, downing 17 planes. Some, though, managed to slip through the fighters and the "Kates" that did so managed to launch torpedoes from both sides of Lexington's bows. Two "fish", tore into "Lady Lex" on the port side; dive bombers-"Vals"-added to the destruction with three bomb hits. Lexington developed a list with three partially-flooded engineering spaces. Several fires raged belowdecks, and the carrier's elevators were out of commission.

Meanwhile Yorktown was having problems of her own. Skillfully maneuvered by Capt. Elliott Buckmaster, her commanding officer, the carrier dodged eight torpedoes. Attacked then by "Vals," the ship managed to evade all but one bomb. That one, however, penetrated the flight deck and exploded belowdecks, killing or seriously injuring 66 men.

Yorktown's damage control parties brought the fires under control, and, despite her wounds, the ship was still able to continue her flight operations. The air battle itself ended shortly before noon on the 8th; and within an hour, "Lady Lex" was on an even keel, although slightly down by the bow. Her damage control parties had already extinguished three out of the four fires below. In addition, she was making 25 knots and was recovering her air group.

At 1247, however, disaster struck Lexington, when a heavy explosion, caused by the ignition of gasoline vapors, rocked the ship. The flames raced through the ship, and further internal explosions tore the ship apart inside. Lexington battled for survival; but, despite the valiant efforts of her crew, she had to be abandoned. Capt. Frederick C. Sherman sadly ordered "abandon ship" at 1707. Her men went over the side in an orderly fashion and were picked up by the cruisers and destroyers of the carrier's screen. Torpedoes fired by Phelps (DD-361) hastened the end of "Lady Lex."

As Yorktown and her consorts retired from Coral Sea to lick their wounds, the situation in the Pacific stood altered. The Japanese had won a tactical victory, inflicting comparatively heavy losses on the Allied force, but the Allies, in stemming the tide of Japan's conquests in the South and Southwest Pacific, had achieved a strategic victory. They had blunted the drive toward strategic Port Moresby and had saved the tenuous life-line between America and Australia.

Yorktown had not achieved her part in the victory without cost, but had suffered enough damage to cause experts to estimate that at least three months in a yard would be required to put her back in fighting trim. Unfortunately, there was little time for repairs, because Allied intelligence-most notably the cryptographic unit at Pearl Harbor-had gained enough information from decoded Japanese naval messages to estimate that the Japanese were on the threshold of a major operation aimed at the northwestern tip of the Hawaiian chain-two islets in a low coral atoll known as Midway.

Thus armed with this intelligence, Admiral Nimitz began methodically planning Midway's defense, rushing all possible reinforcement in the way of men, planes and guns to Midway. In addition, he began gathering his naval forces-comparatively meager as they were-to meet the enemy at sea. As part of those preparations, he recalled TF 16, Enterprise and Hornet (CV-8), to Pearl Harbor for a quick replenishment.

Yorktown, too, received orders to return to Hawaii; and she arrived at Pearl Harbor on 27 May. Miraculously, yard workers there-laboring around the clock-made enough repairs to enable the ship to put to sea. Her air group-for the most part experienced but weary-was augmented by planes and flyers from Saratoga (CV-3) which was then headed for Hawaiian waters after her modernization on the west coast. Ready for battle, Yorktown sailed as the central ship of TF 17 on 30 May.

Northeast of Midway, Yorktown, flying Rear Admiral Fletcher's flag, rendezvoused with TF 16 under Rear Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and maintained a position 10 miles to the northward of the latter. Over the days that ensued, as the ships proceeded toward a date with destiny, few men realized that within the next few days the pivotal battle of the war in the Pacific would be fought.

Patrols, both from Midway itself and from the carriers, proceeded apace during those days in early June. On the morning of the 4th as dawn began to streak the eastern sky, Yorktown launched a 10-plane group of Dauntlesses from VB-5 which searched a northern semicircle for a distance of 100 miles out but found nothing.

Meanwhile, PBY's flying from Midway had sighted [537] the approaching Japanese and broadcast what turned out to be the alarm for the American forces defending the key atoll. Admiral Fletcher, in tactical command, ordered Admiral Spruance, with TF 16, to locate the enemy carrier force and strike them as soon as they were found.

Yorktown's search group returned at 0830, landing soon after the last of the six-plane CAP had left the deck. When the last of the Dauntlesses had landed, a flight deck ballet took place in which the deck was spotted for the launch of the ship's attack group-17 Dauntlesses from VB-3; 12 Devastators from VT-3, and six Wildcats from "Fighting Three." Enterprise and Hornet, meanwhile, launched their attack groups.

The torpedo planes from the three American flattops located the Japanese carrier striking force but met disaster. Of the 41 planes from VT-8, VT-6, and VT-3, only six returned to Enterprise and Yorktown, collectively. None made it back to Hornet.

The destruction of the torpedo planes, however, had served a purpose. The Japanese CAP had broken off their high-altitude cover for their carriers and had concentrated on the Devastators, flying low "on the deck." The skies above were thus left open for Dauntlesses arriving from Yorktown and Enterprise. Virtually unopposed, the SBD's dove to the attack. The results were spectacular.

Yorktown's dive-bombers pummeled Soryu, making three lethal hits with 1,000-pound bombs that turned the ship into a flaming inferno. Enterprise's planes, meanwhile, hit Akagi and Kaga-turning them, too into wrecks within a very short time. The bombs from the Dauntlesses caught all of the Japanese carriers in the midst of refueling and rearming operations, and the combination of bombs and gasoline proved explosive and disastrous to the Japanese.

Three Japanese carriers had been lost. A fourth however, still roamed at large-Hiryu. Separated from her sisters, that ship had launched a striking force of 18 "Vals" that soon located Yorktown.

As soon as the attackers had been picked up on Yorktown's radar at about 1329, she discontinued the fueling of her CAP fighters on deck and swiftly cleared for action. Her returning dive bombers were moved from the landing circle to open the area for antiaircraft fire. The Dauntlesses were ordered aloft to form a CAP. An auxiliary gasoline tank-of 800 gallons capacity-was pushed over the carrier's fantail, eliminating one fire hazard. The crew drained fuel lines and closed and secured all compartments

All of Yorktown's fighters were vectored out to intercept the oncoming: Japanese aircraft, and did so some 15 to 20 miles out. The Wildcats attacked vigorously, breaking up what appeared to be an organized attack by some 18 "Vale" and 18 "Zeroes." "Planes were flying in every direction," wrote Capt. Buckmaster after the action, "and many were falling in flames."

Yorktown and her escorts went to full speed and, as the Japanese raiders attacked, began maneuvering radically. Intense antiaircraft fire greeted the "Vals" and "Kates" as they approached their release points.

Despite the barrage, though, three "Vals" scored hits. Two of them were shot down soon after releasing their bomb loads; the third went out of control just as his bomb left the rack. It tumbled in flight and hit just abaft number two elevator on the starboard side, exploding on contact and blasting a hole about 10 feet square in the flight deck. Splinters from the exploding bomb decimated the crews of the two 1.1-inch gun mounts aft of the island and on the flight deck below. Fragments piercing the flight deck hit three planes on the hangar deck, starting fires. One of the aircraft, a Yorktown Dauntless, was fully fueled and carrying a 1,000-pound bomb. Prompt action by Lt. A. C. Emerson, the hangar deck officer, prevented a serious conflagration by releasing the sprinkler system and quickly extinguishing the fire.

The second bomb to hit the ship came from the port side, pierced the flight deck, and exploded in the lower part of the funnel. It ruptured the uptakes for three boilers, disabled two boilers themselves, and extinguished the fires in five boilers. Smoke and gases began filling the firerooms of six boilers. The men at number one boiler, however, remained at their post despite their danger and discomfort and kept its fire going, maintaining enough steam pressure to allow the auxiliary steam systems to function.

A third bomb hit the carrier from the starboard side pierced the side of number one elevator and explode on the fourth deck, starting a persistent fire in the rag storage space, adjacent to the forward gasoline stowage and the magazines. The prior precaution of smothering the gasoline system with CO, undoubtedly prevented the gasoline's igniting.

While the ship recovered from the damage inflicted by the dive-bombing attack, her speed dropped to six knots; and then-at 1440, about 20 minutes after the bomb hit that had shut down most of the boilers-York- town slowed to a stop, dead in the water.

At about 1540, Yorktown prepared to get underway again; and, at 1550, the engine room force reported that they were ready to make 20 knots or better. The ship was not yet out of the fight.

Simultaneously, with the fires controlled sufficiently to warrant the resumption of fueling operations, Yorktown began fueling the gasoline tanks of the fighters then on deck. Fueling had just commenced when the ship's radar picked up an incoming air group at a distance of 33 miles away. While the ship prepared for battle-again smothering gasoline systems and stopping the fueling of the planes on her flight deck-she vectored four of the six fighters of the CAP in the air to intercept the incoming raiders. Of the 10 fighters on board, eight had as much as 23 gallons of fuel in their tanks. They accordingly were launched as the remaining pair of fighters of the CAP headed out to intercept the Japanese planes.

At 1600, Yorktown churned forward, making 20 knots. The fighters she had launched and vectored out to intercept had meanwhile made contact, Yorktown received reports that the planes were "Kates." The Wildcats downed at least three of the attacking torpedo planes, but the rest began their approach in the teeth of a heavy antiaircraft barrage from the carrier and her escorts.

Yorktown maneuvered radically, avoiding at least two torpedoes before two "fish" tore into her port side within minutes of each other. The first hit at 1620. The carrier had been mortally wounded; she lost power and went dead in the water with a jammed rudder and an increasing list to port.

As the list progressed, Comdr. C. E. Aldrich, the damage control officer, reported from central station that, without power, controlling the flooding looked impossible. The engineering officer, Lt. Comdr. J. F. Delaney, soon reported that all fires were out; all power was lost; and. worse yet, it was impossible to correct the list. Faced with that situation, Capt. Buckmaster ordered Aldrich, Delaney, and their men to secure and lay up on deck to put on life jackets.

The list, meanwhile, continued to increase. When it reached 26 degrees, Buckmaster and Aldrich agreed that the ship's capsizing was only a matter of minutes. "In order to save as many of the ship's company as possible," the captain wrote later, he "ordered the ship to be abandoned."

Over the minutes that ensued, the crew left ship, lowering the wounded to life rafts and striking out for the nearby destroyers and cruisers to be picked up by boats from those ships. After the evacuation of all wounded, the executive officer, Comdr. I. D. Wiltsie, left the ship down a line on the starboard side. Capt. Buckmaster, meanwhile, toured the ship for one last time, inspecting her to see if any men remained. After finding no "live personnel," Buckmaster lowered himself into the water by means of a line over the stern. By that point, water was lapping the port side of the hangar deck.

Picked up by the destroyer Hammann (DD-412), Buckmaster was transferred to Astoria (CA-34) soon thereafter and reported to Rear Admiral Fletcher, who had shifted his flag to the heavy cruiser after the first dive-bombing attack. The two men agreed that a salvage party should attempt to save the ship since she had stubbornly remained afloat despite the heavy list and imminent danger of capsizing.

Interestingly enough, while the efforts to save Yorktown had been proceeding apace, her planes were still in action, joining those from Enterprise in striking the last Japanese carrier-Hiryu-late that afternoon. Taking four direct hits, the Japanese flattop was soon helpless. She was abandoned by her crew and left to drift out of control and manned only by her dead. Yorktown had been avenged.

Yorktown, as it turned out, floated through the night; two men were still alive on board her-one attracted attention by firing a machine gun that was heard by the sole attending destroyer, Hughes. The escort picked up the men, one of whom later died.

Meanwhile, Buckmaster had selected 29 officers and 141 men to return to the ship in an attempt to save her. Five destroyers formed an antisubmarine screen while the salvage party boarded the listing carrier, the fire in the rag storage still smoldering on the morning of the 6th. Vireo (AT-144), summoned from Pearl and Hermes Reef, soon commenced towing the ship. Progress, though, was painfully slow.

Yorktown's repair party went on board with a carefully predetermined plan of action to be carried out by men from each department-damage control, gunnery air engineering, navigation, communication, supply and medical. To assist in the work, Lt. Comdr. Arnold E. True brought his ship, Hammann, alongside to starboard, aft, furnishing pumps and electric power.

By mid-afternoon, it looked as if the gamble to save the ship was paying off. The process of reducing topside weight was proceeding well-one 5-inch gun had been dropped over the side, and a second was ready to be cast loose; planes had been pushed over the side; the submersible pumps (powered by electricity provided by Hammann) had pumped out considerable quantities of water from the engineering spaces. The efforts of the salvage crew had reduced the list about two degrees.

Unbeknownst to Yorktown and the six nearby destroyers the Japanese submarine I-158 had achieved a favorable firing position. Remarkably-but perhaps understandable in light of the debris and wreckage in the water in the vicinity-none of the destroyers picked up the approaching I-boat. Suddenly, at 1536, lookouts spotted a salvo of four torpedoes churning toward the ship from the starboard beam.

Hammann went to general quarters, a 20-millimeter gun going into action in an attempt to explode the "fish" in the water. One torpedo hit Hammann-her screws churning the water beneath her fantail as she tried to get underway-directly amidships and broke her back. The destroyer jackknifed and went down rapidly.


Two torpedoes struck Yorktown just below the turn of the bilge at the after end of the island structure. The fourth torpedo passed just astern of the carrier.

Approximately a minute after Hammann's stern disappeared beneath the waves, an explosion rumbled up from the depths-possibly caused by the destroyer's depth charges going off. The blast killed many of Hammann's and a few of Yorktown's men who had been thrown into the water. The concussion battered the already-damaged carrier's hull and caused tremendous shocks that carried away Yorktown's auxiliary generator, sent numerous fixtures from the hangar deck overhead crashing to the deck below; sheared rivets in the starboard leg of the foremast; and threw men in every direction, causing broken bones and several minor injuries.

Prospects for immediate resumption of salvage work looked grim, since all destroyers immediately commenced searches for the enemy submarine (which escaped) and commenced rescuing men from Hammann and Yorktown. Capt. Buckmaster decided to postpone further attempts at salvage until the following day.

Vireo cut the towline and doubled back to Yorktown to pick up survivors, taking on board many men of the salvage crew while picking up men from the water. The little ship endured a terrific pounding from the larger ship but nevertheless stayed alongside to carry out her rescue mission. Later, while on board the tug, Capt. Buckmaster conducted a burial service, two officers and an enlisted man from Hammann were committed to the deep.

The second attempt at salvage, however, would never be made. Throughout the night of the 6th and into the morning of the 7th, Yorktown remained stubbornly afloat. By 0530 on the 7th, however, the men in the ships nearby noted that the carrier's list was rapidly increasing to port. As if tired, the valiant flattop turned over at 0701 on her port side and sank in 3,000 fathoms of water, her battle flags flying.

Yorktown (CV-5) earned three battle stars for her World War II service; two of them being for the significant part she had played in stopping Japanese expansion and turning the tide of the war at Coral Sea and at Midway.

(DL-1: dp. 5600; l. 540'; b. 54'; dr. 26'; s. 32 k.; cpl. 411; a. 8 3", 16 20mm., 8 21" tt.; cl. Norfolk)

The second Norfolk (DL-1), projected as hunter-killer ship (CLK-1) was laid down 1 September 1949 by the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden. N.J., launched 29 Deeember 1951; sponsored by Miss Betty King Duckworth; and eommissioned 4 March 1 953, Capt. Clarenee Matheson Bowley in command.

The first major U.S. warship built since World War II, Norfolk was authorised in 1947 as an anti-submarine hunter killer ship which could operate under all weather conditions and would carry the latest radar, sonar, and other electronic devices. As a large destroyer leader designed on a light cruiser hull she could earry a greater variety of detection gear than a destroyer.

After her Caribbean shakedown cruise (February 1954), Norfolk was assigned to the Atlantic Fleet and between 1955 and 1957 served successively as flagship for Commander Destroyer Flotillas 2, 4, and 6. During 1956 and 1957 she acted as flagship for Commander Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet. In June 1957, Norfolk participated in the International Fleet Review as flagship for Admiral Jerauld Wright, Commander-in-Chief Atlantic Fleet and Supreme Allied Commander Atlantic.

By 1959 Norfolk's 8 3" 70 cal. guns had been replaced by 8 3" 50 cal. guns and her 20mm. battery had been removed. In 1960 the addition of an ASROC launcher enchaneed her antisubmarine capabilities.

On 10 May 1960, an 83-foot Cuban vessel harassed Norfolk while she was patrolling the Florida Straits with The Sullivans (DD-537) in international waters.

In Fall 1961 she took part in UNITAS II as flagship for Commander Cruiser Destroyer Flotilla 2. During the operation she performed ASW training exercises with the navies of Venezuela, Colombia, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. Norf olk repeated this cruise over the next five years during which she served as flagship of Commander South Atlantie Forees except in 1962 when she was flagship for Commander Cruiser Destroyer Forces Atlantic Fleet.

Norfolk joined LANTFLEX 66 as flagship between 28 November and 16 Deeember 1966. During this exercise she was shadowed by the Russian trawlers Repiter and Teodilit. She proved her antisubmarine capabilities again as flagship for Comma nder South Atlantie Forces during UNITAS VIII in Fall 1967.

Norfolk was assigned to Commander Middle East Forees as flagship (17 April-15 October 1968). On this mission she visited Bahrain, French Somaliland, Saudi Arabia, Ethiopia. Kenya, the Seychelles, Mauritius, Malagasy Republio, India, Pakistan, Austr alia, New Zealand, Tahiti, Mexico, and Panama Canal Zone. In Ootober 1968 Norfolk returned to Norfolk where she decommissioned 15 January 1970 and entered the Atlantio Reserve Fleet.

displacement. 11,565 tons (n.);
length. 374'10";
beam. 72'5";
draft. 25'0" (f.) (aft);
speed. 16 k.;
complement. 536;
armament. 4 13", 14 6", 16 6-pdrs., 4 1-pdrs.,
4 .30-cal. mg., 4 18" tt.;
class. Illinois
Note: An unusual feature of this ship is its "side-by-side" stacks.

The second Alabama (Battleship No. 8) was laid down on 1 December 1896 at Philadelphia, Pa., by the William Cramp and Sons Ship and Engine Building Co.; launched on 18 May 1898; sponsored by Miss Mary Morgan, daughter of the Honorable John T. Morgan, United States Senator from Georgia; and commissioned on 16 October 1900, Capt. Willard H. Brownson in command.

Though assigned to the North Atlantic Station, Alabama did not begin operations with that unit until early the following year. The warship remained at Philadelphia until 13 December when she got underway for the brief trip to New York. She stay ed at New York through the New Year and until the latter part of January 1901. Finally, on 27 January, the battleship headed south for winter exercises with the Fleet at the drill grounds in the Gulf of Mexico near Pensacola, Fla. Alabama's Na vy career began in earnest with her arrival in the gulf early in February. With a single exception in 1904, each year from 1901 to 1907, she conducted Fleet exercises and gunnery drills in the Gulf of Mexico and the West Indies in the wintertime befor e returning north for repairs and operations off the northeastern coast during the summer and autumn. The exception came in the spring of 1904 after the conclusion of winter maneuvers when she departed Pensacola in company with Kearsarge (Battl eship No. 5), Maine(Battleship No. 10), Iowa (Battleship No. 4), Olympia (Cruiser No. 6), Baltimore (Cruiser No. 3), and Cleveland (Cruiser No. 19) on a voyage to Portugal and the Mediterranean. After a ceremonial vi sit to Lisbon honoring the entrance of the Infante into the Portuguese naval school, Alabama and the other three battleships cruised the Mediterranean until mid-August. Returning by way of the Azores, she and her traveling companions arrived i n Newport, R. I., on 29 August. Late in September, the warship entered the League Island Navy Yard for repairs. Early in December, Alabama left the yard and resumed cruising with the North Atlantic Fleet.

Near the end of 1907, the battleship set out upon a special mission. On 16 December 1907, she stood out of Hampton Roads in company with what became known as the Great White Fleet. Alabama accompanied the Fleet on its voyage around the South Ame rican continent as far as San Francisco. On 18 May 1908 when the bulk of the Fleet headed north to visit the Pacific northwest, she remained at San Francisco for repair at the Mare Island Navy Yard. As a consequence, the warship did not participate in the celebrated visit to Japan. Instead, Alabama and Maine departed San Francisco on 8 June to complete their own, more direct, circumnavigation of the globe. Steaming by way of Honolulu and Guam, the two battleships arrived at Manila in the Ph ilippines on 20 July. In August, they visited Singapore and Colombo on the island of Ceylon. From Colombo,

the two battleships made their way, via Aden on the Arabian Peninsula, to the Suez Canal. Through the canal early in September, Alabama and Maine made an expeditious transit of the Mediterranean Sea, pausing only at Naples at mid-month. Follow ing a port call at Gibraltar, they embarked upon the Atlantic passage on 4 October. They made one stop, in the Azores, on their way across the Atlantic. On 19 October as they neared the end of their long voyage, the two battleships parted company. Mai ne headed for Portsmouth, N.H.; and Alabama steered for New York. Both reached their destinations on the 20th.

Alabama was placed in reserve at New York on 3 November 1908. Though she remained inactive at New York, the battleship was not decommissioned until 17 August 1909. The warship underwent an extensive overhaul that lasted until the early part of 1 912. On 17 April 1912, she was placed in commission, second reserve, at New York, Comdr. Charles F. Preston in command. At that point, she became an element of the newly established Atlantic Reserve Fleet. According to that concept, the Navy organize d a unit that comprised nine of the older battleships as well as Brooklyn (Armored Cruiser No. 3), Columbia (Cruiser No. 12), and Minneapolis (Cruiser No. 13) for the purpose of keeping those ships constantly read for active servi ce using the fiscal expedient of severely reduced complements that could be filled out rapidly by naval militiamen and volunteers in an emergency. The unit as a whole possessed enough officers and men to take two or three of the ships to sea on a rota ting basis to test their material readiness and to exercise the sailors at drill.

Alabama was placed in full commission on 25 July 1912 and operated with the Atlantic Fleet off the New England coast through the summer. She was returned to reserve status-in commission, first reserve-at New York on 10 September 1912. Late in t he spring of 1913, the Navy added a new dimension to the concept of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet by having the warships of that unit embark detachments of the various state naval militias for training afloat in a manner similar in many respects to the c ontemporary Navy's selected reserve program. During the summer of 1913, Alabama cruised along the east coast and made two round-trip voyages to Bermuda to train naval militiamen from Maryland, the District of Columbia, New York, Rhode Island, M aine, North Carolina, and Indiana. She ended her last training cruise of the year at Philadelphia on 2 September. The battleship was placed in ordinary on 31 October 1913 and in reserve on 1 July 1914.

Though still in commission, she passed the next 30 months in relative inactivity with the Reserve Force, Atlantic Fleet, at Philadelphia. America's shift toward belligerency in World War I, however, brought Alabama out of the doldrums of the pea ce-time reserve at the beginning of 1917. On 22 January, she became receiving ship at Philadelphia, embarking drafts of recruits for training. In mid-March, the battleship moved south to the lower reaches of the Chesapeake Bay and beg an transforming l andsmen into sailors. She took a brief respite from her rigorous training schedule on 6 April 1917 for the announcement of the United States declaration of war on the Central Powers. Two days later, Alabama became flagship of Division 1, Atlan tic Fleet. For the remainder of World War 1, the warship conducted recruit training missions in the lower Chesapeake Bay and in the coastal waters of the Atlantic seaboard, though she made one visit to the Gulf of Mexico in late June and early July of 1918.

After the armistice on 11 November 1918, her recruit training duties continued but began to diminish somewhat in intensity. During February and March of 1919, the battleship steamed south to the West Indies for winter maneuvers. She returned to Philad elphia in mid-April for routine repairs before heading for Annapolis to embark Naval Academy midshipmen for their summer training cruise. On 28 and 29 May, Alabama made the short trip from Philadelphia to Annapolis. She left Annapolis on 9 June with 184 midshipmen embarked. During the first part of the cruise, Alabama visited the West Indies and made a trip through he Panama Canal and back. In mid-July, she voyaged to New York and the New England coast. August saw her return south or maneuvers at the drill grounds. Alabama disembarked the midshipmen at Annapolis at the end of August and returned to Philadelphia.

After more than nine months at Philadelphia lingering in a sort of naval purgatory, the battleship was finally decommissioned on 7 May 1920. On 15 September 1921, Alabama was transferred to the War Department to be used as a target, and her nam e was struck from the Navy list. Subjected to aerial bombing tests in Chesapeake Bay by planes of the Army Air Service, the former warship sank in shallow water on 27 September 1921. On 19 March 1924, her sunken hulk was sold for scrap.

Maine, the 23d State, was admitted to the Union in 1820.

(BB 2/c: dp. 6,682; l. 319'; b. 57'; dr. 21' 6"; cpl. 374, s. 17 k.; a. 4 10", 6 6", 7 6-pdrs., 8 1-pdrs., 4 14" tt.; cl. Maine)

The first Maine, a second-class armored battleship, was laid down at New York Navy Yard 17 October 1888; launched 18 November 1889, sponsored by Miss Alice Tracy Wilmerding, granddaughter of Secretary of the Navy Benjamin Tracy; and commissi oned 17 September 1895, Capt. Arent S. Crowninshield in command.

Maine departed New York Navy Yard 5 November 1895 for Newport, R.I., via Gardiner's Bay, N.Y., to fit out 16 to 23 November, and then proceeded on the 25th to Portland, Maine, to visit her namesake. The battlewagon then put to sea on the 29th on trials and inspection, being assigned to the North Atlantic Squadron 16 December, and sailing via Newport to Tompkinsville, N.Y., arriving 23 December. The ship sailed the next day for Fort Monroe, Va., arriving on Christmas Day. She operated out of that place and Newport News through June 1898 and then on the 4th sailed for Key West on a 2-month training cruise, returning to Norfolk 3 August. Maine continued extensive east coast operations until late 1897. Then the ship prepared for a voyage to H avana, Cuba, to show the flag and to protect American citizens in event of violence in the Spanish struggle with the revolutionary forces in Cuba.

On 11 December Maine stood out of Hampton Roads bound for Key West, arriving on the 15th. She was joined

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there by ships of the North Atlantic Squadron on maneuvers, then left Key West 24 January 1898 for Havana.

Arriving 25 January, Maine anchored in the center of the port, remained on vigilant watch, allowed no liberty, and took extra precautions against sabotage. Shortly after 2140, 15 February, the battleship was torn apart by a tremendous explosion that shattered the entire forward part of the ship. Out of 350 officers and men on board that night (4 officers were ashore), 252 were dead or missing. Eight more were to die in Havana hospitals during the next few days. The survivors of the disaster were taken on board Ward Line steamer City of Washington and Spanish cruiser Alfonso XII. The Spanish officials at Havana showed every attention to the survivors of the disaster and great respect for those killed. The court of inquiry convened in March was unable to obtain evidence associating the destructio n of the battleship with any person or persons, but public opinion in the United States was so inflamed that the Maine disaster led eventually to the declaration of war on Spain 21 April.

On 5 August 1910, Congress authorized the raising of Maine and directed Army engineers to supervise the work. A second board of inquiry appointed to inspect the wreck after it was raised reported that injuries to the ship's bottom were caused b y an external explosion of low magnitude that set off the forward magazine, completing destruction of the ship. It has never been determined who placed the explosive, responsibility for the sinking of Maine remains one of the continuing enigmas of American history.

Maine's hulk was finally floated 2 February 1912 and towed out to sea where it was sunk in deep water in the Gulf of Mexico with appropriate ceremony and military honors 16 March.

(Battleship: dp. 14,600; l. 466'0"; b. 82'0"; dr. 26'6" (mean); s. 20.0 k.; cpl. 880; a. 4 12", 8 9.1", 20 3.9", 6 11-pdrs., 2 11-pdrs.(AA), 3 17.7" tt.; cl. Radetzky)

Zrinyi-an Austro-Hungarian, pre-dreadnought battleship-was laid down on 15 November 1908 at the Stbilimento Tecnico of Trieste, launched on 12 April 1910; and completed in July 1911.

During World War I, Zrinyi served with the 2d Division of the Austro-Hungarian Navy's battleships and took part in the bombardment of the key seaport of Ancona, Italy, on 24 May 1915. However, Allied control of the Strait of Otranto meant that the Austro-Hungarian Navy was, for all intent and purposes, effectively bottled up in the Adriatic. Nonetheless, their presence tied down a substantial force of Allied ships.

After the Hapsburg Empire collapsed in 1918, the Austrians wanted to turn the fleet over to the newly created state of Yugoslavia to prevent the Italians from getting their hands on the ships. However, the victorious Allies refused to acknowledge the conversations between the Austrians and Yugoslavians and, in due course, reallocated the ships.

Zrinyi had apparently been turned over to the Yugoslavs, as it was a Yugoslavian naval officer, Korvettenkapitan Marijan Polic who turned over the ship to representatives of the United States Navy at Spalato, Dalmatia, on the afternoon of 22 November 1919. Simultaneously the pre-dreadnought was commissioned as USS Zrinyi; and Lt. E. E. Hazlett, USN, assumed command. The initial American complement consisted of four officers and 174 enlisted men-the latter entirely composed of United States Naval Reserve Force personnel.

Zrinyi remained at anchor at Spalato for nearly a year while the negotiations that would determine her ultimate fate dragged on. Only once in fact, did she apparently turn her engines over; and that occurred during a severe gale that struck Spalato on 9 February 1920.

On the morning of 7 November 1920, Zrinyi was decommissioned, Chattanooga (C-16) took her in tow and, assisted by Brooks (DD-232) and Hovey (DD208), pulled the battleship to Papaja, Italy. Under the terms of the treaties of Versailles and St. Germain, Zrinyi was ultimately turned over to the Italian government at Venice. The pre-dreadnought was later broken up for scrap.

(BB: dp. 24 500 (f.); l. 546'; b. 93'3"; dr. 29'6"; s. 21 k.; cpl. 1150; a. 12 12", 14 5.9", 6 19.7" tt.)

Ostfriesland, a German battleship built at Wilhelmshaven, Germany in 1908; launched in September 1909; commissioned in the Imperial German Navy in May 191 1; surrendered to the Allies following World War I; was taken over by the U. S. Navy and commissioned 7 April 1920 at Rosyth, Scotland, Capt. J. F. Hellweg in command.

Though in need of repairs, the ship managed to sail to New York where she decommissioned 20 September 1920. Ostfriesland, with several other ex-German warships, became targets for a demonstration of air power. Bombed by Army planes from Langley Field in Va., she was sunk 21 July 1921 about 60 miles off the Viriginia Capes.

BB-1

displacement. 10,288 n.
length. 350'11"
beam. 69'3"
draft. 24'
speed. 15 k.
complement. 473
armament. 4 13", 8 8", 4 6", 20 6-pdr., 6 1-pdr.)

The first Indiana (BB-1) was laid down 7 May 1891 by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia; launched 28 February 1893; sponsored by Miss Jessie Miller, daughter of the Attorney General of the United States; and commissioned 20 November 1895, C aptain Robley D. Evans in command.

Following fitting out at Philadelphia Nary Yard, Indiana trained off the coast of New England. This duty continued until the outbreak of the Spanish-American War in 1898, when Indiana formed part of Admiral Sampson's Squadron. The 10 shi ps sailed south to intercept Cervera's Spanish squadron, known to be en route to the Caribbean. Indiana took part in bombardment of San Juan 12 May 1898, and returned to Key West with the squadron to guard Havana 18 May. After it was discover ed that Cervera was at Santiago, Sampson joined Schley there 1 June and took up the blockade.

In late June, Army units arrived and were landed for an assault on Santiago. Cervera saw that his situation was desperate and began his gallant dash out of Santiago 3 July 1898, hoping to outrun the American blockaders. Indiana did not join in t he initial chase because of her extreme eastern position on the blockade, but was near the harbor entrance when destroyers Pluton and Furor emerged. In a short time both ships were destroyed by Indiana's guns and those of the oth er ships. Meanwhile the remaining Spanish vessels were sunk or run ashore, in one of the two major naval engagements of the war.

Indiana returned to her previous pattern of training exercises and fleet maneuvers after the war, and made practice cruises for midshipmen of the Naval Academy before decommissioning 29 December 1903.

The battleship recommissioned at New York Navy Yard 9 January 1906. During this phase of her career, Indiana

429

served with the Naval Academy Practice Squadron, sailing to Northern Europe and the Mediterranean. At Queenstown, Ireland, she fired a 21-gun salute 22 June 1911 In honor of the coronation of King George V. This important work in training the Navy's future leaders ended in 1914 and she decommissioned at Philadelphia 23 May 1914.

Indiana recommissioned a second time 24 May 1917, and served through World I as a training ship for gun crews off Tomkinsville, N.Y., and in the York River, Va. She decommissioned at Philadelphia 31 January 1919. The name Indiana was can celed 29 March 1919 and she was reclassified Coast Battleship Number 1 so that the name could be assigned to a newly authorized battleship. She was used as a target in an important series of tests designed to determine the effectiveness of aerial bom bs and was sunk In November 1920. Her hulk was sold for scrap 19 March 1924.

BB-2

displacement. 10,288
length. 350'11"
beam. 69'3"
draft. 24'
speed. 16.21 k.
complement. 586
armament. 4 13", 8 8", 4 6", 2 3",
20 6-pdrs., 6 1-pdrs., 6 18" tt.
class. Indiana

The fourth Massachusetts (BB-2) was laid down by William Cramp & Sons, Philadelphia, Pa., 25 June 1891; launched 10 June 1893; sponsored by Miss Leila Herbert, daughter of Secretary of the Navy Hilary Herbert; and commissioned 10 June 1896, C apt. Frederick Rodgers In command.

Underway for shakedown 4 August 1896, Massachusetts conducted trials and maneuvers off the middle Atlantic coast until 30 November, when she entered New York Navy Yard for overhaul. Following a brief voyage to Charleston, S.C., 12 to 20 February 1897, the battleship departed New York 26 May for Boston, arriving 2 days later for a celebration in her honor, including the presentation of the Massachusetts Coat of Arms 16 June, and a gift of a statue of victory the next day. She departed Boston on the 19th to cruise to St. Johns, Newfoundland, arriving 23 June. Sailing on the 28th the warship operated off the Atlantic coast for the next 10 months, participating in training maneuvers with the North Atlantic Squadron off Florida, and making c alls at major east coast ports. On 27 March 1898, she was ordered to Hampton Roads, Va., to join the "Flying Squadron" for the blockade of Cuba.

Massachusetts departed Norfolk 13 May for Cienfuegos, Cuba, where she took up blockade duties on the 22d. On the afternoon of 31 May In company with battleship Iowa (BB-4) and cruiser New Orleans, she bombarded the forts at the entrance to Santiago de Cuba, and exchanged fire with Spanish cruiser Cristobal Colon, forcing the enemy ship to retire into the inner harbor of Santiago. The battleship remained on patrol off Santiago, intermittently bombarding Span ish fortifications, until 3 July, when she stood out to coal at Guantanamo Bag. Missing the Battle of Santiago, the battleship steamed back to

264

her station on the 4th, arriving in time to help battleship Texas force cruiser Reina Mercedes to beach and surrender at midnight 6 July. Following duty in support of the American occupation of Puerto Rico, 21 July to 1 August, Massachusetts steamed for home, arriving New York 20 August.

During the next 7 years, Massachusetts cruised the Atlantic coast and eastern Caribbean as a member of the North Atlantic Squadron. From 27 May to 30 August 1904, the warship served as a training ship for Naval Academy midshipmen off New England and then entered New York Yard for overhaul. Departing New York 13 January 1905, the battlewagon then steamed for the Caribbean on training maneuvers, operating there until she returned north to cruise off New England in May. Putting into New York 12 November 1905, she underwent inactivation overhaul and then decommissioned 8 January 1906.

Massachusetts was placed in reduced commission 2 May 1910 to serve as a summer practice ship for Naval Academy midshipmen. During the next 4 years she made three midshipman cruises-twice to Western Europe before entering the Atlantic Reserve Fle et in September 1912. Following a brief voyage to New York 5 to 16 October for the Presidential Fleet Review, the warship returned to Philadelphia where she remained until decommissioning 23 May 1914.

Massachusetts recommissioned 9 June 1917 at Philadelphia. Sailing 9 October, she arrived at the Naval Training Station, Newport, R.I., on the 15th, where she embarked Naval Reserve guncrews for gunnery training in Block Island Sound. Continuing on this duty until 27 May 1918, the old battleship then underwent repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard. Assigned to battle practice, "A" Division, Battleship Force 1, Atlantic Fleet, 9 June 1918, the veteran battlewagon steamed to Yorktown, Va., the sam e day, and for the remainder of World War I served as a heavy gun target practice ship in Chesapeake Bay and local Atlantic waters. Massachusetts returned to Philadelphia 16 February 1919. Redesignated Coast Battleship No. 2, 28 March, the warship dec ommissioned for the final time on the 31st. She was struck from the Navy list 22 November 1920 and loaned to the War Department as a target ship. Scuttled off Pensacola Bay, Fla., 6 January 1921, the hulk was bombarded by batteries from Fort Pickens for 4 years and then returned to the Navy 20 February 1925. Though offered for sale for scrap, no acceptable bids were received and finally, on 15 November 1956, the ship was declared the property of the state of Florida.

Marc Andrew Mitscher, born 26 January 1887 in Hillsboro, Wis., graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy 3 June 1910 and served 2 years at sea in Colorado. Commissloned ensign 7 March 1912, he served in San Diego during the Mexican campai gn, and in September 1915 he reported for aviation training in North Carolina, one of the first ships in the Navy to carry an airplane. Designated naval aviator No. 33 on 2 June 1816, he served at various east coast naval air stations and in the Of flce of the Chief of Naval Operations before reporting to Seaplane Division 1. On 10 May 1919 he took off from Newfoundland as pilot of NC-1. His plane and NC-3 landed in heavy fog near the Azores, but heavy seas prevented them from joining NC-4 in comple ting the first transatlantic air passage. For his part in this historic operation, Mitscher received the Navy Cross.

In addition to several shore-based commands, Mitscher, during the next two decades, served in carriers Langley and Saratoga, seaplane tender Wright, and as commander Patrol Wing 1. Between June 1939 and July 1941 he served as assistan t chief of the Bureau of Aeronautics. Thence, he fitted out carrier Hornet and assumed command at her commissioning 20 October 1941. While under his command, Hornet launched Doolittle's Army bombers for airstrikes against Japan 18 April 1942 and thus gained fame as "Shangri La". He captained her during the mighty battle of' Midway 4 to 6 June, but was detached from the carrier 30 June less than 4 months before her loss 26 October during the battle of Santa Cruz Islands.

Mitscher commanded Patrol Wing 2 until December when he became commander fleet air, Noumea. In April 1943 he became commander air, Solomon Islands, and from August to January 1844 he commanded fleet air, west coast. Returning to the central Paciflc as Com mander, Carrier Division 3, he was appointed vice admiral 21 March 1944 and ordered to take command of TF 68. This fast carrier task force, which operated alternately as TF 38, inflicted severe and irreparable damage on Japanese ground installations and a gainst enemy naval and merchant shipping. His hard-hitting, wideranging carriers pounded the enemy from Trok to the Palaus, along the New Guinea coast, and throughout the Marianas. His eager, resourceful aviators devastated the enemy in the Battle of the Philippine Sea 19 to 20 June 1944. During the next year his warring carriers spearheaded the thrust-of-death against the heart of the Japanese Empire, covering successively the invasion of the Palaus, the liberation of the Philippines, and the conquest of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. During these operations he repeatedly led the fast carriers northward to pound the Japanese home islands.

By July 1946 when he returned to the United States to serve as Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, Mitscher had received, among other awards, two Gold Stars in lieu of a second and third Navy Cross and the Distinguished Service Medal with two Gold S tars. He served briefly as commander 8th Fleet and on 1 Mareh 1946 became Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, with the rank as admiral. While serving in that capacity, Mitscher died at Norfolk, Va., 3 February 1947.

(DL-2: dp. 3,676 1. 493', b. 50', dr. 13' 10" s. 30 k. cpl. 403; a. 2 6 ', 4 3", 4 21" tt., ASROC, 1 dct.,; cl. Mitscher)

Mitscherwas laid down as DD-927, 3 October 1949, by the Bath Iron Works, Corp., Bath, Maine; redesignated DL-2, 2 February 1951; launched 26 January 1952; sponsored by Mrs. Marc A. Mitscher, widow of Admiral Mitscher; and commissione d 15 May 1953, Comdr. Terrell H. W. Connor in command.

After initial shakedown exercises off Cuba, Mitscher a guided missile frigate, returned to Boston for further modiflcation, followed by another shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, ending 31 August 1964. Homeported thereafter at Newport, R.I., she c onducted exercises off the east coast until 3 January 1966, when she sailed on a good-will cruise to England, Germany, and France, returning to Rhode Island 10 February. For the next 6 years, she continued her east coast operations, deploying annually eit her to the northern or eastern Atlantic for NATO exercises.

On 9 February 1961, she departed her new homeport Charleston, S.C., and steamed to the Mediterranean tor her first 8 month tour with the 6th Fleet. Such deployments over the next 4 years involved her in further NATO exercises as well as 6th Fleet exercise s. ln August 1964, while in the Mediterranean, she stood off Cyprus to aid in the evacuation of American nationals, and then steamed through the Suez Canal to patrol the Red Sea and the Persian Gulf. On 2 March 1966, Mitscher departed Newport for t he Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. There, on the 18th, she decommissioned tor conversion to a guided missile destroyer, DDG-35. Recommissioned 29 June 1968, Mitscher reported the same day to ComCruDesLant for fitting out at Philadelphia, trials and sh akedown exercises off the east coast, atter which she will report to DesDiv 182 for duty in the Atlantic Fleet.

displacement. 11,520
length. 375'4"
beam. 72'21/2"
speed. 16.9 k.
complement. 554
armament. 4 13", 4 8", 14 5", 20 6-pdrs.,
8 1-pdrs., 4 .30 mg., 4 18" tt.
class. Kearsarge

Kentucky (BB-6) was launched 24 March 1898 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Miss Christine Bradley, daughter of Governor William Bradley of Kentucky; and commissioned 16 May 1900, Captain Colby M. Ch ester in command.

After fitting out in New York Navy Yard during the summer, Kentucky sailed 26 October 1900 for the Far East via Gibraltar and the Suez Canal. She joined the other American ships on the Asiatic Station at Manila February 1901 and 6 days later sailed for Hong Kong where she became flagship of the Southern Squadron under Rear Admiral Louis Kempff 23 March. Throughout the following year the battleship led her squadron as it watched over American interest In the Far East, visiting principal ports of Ch ina and Japan including Chefoo, Taku, Nanking, Woosung, Hong Kong, Amoy, Nagasaki, Kobe, and Yokohama.

Rear Admiral Frank F. Wildes also selected Kentucky as his flagship upon relieving Admiral Kempff 1 March 1902, but he transferred his flag to Rainbow 7 April. Rear Admiral Robely D. Evans, Commander in Chief, Asiatic Fleet, chose Kentucky a s his flagship at Yokohama 4 November; and he continued to direct American naval operations in the Far East from her until she sailed from Manila for home 13 March 1904. After retracing her steps through the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar she arrived New York 23 May.

Upon completing overhaul in New York Nary Yard 26 October, Kentucky devoted the following year for tactics and maneuvers off the Atlantic coast with the North Atlantic Fleet. The battleship joined the welcome of the British Squadron at Annapolis an d New York in the fall of 1905 and then cruised along the eastern seaboard until 23 September 1906. On that day off Provincetown, embarked marines from Maine, Missouri and Kearsarge and landed them at Havana 1 October to protect Ameri ca interests and property during the Cuban insurrection. She stood by to support forces ashore until 9 October before resuming battle practice and tactics in the North Atlantic.

Kentucky visited Norfolk 15 April 1907 to attend the Jamestown Exposition; and, after more exercises off the New England coast, she returned to Hampton Roads to join the "Great White Fleet" of 16 battleships for a world cruise that brought great pr estige and honor to the Navy and the Nation. Rear Admiral Evans, Kentucky's former Flag Officer, commanded the fleet as it circumnavigated the globe receiving warm and enthusiastic welcomes at each port of call. As the famous voyage got underway fr om Hampton Roads 16 December, Kentucky passed in review before President Roosevelt as a unit in the 2d Squadron. After calling at Trinidad and Rio de Janeiro, the warships passed in order through the Straits of

Magellan to visit Punta Arenas and Valparaiso, Chile. A stop at Callao Bay, Peru, was followed by a month of target practice out of Magdalena Bay, Mexico. The fleet reached San Diego 14 April 1908 and moved on to San Francisco 7 May. Exactly 2 months late r the spotless warships sortied through the Golden Gate and sailed for Honolulu. From Hawaii they set course for Auckland, New Zealand, arriving 8 August. The fleet made Sydney 20 August and, after a week of warm and cordial hospitality, sailed for Melbo urne.

Kentucky departed Albany, Australia, 10 September for ports in the Philippine Islands, Japan, China, and Ceylon before transiting the Suez Canal. She departed Port Said 8 January 1909 to visit Tripoli and Algiers with the 4th Division before reform ing with the fleet at Gibraltar. Underway for home 6 February, she again passed in review before President Roosevelt upon entering Hampton roads 22 February, ending a widely-acclaimed voyage of good will in which she and her sister ships subtly but effe ctively demonstrated American strength to the world.

After local operations and repairs at Philadelphia Navy Yard, Kentucky decommissioned at Norfolk 28 August 1909. She recommissioned in the 2d Reserve 4 June 1912 but, save for a run to New York, did not operate at sea before being placed in ordinar y in Philadelphia Navy Yard 31 May 1913.

The veteran battleship recommissioned at Philadelphia 23 June 1915 and sailed 3 July to train New York militia in a cruise from Long Island to ports in New England and Chesapeake Bay. She debarked the militia at New York and sailed to Portland to embark M aine militia for a training cruise. Returning to Philadelphia 31 August, she sailed 11 September for the coast of Mexico to watch over American interests during the unrest caused by the Mexican Revolution. She reached Vera Cruz 28 September 1915; and, bu t for a visit to New Orleans for Mardi Gras in March 1916, she remained on patrol off the Mexican coast until 2 June 1916.

The battleship called at Guantanamo Bay and Santa Domingo en route home to Philadelphia, where she arrived 18 June. Following maneuvers and tactics ranging north to Newport during the summer, Kentucky arrived New York 2 October and remained in the North River until the end of the year. She entered New York Naval Shipyard for repairs 1 January 1917 and was still there when the United States entered World War 1. She arrived Yorktown, Va., 2 May for duty as a training ship and trained recruits on cruises in Chesapeake Bay and along the Atlantic coast as far north as Long Island Sound. When the Armistice was signed 11 November 1918, she was training her 15th group of rec ruits, having already trained several thousand men for service in ships of the war-expanded Navy.

Kentucky entered Boston Navy Yard 20 December for overhaul. She sailed 18 March 1919 for refresher training out of Guantanamo Bay and then participated in fleet maneuvers and exercises ranging north from Norfolk to the New England coast. She arriv ed Annapolis 29 May to embark midshipmen and got underway 9 June for a summer practice cruise that took her to Cuba, the Virgin Islands, Panama, New York, Boston, and Provincetown. She returned Annapolis 27 August to debark her midshipmen and entered Phi ladelphia Navy Yard 30 August. She remained there until decommissioning 29 May 1920. Kentucky was sold to Dravo Construction Co., Pittsburgh, Pa., for scrapping 23 January 1924 in compliance with U.S. commitments under the Washington Treaty which limited naval armaments.

The keel of Kentucky (BB-66), an Iowa-class battleship, was laid at Norfolk Nary Yard, Portsmouth, Va., 6 December 1944. Construction was suspended 17 February 1947 when the battleship was 72.1 percent complete. Her name was struck from the Navy List 9 June 1958; and her uncompleted hulk was sold for scrapping to Boston Metals Co., Baltimore, Md., 31 October.

CVE-1

Displacement: 13,499 t.
Length: 492
Beam: 69 6
Draft: 25 8
Speed: 16.5 k.
Complement: 970
Armament: 1 5; 2 3
Aircraft: 21
Class: LONG ISLAND

Maritime Commission standard type: C3-S-A1

The second LONG ISLAND (CVE-1) was laid down 7 July
1939, as MORMACMAIL, under Maritime Commission contract, by
the Sun Shipbuilding & Drydock Co., Chester, Pa.; launched
11 January 1940; sponsored by Miss Dian B. Holt; acquired by
the Navy 6 March 1941; and commissioned 2 June 1941 as LONG
ISLAND (AVG-1) Comdr. Donald B. Duncan in command.

In the tense months before Pearl Harbor, the new escort
aircraft carrier operated out of Norfolk, conducting
experiments to prove the feasibility of aircraft operations
from converted cargo ships. The data gathered by LONG
ISLAND greatly improved the combat readiness of later “baby
flattops. Just after the Japanese attack, LONG ISLAND
escorted a convoy to Newfoundland and qualified carrier
pilots at Norfolk before departing for the west coast 10 May
1942. Reaching San Francisco 5 June, the ship immediately
joined Admiral Pyes four battleships and provided air cover
while at sea to reinforce Admiral Nimitz forces after their
brilliant victory in the Battle of Midway. She left the
formation 17 July and returned to the west coast to resume
carrier pilot training.

LONG ISLAND departed San Diego 8 July 1942 and arrived
Pearl Harbor the 17th. After a training run south to
Palmyra Island, the ship loaded two squadrons of Marine Corp
aircraft and got underway for the South Pacific 2 August.
Five days later, the marines, while landing on Guadalcanal,
encountered stiff opposition and needed more air support
than could be provided by the handful of carriers available
during the early months of the war. Touching Fiji Islands
13 August, LONG ISLAND then steamed to a point 200 miles
southeast of Guadalcanal and launched her aircraft. These
planes, the first to reach Henderson Field, were
instrumental in the liberation of Guadalcanal and went on to
compile a distinguished war record. Her mission was
accomplished in an outstanding fashion. Reclassified ACV-1
on 20 August, LONG ISLAND sailed for Efate, New Hebrides,
and arrived 23 August.

LONG ISLAND returned to the west coast 20 September
1942, as the new baby flattops took up the slack in the
Pacific war zones. For the next year, the escort carrier
trained carrier pilots at San Diego, an unglamorous but
vital contribution to victory. LONG ISLAND was reclassified
CVE-1 on 15 July 1943. During 1944 and 1945, she
transported airplanes and their crews from the west coast to
various outposts in the Pacific. After V-J Day, she
revisited many of these same bases while transporting
soldiers and sailors back home during operation Magic
Carpet.

LONG ISLAND decommissioned 26 March 1946 at Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Navy List 12 April 1946,
she was sold to Zidell Ship Dismantling Co., Portland,
Oreg., 24 April 1947 for scrapping. This was not to be.
The old warrior still had some life left for on 12 March
1948, she was acquired by the Canada-Europe Line for
conversion to merchant service. Upon completion of
conversion in 1949, she was renamed NELLY and served as an
immigrant carrier between Europe and Canada. In 1953, she
was sold to the University of the Seven Seas and was
converted into a schoolship. Later that year, she was
renamed SEVEN SEAS and with her cargo of students, began
sailing all over the world in pursuit of knowledge. After
13 years of service in this role, she was replaced as a
schoolship for the university, and was sold to the
University of Rotterdam for use as a floating dormitory.
Into 1969, she is still in service in this role, berthed
near the university grounds.

LONG ISLAND received one battle star for World War II
service.

Block Island Sound is off the south coast of New England.

Block Island (CVE-8) was built by Ingalls Shipbuilding Corp., Pascagoula, Miss. She was transferred to the United Kingdom, under Lend-Lease, 9 January 1943 and commissioned the following day as HMS Hunter. The vessel was returned to United States' custody 29 December 1945 and sold 17 January 1947.

displacement. 11,540
length. 375'4"
beam. 72'3"
draft. 23'6"
speed. 16 k.
complement. 553
armament. 4 13"'; 4 8", 14 6", 20 6-pdr., 8 1-pdr., 4 .30 cal.

The second Kearsarge, named by act of Congress to commemorate the famed steam sloop-of-war, was launched 24 March 1898 by the Newport News Shipbuilding Co., Newport News, Va.; sponsored by Mrs. Herbert Winslow, daughter-in-law of Kearsarge 's commander, Captain John A. Winslow, during her famous battle with Alabama ; and commissioned 20 February 1900, Captain William M. Folger in command.

Kearsarge became flagship of the North Atlantic Station, cruising down the Atlantic seaboard and in the Caribbean. From 3 June 1903 to 26 July 1903 she served briefly as flagship of the European Squadron while on a cruise that took her first to Kiel, Germany. She was visited by the German Emperor 26 June 1903 and by the Prince of Wales 13 July. She returned to Bar Harbor, Maine, 26 July 1903 and resumed duties as flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet. She sailed from New York 1 December 1903 for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, where, on 10 December, the United States took formal possession of the Guantanamo Naval Reservation. Following maneuvers in the Caribbean, she led the North Atlantic Battleship Squadron to Lisbon where she entertained the King of Portugal, 11 June 1904. She next steamed to Phaleron Bay, Greece, where she celebrated the Fourth of July with the King, Prince Andrew, Princess Alice of Greece. The squadron paid goodwill calls at Corfu, Trieste, and Fiume before returning to Newport, R.I., 29 August 1904.

Kearsarge remained flagship of the North Atlantic Fleet until relieved 31 March by battleship Maine, but continued operations with the fleet. During target practice off Cape Cruz, Cuba, 13 April 1906, an accidental ignition of a powder c harge of a 13- inch gun killed two officers and eight men. Four men were seriously injured. Attached to the 2d Squadron, 4th Division, she sailed 16 December 1907 with the "Great White Fleet" of battleships, sent around the world by President Theodore Roosevelt. She sailed from Hampton Roads around the coasts of South America to the Western seaboard, thence to Hawaii, Australia, New Zealand, the Philippines, and Japan. From there, Kearsarge proceeded to Ceylon, transited the Suez Canal, and visited ports of the Mediterranean, before returning to the eastern seaboard of the United States. President Theodore Roosevelt reviewed the Fleet as it passed into the Hampton Roads 22 February 1909, having completed a world cruise of overwhelming success, showing the flag and spreading good will. This dramatic gesture impressed the world with the power of the U.S. Navy.

Kearsarge decommissioned in the Philadelphia Navy Yard 4 September 1909 for modernization. She recommissioned 23 June 1915 for operations along the Atlantic coast until 17 September when she departed Philadelphia to land a detachment of marines at Vera Cruz, Mexico. She remained off Vera Cruz from 28 September 1915 to 5 January 1916, then carried the marines to New Orleans before joining the Atlantic Reserve Fleet 4 February 1916 at Philadelphia. She trained Massachusetts and Maine State N aval Militia until America entered World War I, then trained thousands of armed guard crews as well as naval engineers in waters along the East Coast ranging from Boston to Pensacola. On the evening of 18 August 1918, Kearsarge rescued 26 surviv ors of Norwegian Bark Nordhav which had been sunk by German Submarine U-117. The survivors were landed in Boston.

Kearsarge continued as engineering training ship until 29 May 1919 when she embarked Naval Academy Midshipmen for training in the west Indies. The midshipmen were debarked at Annapolis 29 August and Kearsarge proceeded to the Philadelphi a Navy Yard, where she decommissioned 10 May 1920 for conversion to a crane ship and a new career. She was designated AB-1 5 August 1920.

In place of military trappings, Kearsarge received an immense revolving crane with a rated lifting capacity of 250 tons, as well as hull "blisters," which gave her more stability. The 10,000-ton craneship rendered invaluable service for the next 20 years. One of many accomplishments was the raising of sunken submarine SQUALUS off the New Hampshire coast. On 6 November 1941 she designated Crane Ship No. 1, giving up her illustrious name which was assigned to a mighty aircraft carrier. But she continued her yeoman service and made many contributions to the American victories of World War II. She handled guns, turrets, armor and other heavy lifts for new battleships such as Indiana and Alabama; cruisers Savannah and Chicago; and guns on the veteran battleship Pennsylvania.

In 1945 the crane ship was towed to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard where she assisted in the construction of carriers Hornet, Boxer, and Saratoga. She departed the west Coast in 1948 to finish her career in the Boston Naval Shipy ard. Joe McDonald, master rigger, described her as "a big gray hulk of a thing" which was "pulled around by two or three tugs" on the job; "But the old girl has brought millions of dollars worth of business to Boston. Without her we would never have been able to do many of the big jobs, that cost billions of dollars." As one example, he recalled that the former battleship lifted a gantry crane intact at the South Boston Naval Drydocks and transporting it to Charleston where she placed it on crane tracks to be driven away. As Crane Ship No. 1, her name was struck from the Navy List 22 June 1955. She was sold for scrapping 9 August 1955.