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List of universities in India

The higher education system in India includes both private and public universities. Public universities are supported by the Government of India and the state governments, while private universities are mostly supported by various bodies and societies. Universities in India are recognised by the University Grants Commission (UGC), which draws its power from the University Grants Commission Act, 1956. In addition, 15 Professional Councils are established, controlling different aspects of accreditation and co-ordination.

The types of universities include:
 * Central universities, or Union universities, are established by an Act of Parliament and are under the purview of the Department of Higher Education in the Ministry of Education. the list of central universities published by the UGC includes 56 central universities.
 * State universities are run by the state government of each of the states and territories of India and are usually established by a local legislative assembly act., the UGC lists 479 active state universities. The oldest establishment date listed by the UGC is 1857, shared by the University of Calcutta, the University of Madras and the University of Mumbai. Most State Universities are affiliating universities administering many affiliated colleges (often located in small towns) that typically offer a range of undergraduate courses, but may also offer post-graduate courses. More established colleges may even offer PhD programs in some departments with the approval of the affiliating university.
 * Deemed university, or "Deemed to be University", is a status of autonomy granted by the Department of Higher Education on the advice of the UGC, under Section 3 of the UGC Act., the UGC lists 124 institutes which were granted the deemed to be university status. According to this list, the first institute to be granted deemed university status was Indian Institute of Science, which was granted this status on 12 May 1958. In many cases, the same listing by the UGC covers several institutes. For example, the listing for Homi Bhabha National Institute covers the Institute of Mathematical Sciences, the Indira Gandhi Centre for Atomic Research and other institutes.
 * State Private universities are approved by the UGC. They can grant degrees but they are not allowed to have off-campus affiliated colleges., the UGC consolidated list of universities lists 455 state private universities.

, these four types of universities total 1114 universities together. There are universities of some kind in each of the 28 states of India as well as five of the eight union territories: Chandigarh, Delhi, Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh and Puducherry. The state with the most universities is Gujarat with 97 universities, and Gujarat has also by far the most state private universities, 63 in number. Tamil Nadu is the state with the most deemed universities, numbering 28, and Karnataka has the most state universities, 42. Delhi has 7 central universities, the largest number of all the states and territories.

 * Institutes of National Importance Apart from the above universities, other institutions are granted the permission to autonomously award degrees. However, they do not affiliate colleges and are not officially called "universities" but "autonomous organizations" or "autonomous institutes". They fall under the administrative control of the Department of Higher Education. These organisations include the Indian Institutes of Information Technology, Indian Institutes of Technology, the National Institutes of Technology, the All India Institutes of Medical Sciences, the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research, the Indian Institutes of Management and other autonomous institutes. These institutes are not listed below.

Also not listed are institutes which are under the control of the professional councils, without an approval of the UGC, e.g. Agricultural Universities, which are under the control of the Agricultural Education Division of the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), one of the professional councils.

The University Grants Commission (UGC) has also maintains a list fake Universities operating in India. UGC has said that these 24 self-styled, unrecognised institutions functioning in contravention of the UGC Act have been declared as fake and are not entitled to confer any degrees. , the list contains 20 institutions.

Universities by state and type
The table below is correct.

title: List of universities in India


text:
Indiana Department of Correction

The Indiana Department of Correction (IDOC) operates state prisons in Indiana. It has its headquarters in Indianapolis. As of 2019, the Indiana Department of Correction housed 27,140 adult Inmates, 388 juvenile Inmates, employed 5,937 State Employed Staff, and 1,718 Contracted Staff.

Adult facilities
Current facilities:
 * Branchville Correctional Facility (Low Medium security) - Branchville
 * Chain O'Lakes Correctional Facility (Minimum security) - Albion
 * Correctional Industrial Facility (Low Medium security) - Pendleton
 * Edinburgh Correctional Facility (Minimum security) - Edinburgh
 * Heritage Trail Correctional Facility (Minimum security) - Plainfield
 * Indiana State Prison (Maximum security) - Michigan City
 * Indiana Women's Prison (Maximum security) - Indianapolis
 * Indianapolis Re-entry Educational Facility (Minimum security) - Indianapolis
 * Madison Correctional Facility (Women's Minimum security) - Madison
 * Miami Correctional Facility (Maximum security) - Bunker Hill
 * New Castle Correctional Facility (Low Medium and Maximum security) - New Castle
 * Pendleton Correctional Facility (Maximum security) - Pendleton
 * Plainfield Correctional Facility (Low Medium security) - Plainfield
 * Putnamville Correctional Facility (Low Medium security) - Greencastle
 * Reception Diagnostic Center (administrative) - Plainfield
 * Rockville Correctional Facility (Women's Intake - Low Medium security) - Rockville
 * South Bend Community Re-entry Center (Minimum security) - South Bend
 * Wabash Valley Correctional Facility (High Medium security) - Carlisle
 * Westville Correctional Facility (Low Medium security) - Westville

Juvenile facilities
Current facilities:
 * LaPorte Juvenile Correctional Facility. (Female/Maximum Security) - LaPorte
 * Logansport Juvenile Correctional Facility (Intake/High Medium security) - Logansport
 * Pendleton Juvenile Correctional Facility (Maximum security) - Pendleton

Former facilities

 * Bloomington Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * Ft. Wayne Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * Indianapolis Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * In 2009, residents were moved to the Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility and inmates from the Indiana Women's Prison moved into the facility after the juvenile population relocated
 * North Central Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * Northeast Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * Plainfield Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * South Bend Juvenile Correctional Facility
 * Henryville Correctional Facility (Minimum security) - Henryville
 * Medaryville Correctional Facility (MYC) Level 1 Minimum security
 * Madison Juvenile Correctional Facility (Intake/Maximum security) - Madison
 * Located on the grounds of the Madison State Hospital campus, with the Madison Correctional Facility (Women). It was once the only state female juvenile facility in Indiana, but was replaced with LaPorte.

Fallen officers
Since the establishment of the Indiana Department of Correction, 18 officers have died in the line of duty.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Indiana Department of Correction


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USS Saipan (CVL-48)

The first USS Saipan (CVL-48/AVT-6/CC-3) was a light aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, the lead ship of her class of carrier. She was later selected for conversion into a command ship in 1963–1964, but instead of becoming a command ship she was converted to the Major Communications Relay Ship Arlington (AGMR-2) in 1965.

Saipan was laid down on 10 July 1944 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, launched on 8 July 1945, sponsored by Mrs. John W. McCormack, and commissioned on 14 July 1946, Capt. John G. Crommelin in command.

Commissioned
Commissioned 11 months after the close of World War II, Saipan trained student pilots out of Pensacola, Florida, from September 1946 to April 1947 when, reassigned to Norfolk, Virginia, as homeport, she departed the Gulf of Mexico; participated in exercises in the Caribbean; then proceeded to Philadelphia for overhaul. In November, she returned to Pensacola; but, in late December, after training midshipmen, steamed back to the east coast to serve with the Operational Development Force.

In February 1948, however, her work in jet operational techniques, carrier support tactics, and electronic instrument evaluation was interrupted briefly. From the 7th to the 24th, she was engaged in transporting the United States delegation to the Venezuelan Presidential inauguration and back. On her return, she conducted local operations off the Virginia Capes, and in April, after a visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, she resumed work for the Operational Development Force. On 18 April, she also relieved USS Mindoro (CVE-120) as flagship of Carrier Division 17 (CarDiv 17).

Fighter Squadron 17A
On 19 April, she departed Norfolk for Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where, on 3 May, she embarked Fighter Squadron 17A. Three days later, all squadron pilots had qualified in FH-1 Phantom jets. The squadron had become the first carrier-based jet squadron. Back at Norfolk by the end of the month, Saipan was relieved of flagship duties. In June, she returned to New England waters; and, in July, she commenced overhaul at Norfolk. In December, she resumed local operations. On 24 December, she was ordered to embark two of the Navy's latest type helicopter, the XHJS-1, and three Marine Corps HRP-1 helicopters and proceeded north to Greenland to assist in the rescue of eleven airmen downed on the ice cap. Departing Norfolk on Christmas Day, she arrived off Cape Farewell on 28 December and prepared to launch the helicopters as soon as weather allowed. On 29 December however, a C-47, equipped with jet assist takeoff and skis, landed on the ice, took on the marooned airmen and made it out again.

1949-1954
Saipan then returned to Norfolk, arrived on 31 December, and sailed again on 28 January 1949. Steaming south, she conducted exercises out of Guantanamo Bay into March and returned to Hampton Roads on 10 March. From 11 to 19 March, she conducted operations for the development force; then made a reserve training cruise to Canada. At the end of May, she again commenced work for the Operational Development Force. Three months later, she conducted her second reservist cruise of the year, then qualified Royal Canadian Navy pilots in carrier landings.

From November 1949 – March 1951, Saipan remained on the east coast, operating from the Virginia Capes south. On 6 March 1951, she got underway as flagship, CarDiv 14, and sailed for duty with the Sixth Fleet. Deployed for three months, she plied the waters of the western Mediterranean until the end of May, then headed for home. On 8 June, she was back at Norfolk, whence she resumed operations in the western Atlantic from Greenland to the Caribbean.

For over two years, Saipan continued Second Fleet operations, interrupting them for midshipman cruises during the summers of 1952 and 1953 and for an overhaul. In October 1953, she departed the east coast and steamed for the Panama Canal and the Pacific. On 30 October, she arrived at San Diego, whence she continued on to Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, and duty off the coast of Korea in support of the uneasy truce agreement.

Assigned to TF 95, Saipan was primarily engaged in surveillance and reconnaissance missions along the coast and in inspection patrols of the islands just south of the 38th parallel. In January 1954, she interrupted her patrols to provide air support for Japanese manned LSTs ferrying former Chinese POWs from Inchon to new homes on Taiwan. In early February, she participated in amphibious exercises in the Ryukyus, then returned to Inchon to stand by in the event she was needed for an evacuation of Indian troops from Panmunjom. In March, amphibious exercises took her to the Bonins. She then returned to Japan, but instead of resuming truce patrols, she took on 25 AU-variant Corsairs and five H-19A helicopters at Yokosuka and steamed south. On 18 April, VMA-324 pilots flew the AUs off her flight deck and landed them at Tourane (now Danang) Air Base, to support the French Aéronavale fighting at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in the latest days of the First Indochina War. There the aircraft were turned over to French forces. Later in the day, Saipan entered the harbor, offloaded spare parts and maintenance personnel, and departed for Manila.

On 20 April, she delivered the helicopters to Air Force personnel in the Philippines; and, at the end of the month, she resumed operations off the coast of Korea. On 8 May, Saipan put into Sasebo, and, through the 24th, remained in Japanese waters. On the 25th, she got underway to return to Norfolk via the Suez Canal. On 20 July, she completed her round the world cruise.

Hurricane Hazel
In October, Saipan again sailed south to the Caribbean. Arriving as Hurricane Hazel hit the Greater Antilles, razing areas of Hispaniola, the carrier was immediately assigned to relief work. From 13 to 20 October 1954, she delivered food and medical supplies and personnel to isolated areas of Haiti; then, after being honored by the Haitian government, she returned to Norfolk. On 1 November, she entered the shipyard there for overhaul, and, in April, resumed operations with a cruise to the Caribbean. In June, she was again attached to the aviation training center at Pensacola; and, through the summer, conducted qualification exercises. At the end of September, she was ordered to Mexico to again assist in hurricane relief work. From 1–9 October, her helicopters evacuated survivors, flew in rescue personnel, and distributed food, water and medical supplies, primarily in the flooded Tampico area. On 12 October, she returned to Pensacola, where she remained until April 1957. Between her two training stints from 1946 to 1947 and 1955–1957, carrier pilots were trained on USS Wright (CVL-49), USS Cabot (CVL-28) and USS Monterey (CVL-26). On the first of that month, she sailed for Bayonne, New Jersey, where she began inactivation and was decommissioned on 3 October 1957.

Conversion
Reclassified AVT-6 on 15 May 1959, Saipan remained in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet until March 1963. She then entered the Alabama Drydock and Shipbuilding Company yard at Mobile, Alabama, to begin conversion to a command ship. Very briefly designated CC-3, she was instead reclassified as Major Communications Relay Ship AGMR-2 on 1 September 1964 while still undergoing conversion. On 8 April 1965, she was renamed Arlington, in honor of Arlington County, Virginia, the site of one of the Navy's first radio stations; and, on 12 August 1966, she completed her conversion. As Arlington (AGMR-2), she sailed for Norfolk where she was recommissioned on 27 August 1966.

Fitting out occupied the remainder of the year. In January 1967, she conducted shakedown exercises in the Caribbean, and, in February, she sailed for the Bay of Biscay and exercises off northern Europe. At the end of March, she returned to Norfolk, whence in April, she again steamed to the Caribbean. On her return to the Hampton Roads area, she prepared for deployment to the western Pacific.

Vietnam
Departing Norfolk on 7 July 1967, the communications ship transited the Panama Canal and proceeded on to Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, and Subic Bay, when, with USS Annapolis (AGMR-1), she rotated on station off Vietnam. During her first patrol in the Tonkin Gulf from 21 August to 18 September 1967, she provided reliable message handling facilities for ships of the 7th Fleet in support of combat operations; and, in addition, assisted ships in repairing and better utilizing their electronic equipment. On returning to the Philippines after her first patrol, Arlington received a new satellite communications terminal; and, on 2 October, she departed Subic for Taiwan.

There for only three days, she continued on to Tonkin Gulf, where she resumed her communications relay duties. At the end of the month, she shifted south to provide communications support to ships in the "Market Time" area off South Vietnam. After 34 days on station, she spent five days in Hong Kong, then returned to Subic Bay, whence she steamed to Tonkin Gulf in early December 1967 for her third "Yankee Station" communications patrol. On 27 December, she departed the area and headed north. On 4 January 1968, she arrived at Yokosuka, and, on 19 January, she got underway to return to Vietnam.

Arriving back on "Yankee Station" on 24 January 1968, she departed again on 26 January, participated in exercises in the Sea of Japan; then returned to "Yankee Station."

On station from 13 February to 10 March, she returned to Yokosuka on 14 March, remained until 3 April, and resumed operations in Tonkin Gulf on 10 April. A visit to Sydney followed completion of her April patrol; but, by mid-June 1968, she was back on station. From 20 to 22 July, she again visited Hong Kong, then sailed for Yokosuka.

Manned Spacecraft Recovery Force
Between the end of August and mid-November 1968, she completed two more tours on "Yankee Station", and in early December, she got underway for Pearl Harbor. There at mid-month, she conducted communications tests; and, on 18 December, she departed Hawaii in TF 130, the Manned Spacecraft Recovery Force, Pacific. Acting as primary landing area communications relay ship, she participated in the recovery of Apollo 8 and returned to Pearl Harbor on 29 December 1968. Two days later, she sailed for the Philippines, and, on 17 January 1969, she resumed direct communications support for naval units in Tonkin Gulf. On 6 February, she departed "Yankee Station," and, after upkeep at Yokosuka, conducted operations off southern Japan and in the Ryukyus. Toward the end of March, she sailed for Hong Kong, whence she returned to Vietnam.

Remaining on station from 6 to 14 April 1969, she tested her Apollo communications equipment, and, on the 15th, headed back to Pearl Harbor. On 2 May, she arrived in Hawaii and once again joined TF 130. Again assigned as primary landing area communications relay ship, she departed Pearl Harbor on 11 May and steamed for the Apollo 10 recovery area, some 2,400 miles south of Hawaii. On 26 May, the capsule was recovered and the assigned ships returned to Hawaii. From there, Arlington proceeded to Midway Atoll where she provided communications support for the Nixon-Thieu conference on 8 June 1969, and, the next day, she sailed west.

On 27 June 1969, the communications ship returned to the Vietnamese coast. On 7 July, however, she was ordered east for her third Apollo recovery mission. Arriving in the recovery area on 21 July, she tested her equipment; and, on the following day, moved to Johnston Island. On 23 July, she embarked President Richard Nixon for an overnight visit; and, on 24 July, supported the recovery of Apollo 11. Crew and capsule successfully recovered, Arlington headed for Hawaii, whence she steamed to the west coast.

Deactivation and decommissioning
On 21 August 1969, she arrived, for the first time, at her homeport, Long Beach, and four days later shifted to San Diego to begin inactivation. She was decommissioned on 14 January 1970 and berthed with the Inactive Fleet at San Diego. The ship was stricken from the Navy List on 15 August 1975, and was sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping on 1 June 1976.

USS Saipan (CVL-48)

 * World War II Victory Medal
 * Navy Occupation Service Medal with "Europe" clasp
 * National Defense Service Medal
 * Korean War Service Medal
 * United Nations Korea Medal
 * Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

USS Arlington (AGMR-2)

 * Meritorious Unit Commendation with star (2 awards)
 * National Defence Service Medal with star (2 awards)
 * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal
 * Vietnam Service Medal with 7 campaign stars
 * Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation (Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm)
 * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal

title: USS Saipan (CVL-48)


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USS Wright (CVL-49)

USS Wright (CVL-49/AVT-7) was a Saipan-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier of the U.S. Navy, later converted to the command ship CC-2. It is the second ship named "Wright". The first USS Wright (AV-1) was named for Orville Wright; the second honored both Wright brothers: Orville and Wilbur.

Construction
Wright was laid down on 21 August 1944, at Camden, New Jersey, by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, launched on 1 September 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Harold S. Miller, a niece of the Wright brothers, and commissioned at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard on 9 February 1947, with Captain Frank T. Ward in command.

Service history
Wright departed Philadelphia on 18 March 1947 and stopped briefly at Norfolk, Virginia, en route to the Naval Air Training Base at Pensacola, Florida. After her arrival there on 31 March, Wright soon commenced a rigorous schedule of air defense drills and gunnery practice while acting as a qualification carrier for hundreds of student pilots at the Naval Air Training Base, relieving Saipan. Wright would embark on 40 operational cruises—each of between one and four days' duration off the Florida coast. In addition, the carrier embarked a total of 1,081 naval reservists and trained them in a series of three two-week duty tours.

On 3 September 1947, Wright embarked 48 Midshipmen for temporary training duty and later welcomed 62 Army officers when she stood out to sea on 15 October, in company with USS Forrest Royal (DD-872) to let her guests observe flight operations in the Pensacola area. The exercises included the catapulting of Grumman F6F Hellcats for rocket-firing operations.

That exercise was her last prior to her departure from Pensacola on 24 October, to return north. She arrived at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard soon thereafter and from 1 November to 17 December, underwent post-shakedown repairs and alterations before she returned to Pensacola two days before Christmas, where she resumed her regular schedule of pilot qualification training under the operational control of the Chief of Naval Air Training, Commander Air Atlantic. Wright spent the year 1948 engaged in those pilot carrier qualification operations, before she put into the Norfolk Naval Shipyard on 26 January 1949, to commence a four-month overhaul. She was relieved as training carrier by USS Cabot (CVL-28).

Following refresher training in Cuban waters, Wright returned to Norfolk on 1 August 1949, and four days later shifted to Newport, Rhode Island, for two weeks of antisubmarine warfare (ASW) training in the Narragansett Bay area with submarines and destroyers. She also visited New York City before taking up a steady schedule of carrier qualifications, air defense tactics, and exercises out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Key West, and Pensacola. But for 10 days of maneuvers with the 2d Task Fleet from 21 to 31 October 1949, she continued that duty until 7 January 1951, when she embarked the last increment of personnel from Fighter Squadron 14 (VF-14) for temporary duty.

Service with 6th Fleet
Wright sailed from Norfolk, on 11 January 1951, with a fast carrier task group and reached Gibraltar on 21 January, for her first tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. Wright ' s first Mediterranean deployment took her from Gibraltar to Oran, Algeria. She proceeded thence to Augusta Bay, Sicily; Suda Bay, Crete; Beirut, Lebanon; and Golfe Juan, France—her replenishment and liberty ports during the never-ending cycle of fleet training and readiness exercises with the 6th Fleet. Departing Golfe Juan on 19 March, Wright made port at Newport on 31 March 1951.

The carrier later entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard and underwent an overhaul there before she took part in Atlantic Fleet maneuvers out of Guantanamo Bay, Cuba; engaged in ASW tactics and carrier operations in Narragansett Bay, received further repairs at the Boston Naval Shipyard, and participated in a convoy exercise that ran from 25 February to 21 March 1952; and ranged from Newport to waters of the Panama Canal Zone and Trinidad in the British West Indies.

As flagship for Carrier Division 14, Wright sailed on 9 June 1952, in company with four destroyers forming Task Group (TG) 81.4 for ASW operations along the Atlantic seaboard until 27 June, when the ships arrived at New York City. Returning to Quonset Point on 1 July, Wright trained units of the organized Naval Reserve concurrently with hunter–killer tactics and pilot training in operations out of Narragansett Bay until 26 August. On that day, she set course from Quonset Point and later rendezvoused with Vice Admiral Felix Stump's 2d Task Fleet en route to northern Europe for combined defense exercises and maneuvers with naval units of other North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) navies.

En route, Wright, escorted by Forrest Royal, was detached to ferry men and gear of Marine Night Fighter Squadron (VMF(N)) 114 to Port Lyautey, Morocco, an operation she completed on 4 September. Two days later, Wright and her escort rejoined the task force; and they reached the Firth of Clyde, Scotland, on 10 September.

Three days later, Wright put to sea with two British destroyers acting as her plane guard for NATO Operation Mainbrace. She conducted air defense maneuvers and tactics evolutions with the British carriers HMS Illustrious (R87) and HMS Eagle (R05) en route to Rotterdam, Netherlands, where the force arrived on 25 September. On 29 September, Wright departed Rotterdam, bound for the United States, and arrived at Newport on 9 October.

That day, she embarked Rear Admiral W. L. Erdman, Commander, Carrier Division 4, and spent the next few months engaged in carrier qualification duties in waters ranging from Newport to the Virginia Capes, before she began her second deployment to the Mediterranean. She reached Golfe Juan on 21 February 1953, and operated with the 6th Fleet until 31 March, when she sailed for home, via the Azores.

Wright returned to Newport, and after a rigorous schedule of training in Narragansett Bay, sailed on 5 May, for the Gulf of Mexico. During that training cruise, she visited Houston, Texas, where she hosted some 14,000 visitors on 16 and 17 May. Returning to Quonset Point on 28 May, Wright operated locally for another month before shifting south for a stint of operations out of Mayport, Florida.

Service with 7th Fleet
Wright was overhauled at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard from 31 July to 21 November 1953, and then conducted refresher training in Cuban waters from 4 January to 16 February 1954. Next, after departing Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on 5 April, Wright sailed for Norfolk, Virginia where she took on necessary stores and supplies in preparation for her transfer to the Pacific Fleet. On 20 April, Wright set sail for the Western Pacific via the Panama Canal; San Diego, California; and Pearl Harbor—and reached United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka, Japan, on 28 May. The carrier, with Marine Attack Squadron 211 embarked, operated with the 7th Fleet off both coasts of Korea and also off Okinawa before she visited Hong Kong from 24 to 30 September. Departing Yokosuka on 15 October, Wright arrived at San Diego on the last day of October and entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard, where she remained until 23 February 1955.

At that point, Wright was attached to CarDiv 17, Pacific Fleet, and operated locally out of San Diego until 3 May, when she put to sea as part of TG 7.3—formed around the flagship USS Mount McKinley (AGC-7)—for the atomic test, Operation Wigwam, carried out in Pacific waters. Returning to the West Coast on 20 May, Wright subsequently cruised to Pearl Harbor briefly before she entered the Mare Island Naval Shipyard on 14 July to commence preparation for inactivation. After shifting to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Washington, on 17 October, for the final phase of preservation for inactivation, Wright was decommissioned at Puget Sound on 15 March 1956, and assigned to the Bremerton group of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

Reclassification

During her time in reserve, Wright was reclassified on 15 May 1959, an auxiliary aircraft transport, AVT-7. However, she never served in that role but remained inactive until 15 March 1962, when she was taken to the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for conversion to a command ship and reclassified as CC-2. The conversion—which lasted a year—included extensive alterations to enable the ship to function as a fully equipped mobile command post afloat for top-echelon commands and staff for strategic direction of area or worldwide military operations. Facilities were built into the ship for worldwide communications and rapid automatic exchange, processing, storage, and display of command data. A portion of the former hangar deck space was utilized for special command spaces and the extensive electronics equipment required, while a major portion of the flight deck was utilized for specially designed communications antenna arrays. In addition, facilities were provided to enable the ship to operate three helicopters.

Recommissioned at Puget Sound on 11 May 1963, Capt. John L. Arrington II, in command, Wright (CC-2) operated locally on trials and training evolutions in the waters off the Pacific Northwest until 3 September, when she departed Seattle and proceeded to San Diego, which she reached three days later. For the next three weeks, the ship trained in nearby waters before she returned to Puget Sound on 30 September to commence her post-shakedown availability.

Following those repairs and alterations—which took up all of the month of October and most of November—Wright prepared to shift to her new home port, Norfolk. She departed Seattle on 26 November, stopped briefly at San Diego three days later to embark civilian engineers and personnel who were to conduct surveys of communications and-air conditioning equipment, and was steaming south off the coast of northern Mexico when she picked up a distress message from the Israeli merchantman SS Velos, on 1 December. Wright altered course and rendezvoused with Velos later that same day. The command ship's medical officer was flown across to the Israeli ship and treated a seaman suffering from kidney stones. The medical officer was then flown back to Wright. Upon completion of that mission of mercy, Wright resumed her voyage to Balboa.

Transiting the Panama Canal on 7 and 8 December, Wright steamed via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and moored at the Hampton Roads Army Terminal on 18 December. After a subsequent brief operational period off the Virginia Capes, Wright entered port on 21 December, and remained there through Christmas and New Year's.

NECPA duties
For the next six years, Wright operated out of Norfolk, training to perform her assigned mission as the National Emergency Command Post Afloat. Regular overhauls performed at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard saw the ship receiving the repairs and alterations that continually improved her capabilities to carry out her task. She operated primarily off the Virginia Capes, but ranged as far north as Bar Harbor, Maine, and as far south as Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and Punta del Este, Uruguay. Her other ports of call included Newport, Quonset Point, Jacksonville, Mayport, Fort Lauderdale and Port Everglades, Florida; Boston; Portsmouth; New York City; Atlantic City; Annapolis; Philadelphia; Little Creek; Norfolk; and Guantánamo Bay. As part of NECPA duties, she alternated on alert status with USS Northampton (CLC-1).

There were highlights and breaks from the cycle of periods in port and at sea. From 11 to 14 April 1967, Wright lay at anchor off the coast of Uruguay, providing a worldwide communications capability in support of President Lyndon B. Johnson as he attended the Latin American summit conference at Punta del Este. On 8 May 1968, Wright went to the aid of USS Guadalcanal (LPH-7) after that amphibious assault ship had suffered a machinery failure and had gone dead in the water, 180 miles south of Norfolk. Wright towed the helpless assault ship 84 miles before other ships arrived on the scene to help out. Later that same year, Wright received the coveted Captain Edward F. Ney Memorial Award in the large mess afloat category. That award is given annually to the ship that maintains the highest food standards. During the Pueblo crisis in February 1969, Wright, while en route to Port Everglades, Florida, was hurriedly recalled to Norfolk and, upon her arrival there, stood by, on alert.

Decommissioning
Ultimately decommissioned on 27 May 1970, Wright was placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The ship was stricken from the Navy List on 1 December 1977, and sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping on 1 August 1980.

USS Wright (CVL-49)

 * Navy Occupation Service Medal with "Europe" clasp
 * National Defense Service Medal
 * Korean Service Medal
 * United Nations Korean Medal
 * Republic of Korea War Medal (retroactive)

USS Wright (CC-2)

 * National Defense Service Medal with star (2 awards)

title: USS Wright (CVL-49)


text:
USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24)

USS Belleau Wood was a United States Navy Independence-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier active during World War II in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to 1945. The Independence class were ordered as light cruisers of the Cleveland-class cruiser, but during construction, they were converted into light carriers owing to the need for additional vessels of that type during the war. The ship was originally named New Haven, but was renamed Belleau Wood after conversion work had begun, after the Battle of Belleau Wood of World War I.

Belleau Wood saw extensive action during World War II, participating in the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaigns in late 1943 and early 1944, and the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign in mid-1944. There, she saw action at the Battle of the Philippine Sea, where her aircraft contributed to the sinking of the Japanese carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Hiyō. She fought in the Philippines campaign later that year, and saw action at the Battle of Leyte Gulf. Shortly thereafter, she was damaged by a kamikaze. After repairs, she supported the invasion of Iwo Jima in March 1945 and operations against the Japanese Home Islands. After the war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet missions before being placed in reserve in 1947.

The ship was loaned to the French Marine Nationale in the 1950s and served in the First Indochina War. During this period, she was renamed Bois Belleau, the French equivalent of her original name. The ship was returned to the United States in 1960, but was not retained in US Navy service; she was instead broken up for scrap that same year.

Design

The Independence-class aircraft carrier of light carriers came about as a result of a decision made in 1942 to convert a number of Cleveland-class cruiser light cruisers then under construction. At the time, senior leaders in the US Navy had concluded that no new fleet carriers would enter service before 1944, when the first Essex-class aircraft carriers would be completed. Therefore, they hoped that converting ships already being built would provide reinforcements for the fleet's carrier force. Ironically, USS Essex (CV-9) was completed in December 1942, two months before USS Independence (CVL-22) entered service.

Belleau Wood was 622 ft long overall and had a beam of 71 ft and a draft of 24 ft. Her standard displacement amounted to 10662 LT and increased to 14751 LT at full load. Her superstructure consisted of a small island style conning tower on the starboard side of the flight deck. Her crew numbered 1569 officers and enlisted men.

The Independence-class carriers were powered by four General Electric steam turbines, each driving one propeller shaft, using steam provided by four oil-fired Babcock & Wilcox boilers. Each boiler was vented through its own small funnel, each of which was placed on the starboard side, directly behind the island. Rated at 100000 shp, the turbines were intended to give a top speed of 31.6 kn.

The ship's flight deck was 552 ft long, and it was fitted with two elevators. She carried a total of thirty aircraft, divided into twelve fighters, nine dive bombers, and nine torpedo bombers. For self defense, Belleau Wood carried an anti-aircraft battery of twenty-four 40 mm Bofors guns, which were carried in two quadruple and eight twin mounts, along with twenty-two 20 mm Oerlikon autocannon, all in individual mounts. These guns were primarily distributed along the length of the flight deck, though the quad 40 mm guns were placed on the main deck, on either end of the flight deck.

Construction and initial service
The keel for Belleau Wood was laid down on 11 August 1941 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation. She was originally ordered as a Cleveland-class cruiser under the name New Haven, which was to be designated with the hull number CL-76. Starting in January 1942, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt ordered the first of several of the new cruisers to be converted into light carriers, and New Haven was among those selected for conversion on 10 February. On 31 March, the ship was renamed Belleau Wood, after the Battle of Belleau Wood, a major battle fought by the Marine Corps during World War I. She also received an updated hull number: CV-24. The third member of what was now the Independence class of light carriers, the ship was launched on 6 December 1942, and after completing fitting out work, the ship, now renamed Belleau Wood, was commissioned on 31 March 1943.

Beginning in late May, Belleau Wood got underway for initial training in Chesapeake Bay, before a brief stay at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Norfolk, Virginia. On 8 June, she sailed to begin her shakedown cruise in the West Indies. She stopped in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago, on 13 June, and thereafter conducted various training exercises, including damage control practice, flight training, and tactical maneuvers in the Gulf of Paria. She sailed back to the United States in early July, arriving in Philadelphia on 3 July. There, she underwent repairs and modifications to correct issues identified during the shakedown; on 15 July, she also received a new hull number: CVL-24. On 21 July, she departed for the Pacific Ocean, passing through the Panama Canal on 26 July, before meeting her sister ship USS Princeton (CVL-23), the Essex-class carrier USS Lexington (CV-16), and six escorts in Balboa, Panama. The ships then sailed together for Pearl Harbor on 28 July, arriving there on 9 August. The ship's crew spent the following two weeks preparing to join the operation to seize Baker Island.

Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
Belleau Wood was assigned to Task Group (TG) 11.2, which also included Princeton and seven escorts. The ships sortied from Pearl Harbor on 25 August, bound for Baker Island, which they reached on 1 September. That day, fighters from Belleau Wood's combat air patrol (CAP) intercepted and shot down a Japanese Kawanishi H8K flying boat. Over the following two weeks, Belleau Wood and Princeton covered ground forces on the island as they constructed an airfield that would be used to support the impending Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. The two light carriers rejoined Lexington in mid-September to carry out strikes on Japanese positions in the Gilbert Islands on 18 and 19 September, as part of the preparatory attacks before the Battle of Tarawa. Her CAP also shot down a Mitsubishi G4M bomber that attempted to attack the fleet. Belleau Wood then returned to Pearl Harbor on 23 September to rearm and refuel, before sailing again to launch a raid on Wake Island on 29 September. For this operation, Belleau Wood was transferred to Task Group 14.5, which included five other carriers. Belleau Wood was primarily occupied with maintaining CAP defense for the fleet, but her air group launched two raids on the island. Two of her Grumman F6F fighters were lost during the raids, one of which was shot down by Japanese anti-aircraft guns, and the other crashed on attempting to land. Four deck crewmen were killed in the accident. The ships then returned to Pearl Harbor on 11 October.

The ship spent the next month training off Pearl Harbor as the fleet readied for the invasion of Tarawa and Makin. Belleau Wood, now part of Task Group 50.2, which included her sister USS Monterey (CVL-26) and the fleet carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6), sortied on 10 November. The three carriers struck Makin on 19 November, the day before the invasion of Tarawa began, and they continued to support the fighting on the two islands until 26 November, when the last Japanese resistance was defeated. The following day, Belleau Wood and Enterprise were transferred to Task Group 50.3, which also included Essex. The ships of TG 50.3 and TG 50.1 were sent to raid the Marshall Islands, both to weaken Japanese air power in the area and to reconnoiter Kwajalein Atoll, which was the target of the next major amphibious operation in the campaign. Belleau Wood provided the CAP that defended the task group on 4 December, while the other two carriers struck Kwajalein and Wotje. That evening, in a Japanese counter-attack, a G4M bomber nearly hit Belleau Wood with a torpedo that passed some 10 yd to starboard. Lexington, of TG 50.1, was hit by a torpedo in the attack, and the two groups covered the damaged carrier as she withdrew to Pearl Harbor for repairs.

The fleet conducted training operations off Pearl Harbor for the next five weeks, and the ships' crews replenished fuel and ammunition for the next major operation, which was codenamed Flintlock: the invasion of the Marshall Islands. The fleet left Pearl Harbor on 16 January 1944; for the operation, Belleau Wood had been transferred to Task Group 58.1, along with Enterprise and the carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10). The carriers began raids on Japanese airfields on the Kwajalein, Wotje, and the Maloelap Atolls on 29 January to suppress Japanese air power in the area before the invasion. As before, Belleau Wood was primarily occupied with maintaining the CAP for the rest of the task group, but she did launch one raid on Taroa Airfield on the island of Taroa, one of the constituent islands of Maleolap. During that attack, two of Belleau Wood's fighters were shot down by anti-aircraft fire. The carriers then transitioned to providing direct support to the soldiers and marines fighting in the Battle of Kwajalein, during which another three of Belleau Wood's planes were shot down.

Belleau Wood and the rest of her task group sailed to Majuro to refuel and replenish munitions and other supplies on 4 February. They then returned to Kwajalein to resume operations against the Japanese defenders. The bulk of the Fast Carrier Task Force, including Belleau Wood, sailed west on 12 February to launch Operation Hailstone, a major attack on the Japanese base in Truk. The raid was intended to cover the next amphibious assault in the campaign, the invasion of Eniwetok. Belleau Wood once again provided air defense for the task group, and on the afternoon of 16 February, one of her fighters shot down a Nakajima B5N torpedo bomber. Following another series of attacks the next day, the task group withdrew to the east to refuel. The carriers sailed back west to attack Japanese positions on Tinian and Saipan in the Mariana Islands; Belleau Wood covered the rest of the carriers as usual. On 22 February, a pair of G4M bombers slipped through the CAP aircraft and attempted to bomb Belleau Wood, but her anti-aircraft battery shot both planes down before they could hit the ship. In the same attack, a Kawasaki Ki-61 fighter attacked Essex, but as it attempted to withdraw, Belleau Wood's guns shot it down as well. Two Kawasaki Ki-48 light bombers were also shot down by Belleau Wood fighters.

Operations in New Guinea
The fast carrier task force withdrew back to Majuro on 26 February for another period of replenishment and repairs. Belleau Wood also took on replacement aircraft after her losses in the campaign. Task Group 58.1, which by then included only Belleau Wood and Enterprise and their escorts, sailed on 7 March for Espiritu Santo in the south Pacific, which they reached five days later. There, they joined an amphibious assault force that struck the island of Emirau on 20 March. The landing on Emirau went unopposed, permitting TG 58.1 to sail north to strike airfields in the western Caroline Islands and on New Guinea to suppress Japanese air power in the region as other forces landed in Humboldt Bay and Tanahmerah Bay in the Battle of Hollandia. The carriers then steamed north to hit the Carolines again; Belleau Wood's aircraft targeted Palau on 30 March, and the next day, she launched raids on Yap, Ulithi, and Ngulu. That same day, her fighters shot down two G4M bombers. The ships withdrew on 1 April, and while leaving the area, Belleau Wood sent her fighters to raid Woleai, destroying seven Japanese aircraft on the ground in the process.

The task group then returned to Majuro for another period of maintenance and resupply, which lasted for about a week. The ships sortied again on 13 April to return to operations in support of the ground troops fighting in Hollandia in New Guinea. Belleau Wood once again provided air cover to the rest of the carriers as they struck Japanese positions at Sawar, Wakde, and Sarmi. Belleau Wood refueled at sea on 23 April, then returned to launch raids of her own on Sawar and Sarmi. Task Group 58.1 then got underway for Seeadler Harbor on Manus Island, where they refueled. On 29 April, the fleet carriers raided Truk again, while Belleau Wood provided the CAP defense; the same pattern was repeated the following day against Pohnpei in the Carolines. On 1 May, Belleau Wood's fighters swept the island while American battleships bombarded it. The ships departed for Kwajalein that day, arriving there on 4 May. Over the course of the preceding month's operations, Belleau Wood lost one F6F fighter and two TBF Avenger torpedo bombers.

Marianas campaign

Belleau Wood and the rest of TG 58.1 then returned to Majuro to rejoin the rest of the fleet as it made preparations for Operation Forager, the invasion of the Mariana Islands in the central Pacific. In the course of the preparations, TG 58.1 was reorganized, and now consisted of Belleau Wood, Yorktown, and the carriers USS Hornet (CV-12) and USS Bataan (CVL-29), the latter being a sister to Belleau Wood. The fast carrier task force sortied on 6 June to begin the first phase of the operation, a series of large-scale air attacks on the islands of Saipan, Tinian, and Guam to suppress Japanese air power in the area. The attacks began five days later, and Belleau Wood contributed fighters to a raid on Guam, which shot down four Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters over Agana, the capital of Guam. The carrier's fighters shot down another Zero and a Kawasaki Ki-45 fighter in a second attack on 12 June, though one of Belleau Wood's F6Fs was also shot down in the engagement. With the initial round of strikes over, the carriers withdrew to refuel on 14 June and then sailed north to strike the Bonin Islands.

The American command hoped that raiding airfields in the Bonins would catch Japanese planes being ferried to reinforce the Marshalls. On 15 June, the American carriers struck Hahajima and Chichijima, though Belleau Wood's fighters once again filled the CAP role. Her bombers attacked and sank a large cargo ship in the area that day. While attempting to land that evening, one of her F6Fs crashed through the barrier and into the island, starting a major fire. Damage-control parties put out the fire after 23 minutes, and no one was injured in the accident, and Belleau Wood resumed flight operations the next day. That morning, the carriers sent a group of fighters to raid Iwo Jima, but reports of a Japanese fleet approaching the American invasion fleet in the Marianas led TG 58.1 to cancel a larger raid on the island planned for that afternoon and steam south at high speed to rendezvous with the rest of the fast carrier task force. The American fleet assembled on 18 June at a position about 150 nmi west of Saipan to await the Japanese fleet.

In the ensuing Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Japanese located the American fleet first, allowing them to make the first strike. On the morning of 19 June, Belleau Wood and Bataan launched their CAP fighters to defend the task group, but none of the fourteen Japanese attack groups approached TG 58.1. Those groups were all disrupted by fighters from the other American task groups. Belleau Wood instead sent some of her fighters to sweep Guam again, where they shot down another ten Zero fighters that had been based on the island. The lopsided American victory, which saw some 300 Japanese aircraft destroyed, was dubbed the "Great Marianas Turkey Shoot". That evening, the Japanese carriers began withdrawing to the west, and on the morning of 20 June, the American carriers turned to pursue them. Belleau Wood again sent her CAP fighters aloft that morning, but the fleet's search planes did not locate the retreating Japanese until late in the day. The American carriers nevertheless launched a major strike, and Belleau Wood contributed four TBF torpedo bombers and six F6F fighters to the force. The planes sank the Japanese carrier JAPANESE AIRCRAFT CARRIER Hiyō at dusk and then had to make a difficult night landing.

The American fleet continued its pursuit of the retreating Japanese on 21 June, but the latter had too far of a head start, and the Americans soon broke off the chase to return to the invasion beaches. While the fleet steamed to the Marianas, one of Belleau Wood's fighters shot down a G4M bomber. The carriers also reorganized their air groups, as many planes had landed on other carriers in the confused night landing the previous evening. The ships of TG 58.1 detached from the main fleet and steamed north to resume their attacks on the Bonin Islands that had been interrupted by the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Belleau Wood once again provided the task group's fighter defense while the rest of the carriers raided Iwo Jima and inflicted heavy damage on the Japanese aircraft on the island. TG 58.1 then departed for the Marshalls to replenish and refuel, and they arrived in Eniwetok on 27 June. The same day, Belleau Wood left the fleet to return to Pearl Harbor for modifications that included storage for rocket ammunition for her aircraft. She arrived in Hawaii on 2 July, entered the dry dock the next day, and the work was carried out over the following week. She conducted a short training period in Hawaiian waters before departing for the fleet anchorage in the Marshalls on 22 July. She reached Eniwetok on 30 July and joined TG 58.4 on 2 August.

Belleau Wood and the rest of the fast carrier task force were then sent to support the invasion of Guam, and the carrier contributed her aircraft to strikes against Japanese positions on the island during the fighting. She returned to Eniwetok on 13 August to refuel and rearm before the last major phase of the Mariana and Palau campaign. The carriers were ordered to raid Japanese airfields on Yap, Mindanao in the southern Philippines, and the Bonin Islands again, to neutralize any aircraft that might attempt to interfere with the invasion of the Palau Islands and Morotai in New Guinea. Belleau Wood joined Wasp and two other carriers in what was now Task Group 38.1, which sortied on 29 August to begin raids on the Palaus. The following day, one of Belleau Wood's F6F fighters crashed on landing, killing three men, including the assistant air operations commander. On 7 August, the carriers began attacking targets in the Palaus, and several of Belleau Wood's planes struck a phosphate plant on Anguar. The task group continued westward to make their attack on Mindanao. While the carriers steamed off the island, Belleau Wood's fighters shot down a Yokosuka P1Y bomber and a Kawasaki Ki-45 fighter, though one of her F6Fs was shot down as well.

Belleau Wood's fighters carried out sweeps over the airfields at Buayan and Digos on 10 September, while her TBF Avengers raided the field at Cotabato, though they found few Japanese aircraft to destroy. The task group then turned north to raid the Visayas in the central Philippines, where the ship's fighters raided Negros and Cebu, claiming a pair of Zeros, a Nakajima Ki-43 fighter, and a Nakajima B6N torpedo bomber on 12 September. Belleau Wood's aircraft also launched a series of rocket attacks on Japanese installations and coastal shipping in the area. The next day, her fighters destroyed another Ki-43 and a P1Y. TG 38.1 then sailed south to provide cover for the landings on Morotai, where Belleau Wood's fighters destroyed five G4M bombers and a Ki-45 fighter on the ground. The landing was carried out between 15 and 17 September, but the carriers saw no further significant combat during that period, and on the 18th, Belleau Wood was transferred to TG 38.4; she departed for Seeadler Harbor to refuel and rearm before joining her new unit, which included Enterprise, the fleet carrier USS Franklin (CV-13), and the light carrier USS San Jacinto (CVL-30). The group left Seeadler Harbor on 24 September to patrol off Palau, remaining there until 5 October because of a typhoon in the area, before rejoining the rest of the fast carrier task force west of the Marianas.

Philippines campaign

The American fleet then began operations to prepare for its next major amphibious assault in the central Pacific: the invasion of the Philippines. After refueling at sea on 7 October, the fast carrier task force got underway to begin a series of raids on nearby targets that would try to interfere with the coming invasion, beginning with the Ryukyu Islands. Three days later, the carriers raided airfields on Okinawa and two other islands in the group, destroying dozens of Japanese aircraft and many coastal ships. The carriers then turned south, struck airfields on Luzon in the northern Philippines, before turning west to raid the island of Formosa. In the course of the so-called Formosa Air Battle, which lasted from 12 to 16 October, Belleau Wood carried out a series of raids against Japanese infrastructure on the island, claiming to have destroyed five aircraft in strikes on airfields. Her fighters on CAP also shot down three Zeros, a Ki-43 fighter, and five G4M bombers that attempted to hit the carriers on 13 October. Later that day, another six G4Ms slipped through the CAP aircraft, but Belleau Wood's anti-aircraft guns assisted with the destruction of four of the bombers.

The ships of TG 38.4 turned south on 14 October to begin preparatory attacks on Leyte, which was the target of the impending amphibious assault. The carrier planes raided airfields at Aparri on the island of Luzon first, and then struck targets around Manila Bay as they made their way south to Leyte. In the course of these raids, Belleau Wood's fighters claimed another eleven Japanese aircraft of various types. They also claimed a pair of cargo ships and an oil tanker. The Battle of Leyte began on 20 October, and over the following three days, Belleau Wood provided CAP over the invasion beach.

In response to the American invasion of the Philippines, the Japanese sent four major fleet units to attack the invasion fleet in a synchronized action. The ensuing action, the Battle of Leyte Gulf, consisted of a series of separate battles between American and Japanese forces. TG 38.4 launched search planes on the morning of 24 October to try to locate the Japanese fleet in the Visaya islands; after locating the Japanese Center Force, Belleau Wood and the other carriers launched a major attack on it, which resulted in the Battle of the Sibuyan Sea. In that action, Belleau Wood's TBFs claimed to have made torpedo hits on one of the Japanese battleships. Later that evening, Halsey received reports of the aircraft carriers of the Northern Force, and the fast carrier task force steamed north to intercept them. The following morning, all four Japanese carriers were sunk in the Battle off Cape Engaño, though Belleau Wood did not contribute any aircraft to their destruction. Her TBFs did assist with the sinking of the light cruiser JAPANESE CRUISER Tama, however. A separate action fought between surface forces—the Battle of Surigao Strait—saw the destruction of the Southern Force on the night of 24–25 October. Center Force, not dissuaded from its attacks the previous day, pressed on and nearly broke through to the invasion fleet in the Battle off Samar, but was eventually driven off by the escort carriers, destroyers, and destroyer escorts providing local defense to the fleet.

The ships of TG 38.4 refueled on 26 October and then returned to direct support of the soldiers fighting on Leyte for the next four days. The carriers also struck airfields around Manila to interdict reinforcements being sent to the Philippines. The Japanese began the first kamikaze suicide attacks in response to the worsening strategic situation; the first struck the carrier USS Intrepid (CV-11) on 29 October, and another attack was carried out the next day. At around 14:00, five kamikazes slipped past the CAP defense by flying at an altitude of around 18000 ft. Three of the planes were shot down by the fleet's antiaircraft fire, but one crashed into Franklin; the last plane, identified as a Zero fighter, dropped a bomb on Franklin before diving on Belleau Wood at 14:27 and slamming into her flight deck. The Zero landed in the middle of eleven loaded F6F fighters and started a series of explosions and serious fires. The damage control teams worked for three hours to suppress the blaze. The attack killed 92 and wounded another 97, and damaged the flight deck, which prevented further air operations. The ship detached from the fleet and sailed east to the Caroline Islands.

While stopped at Ulithi from 3 to 10 November, the ship's crew made some temporary repairs, before she departed for San Francisco for permanent repairs. She passed through Pearl Harbor on the way, finally arriving on the West Coast on 29 November. There, she was dry docked at the Hunters Point Naval Shipyard the following day. Along with repair work, the ship was overhauled and additional 40 mm Bofors guns were installed. The work was completed by mid-January 1945, and she thereafter got underway to rejoin the fleet. She reached Ulithi on 7 February, where she joined TG 58.1, which included Hornet, Wasp, and the fleet carrier USS Bennington (CV-20).

Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign

On 10 February, the ships of TG 58.1 sortied to carry out a series of strikes against Japanese positions in the Japanese Home Islands to disrupt forces that would interfere with the planned invasions of the Bonin and Ryukyu Islands in the Volcano and Ryukyu Islands campaign, which was to prepare the way for the eventual invasion of Japan. By 16 February, TG 58.1 had reached a position about 125 nmi southeast of Tokyo, and they began their attacks on airfields in Japan. The American carrier planes claimed several hundred Japanese aircraft destroyed in these raids. That morning, one of Belleau Wood's fighters on CAP shot down a Mitsubishi Ki-46 reconnaissance plane that approached the fleet. Poor weather forced the remaining planned attacks to be canceled, and the fast carrier task force instead sailed south to provide cover for the invasion of Iwo Jima on 19 February.

Belleau Wood provided air defense over Iwo Jima for the following five days to prevent Japanese aircraft from supporting the garrison as US marines fought for control of the island. Her aircraft also raided the airfield at Susaki on Chichi Jima to reduce Japanese counterattacks on the invasion force. The Japanese were mounting increasingly severe kamikaze attacks on the fleet, so the fast carrier task force sailed north to launch another major raid on the Tokyo area. They were again blocked by bad weather on 25 February, and they instead diverted to raid Okinawa. Belleau Wood's fighters once again provided CAP defense, and her TBFs were used to carry out rocket attacks on Japanese installations on Okinawa on 1 March. The fleet then sailed south to replenish stores and ammunition at Ulithi to prepare for the next phase of the campaign.

The ships lay at Ulithi for ten days, until 14 March, when they sortied to begin preparatory attacks for the last major invasion of the war: the invasion of Okinawa. TG 58.1 was ordered to attack Japanese airfields on Kyushu, the southern-most of the Home Islands, to reduce the considerable air power assembled for the final defense of Japan. Four days later, the ships were in position and launched a large-scale raid on the island, along with secondary raids on the naval bases at Kure and Kobe. Belleau Wood's fighters again served in the CAP for the following three days and saw extensive combat. On 21 March alone, her aircraft and eight fighters from Hornet claimed the destruction of twenty-one Japanese planes between them. The carriers then turned their attention to Okinawa itself from 23 to 28 March, and Belleau Wood's fighters conducted sweeps over the Ryukyus to catch any Japanese aircraft that may be in the area. On 29 March, she contributed her aircraft to a major raid on Kyushu airfields in concert with Boeing B-29 Superfortress bombers flying from the Mariana Islands. She thereafter resumed strikes on Okinawa.

American forces went ashore on Okinawa on 1 April, and Belleau Wood provided air defense over the invasion fleet. She also provided close air support to the marines fighting their way across the island. On 6 April, a Zero fighter attempted to crash into the ship, but her antiaircraft guns shot it down before it could collide with the ship. The shock wave from the underwater explosion of the sinking Zero threw one man overboard, who was not recovered. The next day, the ship took part in the destruction of the battleship JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Yamato, which had been sent on a final suicide mission to attack the invasion fleet. Aircraft from Belleau Wood claimed hits on several of the destroyers escorting Yamato; carrier aircraft from the American fleet sank most of the Japanese ships, including Yamato.

Belleau Wood resumed air operations over Okinawa, both to defend the fleet and ground forces from Japanese air attack, and to degrade Japanese airfields on nearby islands. Over the course of the following three weeks, the ship's fighters destroyed fourteen Japanese aircraft. She thereafter withdrew to Ulithi to refuel and rearm. She arrived there on 30 April, but arrived back on station off Okinawa by 12 May. There, she replaced the carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) in TG 58.3, which had been badly damaged by a kamikaze. The unit at that time also included Essex, the fleet carrier USS Hancock (CV-19), and the light carrier USS Cabot (CVL-28). Belleau Wood resumed her previous activities, her fighters patrolling over Okinawa and attacking Japanese airfields in the region. During this period, her fighters shot down a Nakajima Ki-84 fighter and a G4M bomber, though one of her TBFs was shot down by antiaircraft fire. By early June, the onset of typhoon season forced the carriers to halt flight operations, though Belleau Wood was able to launch one raid on 7 June. On 10 June, the fast carrier task force withdrew to the Philippines to avoid the severe weather.

Japan campaign and the end of the war

The carriers spent the next two weeks in the Philippines training and making repairs, before departing on 1 July to return to operations off Japan. Belleau Wood's aircraft participated in a strike on airfields near Tokyo on 10 July, followed by attacks on various targes on Hokkaido on 14 and 15 July. The carriers returned to attacking the Tokyo area two days later before breaking off to refuel at sea from 19 to 23 July. Belleau Wood's aircraft next raided the naval base at Kur on 24 July, where they assisted in the sinking of the hybrid battleship-carrier JAPANESE BATTLESHIP Hyūga and another fifteen smaller vessels. On 25 July, Belleau Wood's fighters were attacked by a group of Japanese fighters while over Yōkaichi, and in the ensuing battle, the Americans claimed to have shot down five Ki-84s and two Ki-61s, and lost two fighters to the Japanese. Further attacks were cancelled due to bad weather for most of the rest of the month, until 29 July, when Belleau Wood and the other carriers launched another series of raids then and on 30 July. The ships then withdrew to refuel again, and coupled with another typhoon, the carriers were not back on station again to resume air attacks until 9 August. Belleau Wood's aircraft struck airfields on the northern end of Honshu, which disrupted a Japanese strike on the Marianas using long-range bombers. Operations around Tokyo resumed on 13 August, and two days later, a patrol of four F6Fs from Belleau Wood engaged a group of Japanese fighters that had attempted to intercept a strike of TBFs operated by the British Pacific Fleet. In that action, the American fighters shot down five Zeroes and a Ki-43 fighter; this was to be the ship's last action of the war. Shortly thereafter, the Japanese indicated they would surrender, leading to a cessation of all combat missions.

Belleau Wood cruised for the next week in Japanese waters, waiting on instructions for the final Japanese surrender. From 22 August to 10 September, the ship's aircraft patrolled over Japan, searching for downed aircrew and dropping supplies to prisoner of war camps. Over the course of her career during the war, the ship received twelve battle stars. On 10 September, she entered Tokyo Bay for maintenance, before departing on the 15th for Eniwetok to take on a load of supplies to bring back to Japan. She arrived off Japan on 7 October, and proceeded to Tokyo Bay, which she reached five days later. After embarking several hundred men, she departed again on 20 October, this time bound for Pearl Harbor, arriving there eight days later. Belleau Wood was then assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, the repatriation of thousands of American servicemen after the end of the war. Her crew installed some 600 additional bunks in the hangar to accommodate additional passengers. On her first mission, she took on 1,248 men from the Army and Navy, departing on 1 November and arriving in San Francisco five days later. She made two further Magic Carpet trips, the first to Guam from 11 November to 10 December and carrying 2,053 men home, and the second from 18 December to 31 January 1946, also to Guam. The ship was thereafter placed in reserve at San Francisco. She underwent modifications through 1946 and into 1947 and was eventually decommissioned on 13 January 1947 and placed at the Alameda Naval Air Station.

French Navy

The ship remained laid up until 5 September 1953, when she was transferred to the French Navy as aid according to the Mutual Defense Assistance Act. During this period, she was renamed Bois Belleau. The French, then at the height of the First Indochina War, was in need of additional aircraft carriers to support the two light carriers—FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER La Fayette (formerly USS Langley (CVL-27)), and FRENCH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Arromanches (formerly HMS Colossus)—then operating off French Indochina. The loan of Belleau Wood was ordered by President Dwight D. Eisenhower. The French Navy initially had trouble putting together a crew to man the ship, which delayed her delivery to France until December. In addition, her boilers were found to be in poor condition upon her reactivation, which required repairs once she arrived in France.

Bois Belleau arrived in southeast Asian waters on 30 April 1954, during the final stages of the Indochina War. The Battle of Dien Bien Phu had reached a critical stage by that point, and the French garrison soon surrendered on 7 May. The French carriers operated in the Gulf of Tonkin during the Indochina War, and their aircraft were hampered by the long flight time to Dien Bien Phu in western Indochina.} Bois Belleau served in the area until November 1955. For the rest of the 1950s, Bois Belleau, La Fayette, and Arromanches formed the core of the French carrier fleet until the French-built carriers of the Clemenceau-class aircraft carrier were completed in the early 1960s.

In June 1957, Bois Belleau joined a contingent of six ships to participate in an international naval review held in Hampton Roads, Virginia, in the United States. The French squadron, led by the anti-aircraft cruiser FRENCH CRUISER De Grasse, was the largest foreign delegation to the review. The squadron also included the destroyers FRENCH DESTROYER Chevalier Paul and FRENCH DESTROYER Dupetit-Thouars and the frigates FRENCH FRIGATE Le Gascon and FRENCH FRIGATE Le Lorrain.

The French Navy returned the ship to the United States in early September 1960 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 October, and was sold to ship breakers for scrap on 21 November.

Media links

 * Departute of the Bois Belleau from Toulon (newsreels video)
 * Arrival in the French Indochina of the Bois Belleau (newsreels video)

title: USS Belleau Wood (CVL-24)


text:
USS Cowpens (CVL-25)

USS Cowpens (CV-25/CVL-25/AVT-1), nicknamed The Mighty Moo, was an 11,000-ton Independence-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.

Cowpens, named for the Battle of Cowpens of the Revolutionary War, was launched on 17 January 1943 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, in Camden, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. Margaret Bradford Spruance (née Halsey, daughter of Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) and commissioned on 28 May 1943 by Captain R. P. McConnell. She was reclassified CVL-25 on 15 July 1943. Cowpens completed her active service at the end of 1946.

1943
Departing Philadelphia, on 29 August 1943, Cowpens arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 September to begin the active and distinguished war career which was to earn her a Navy Unit Commendation. She sailed with Task Force 14 for the strike on Wake Island on 5–6 October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for strikes on the Marshall Islands preliminary to invasion. The ship was slightly damaged on 18 October in a collision with the destroyer USS Abbot (DD-629) while patrolling near Hawaii. Abbot was much more heavily damaged, requiring three months to repair at Pearl Harbor. Cowpens sortied from Pearl Harbor 10 November to launch air strikes on Mille and Makin atolls from 19 to 24 November, and Kwajalein and Wotje on 4 December, returning to her base on 9 December.

1944
Joining Task Force 58, Cowpens sailed from Pearl Harbor on 16 January 1944 for the invasion of the Marshalls. Her planes pounded Kwajalein and Eniwetok the last three days of the month to prepare for the assault landing on 31 January. Using Majuro as a base, the force struck at Truk on 16–17 February and the Mariana Islands on 21–22 February before putting into Pearl Harbor on 4 March. Returning to Majuro, Task Force 58 based here for attacks on the western Carolines; Cowpens supplied air and antisubmarine patrols during the raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai from 30 March to 1 April. After operating off New Guinea during the invasion of Hollandia from 21 to 28 April, Cowpens took part in the strikes on Truk, Satawan and Ponape from 29 April to 1 May, returning to Majuro on 14 May for training.

From 6 June to 10 July 1944, Cowpens operated in the Marianas operation. Her planes struck the island of Saipan to aid the assault troops, and made supporting raids on Iwo Jima, Pagan Island, Rota, and Guam. They also took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June, accounting for a number of the huge tally of enemy planes downed. After a brief overhaul at Pearl Harbor, Cowpens rejoined the fast carrier task force at Eniwetok on 17 August. Then, on 29 August, she sailed for the pre-invasion strikes on the Palaus, whose assault was an essential preliminary for the return to the Philippines. From 13 to 17 September, she was detached from the force to cover the landings on Morotai, then rejoined it for sweep, patrol, and attack missions against Luzon from 21 to 24 September.

Cowpens, with her task group, sent air strikes to neutralize Japanese bases on Okinawa and Formosa from 10 to 14 October, and when USS Canberra (CA-70) and USS Houston (CL-81) were hit by torpedoes, Cowpens provided air cover for their safe withdrawal, rejoining her task group on 20 October. En route to Ulithi, she was recalled when the Japanese Fleet threatened the Leyte invasion, and during the Battle of Surigao Strait phase of the decisive Battle for Leyte Gulf on 25–26 October, provided combat air patrol for the ships pursuing the fleeing remnant of the Japanese fleet. Continuing her support of the Philippines advance, Cowpens' planes struck Luzon repeatedly during December. During the disastrous Typhoon Cobra on 18 December, Cowpens lost a man: ship's air officer Lieutenant Commander Robert Price, several planes, and some equipment, but skillful work by her crew prevented major damage, and she reached Ulithi safely on 21 December to repair her storm damage.

1945
From 30 December 1944 to 26 January 1945, Cowpens was at sea for the Lingayen Gulf landings. Her planes struck targets on Formosa, Luzon, the Indochinese coast and the Hong Kong-Canton area and Okinawa during January. On 10 February, Cowpens sortied from Ulithi for the Iwo Jima operation, striking the Tokyo area, supporting the initial landings from 19 to 22 February, and hitting Okinawa on 1 March.

On 13 June, following an overhaul at San Francisco and training at Pearl Harbor, Cowpens sailed on for San Pedro Bay, Leyte. Along the way she struck Wake Island on 20 June. Rejoining Task Force 58, Cowpens sailed from San Pedro Bay on 1 July to join in the final raids on the Japanese mainland. Her planes pounded Tokyo, Kure, and other cities of Hokkaidō and Honshū until 15 August. Cowpens was the first American carrier to enter Tokyo Harbor. Remaining off Tokyo Bay until the occupation landings began on 30 August, Cowpens launched photographic reconnaissance missions to patrol airfields and shipping movements, and to locate and supply prisoner-of-war camps. Men from Cowpens were the first Americans to set foot on the Japanese mainland, and were largely responsible for the emergency activation of Yokosuka airfield for Allied use and the liberation of a POW camp near Niigata. From 8 November 1945 to 28 January 1946 Cowpens made two voyages to Pearl Harbor, Guam, and Okinawa to return veterans on "Magic Carpet" runs.

Post-war
On 3 December 1946, Cowpens was placed in commission reserve at Mare Island. On 15 May 1959, she was reclassified as an aircraft transport, with a new hull number, AVT-1. Then, on 1 November, she was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register and sold for scrap.

Awards
In addition to her Navy Unit Commendation, Cowpens received 12 battle stars for World War II service.

Commemoration
Each year, the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, holds a 4-day festival honoring veterans of Cowpens. "The Mighty Moo Festival" was first held in 1977, with one crewmember of CVL-25 attending. Since then, as many as 115 CVL-25 veterans have attended the festival at once. Also, since the launch and commissioning of the USS Cowpens (CG-63) in 1991, the festival has included actively serving crewmen or women of CG-63 sent by the ship's commanding officer, as well as previously serving veterans of CG 63. The festival is held from Wednesday through Saturday preceding Father's Day each June. During the 1980s, the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, actively petitioned Congress to name another ship Cowpens, which may have played a direct role in choosing this name for CG-63.

title: USS Cowpens (CVL-25)


text:
USS Monterey (CVL-26)

USS Monterey (CVL-26) was an Independence-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, in service during World War II and used in training for several years thereafter.

Originally laid down as light cruiser Dayton (CL-78) on 29 December 1941 by New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey, the ship was reclassified CV-26 on 27 March 1942 and renamed Monterey four days later, launched on 28 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. Patrick N. L. Bellinger, and commissioned on 17 June 1943, Captain Lestor T. Hundt in command. It was the third US Navy vessel to be named after the Battle of Monterey. Future U.S. President Gerald R. Ford served aboard the ship during World War II.

World War II

Monterey was reclassified CVL-26 on 15 July 1943, shortly before commissioning, and after shakedown, departed Philadelphia for the western Pacific. She reached the Gilbert Islands on 19 November 1943, in time to help secure Makin Island. She took part in strikes on Kavieng, New Ireland on 25 December, as part of Task Group 37.2 (TG 37.2), and supported the landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok until 8 February 1944. The light carrier then operated with Task Force 58 (TF 58) during raids in the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, northern New Guinea, and the Bonin Islands from February–July 1944. During this time she was also involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June.

Monterey then sailed to Pearl Harbor for overhaul, departing once again on 29 August. She launched strikes against Wake Island on 3 September, then joined TF 38 and participated in strikes in the southern Philippines and the Ryukyus. October through December 1944 were spent in the Philippines, supporting first the Leyte, and then the Mindoro landings.

Though enemy planes had been unable to damage Monterey, she did not complete her first full year of service unscathed. In December, she steamed into the path of Typhoon Cobra, with winds over 100 kn. At the height of the storm, which lasted two days, several planes tore loose from their cables, causing several fires on the hangar deck. During the storm future US President Gerald Ford, who served on board the ship, was almost swept overboard. Ford, serving as General Quarters Officer of the Deck, was ordered to go below to assess the raging fire. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship's commanding officer, Captain Stuart Ingersoll. The ship's crew was able to contain the fire, and the ship got underway again.

Monterey arrived Bremerton, Washington, for overhaul in January 1945. She rejoined TF 58 and supported Okinawa operations by launching strikes against Nansei Shoto and Kyūshū from 9 May to 1 June. She rejoined TF 38 for the final strike against Honshū and Hokkaidō from 1 July to 15 August.

Post-War
Monterey departed Japanese waters on 7 September, having embarked troops at Tokyo, and steamed home, arriving in New York City on 17 October. Monterey left behind an impressive and enviable war record. Her planes sank five enemy warships, and damaged others. She was responsible for the destruction of thousands of tons of Japanese shipping, hundreds of planes, and vital industrial complexes. She was assigned "Magic Carpet" duty, and made several voyages between Naples and Norfolk. She was decommissioned on 11 February 1947, and was assigned to the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group.

Korea
With the outbreak of hostilities in the Korean War, Monterey was recommissioned on 15 September 1950. She departed Norfolk on 3 January 1951, and proceeded to Pensacola, Florida, where she operated for the next four years under Naval Training Command, training thousands of naval aviation cadets, student pilots, and helicopter trainees. Monterey was relieved as a training carrier by USS Saipan (CVL-48), which had previously served at Pensacola as a training carrier between 1946 and 1947. From 1 to 11 October 1954, she took part in a flood rescue mission in Honduras. She departed Pensacola on 9 June 1955 and steamed to rejoin the reserve fleet. She was decommissioned on 16 January 1956. Reclassified AVT-2 on 15 May 1959, she remained berthed at Philadelphia until she was sold for scrapping in May 1971.

Awards
Monterey received 11 battle stars for World War II service.

title: USS Monterey (CVL-26)


text:
USS Cabot (CVL-28)

USS Cabot (CVL-28/AVT-3) was an Independence-class aircraft carrier light aircraft carrier in the United States Navy, the second ship to carry the name, after the explorer John Cabot. Cabot was commissioned in 1943 and served until 1947. She was recommissioned as a training carrier from 1948 to 1955. From 1967 to 1989, she served in Spain as SPANISH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Dédalo. After attempts to preserve her failed, she was scrapped in 2002.

USS Cabot was laid down as Wilmington (CL-79), a Cleveland-class cruiser light cruiser, redesignated CV-28 on 2 June 1942, renamed Cabot on 23 June 1942 and converted while building. She was launched on 4 April 1943 by New York Shipbuilding Company, Camden, New Jersey; sponsored by Mrs. A. C. Read. She was reclassified CVL-28 on 15 July 1943 and commissioned on 24 July 1943, with Captain Malcolm Francis Schoeffel in command.

World War II (1943–1945)
Cabot sailed from Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island with Air Group 31 aboard, on 8 November 1943 for Pearl Harbor, where she arrived on 2 December. Clearing for Majuro on 15 January 1944, she joined TF 58 to begin the consistently high quality of war service which was to earn her a Presidential Unit Citation. From 4 February to 4 March 1944, she launched her planes in strikes on Roi, Namur, and the island stronghold of Truk, aiding in the neutralization of these Japanese bases as her part in the invasion of the Marshalls.

Cabot returned to Pearl Harbor for a brief repair period, but was back in action from Majuro for the pounding raids on the Palaus, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai at the close of March 1944. She sailed to provide valuable air cover for the Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) operation from 22 to 25 April, and 4 days later began to hurl her air power at Truk, Satawan, and Ponape. She cleared Majuro again on 6 June for the preinvasion air strikes in the Mariana Islands, and on 19 and 20 June launched sorties in the key Battle of the Philippine Sea, the famous "Marianas Turkey Shoot", which hopelessly crippled Japanese naval aviation. Cabot's Air Group 31 pounded Japanese bases on Iwo Jima, Pagan, Rota, Guam, Yap and Ulithi as the carrier continued her support of the Marianas operation until 9 August.

Preinvasion strikes in the Palaus in September 1944 along with air attacks on Mindanao, the Visayas, and Luzon paved the way for the long-awaited return to the Philippines. On 6 October, Air Group 29 relieved Air Group 31, and Cabot sailed from Ulithi for raids on Okinawa to provide air cover for her task group during the heavy enemy attacks off Formosa on 12 and 13 October. Cabot joined the group which screened "Cripple Division 1", USS Canberra (CA-70) and USS Houston (CL-81) which had been torpedoed off Formosa, to the safety of the Carolines, then rejoined her group for continued air strikes on the Visayas, and the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 25 and 26 October.

Cabot remained on patrol off Luzon, conducting strikes in support of operations ashore, and repelling desperate kamikaze attacks. On 25 November, a particularly vicious one occurred. Cabot had fought off several kamikazes when one, already flaming from hits, crashed the flight deck on the port side, destroying the still-firing 20 mm gun platform, disabling the 40 mm Mounts and a gun director: Another of Cabot's victims crashed close aboard and showered the port side with shrapnel and burning debris. 62 men were killed or wounded but careful training had produced a crew which handled damage control smoothly and coolly. While she continued to maintain her station in formation and operate effectively, temporary repairs were made. On 28 November, she arrived at Ulithi for permanent repairs.

Cabot returned to action on 11 December 1944, steaming with the force striking Luzon, Formosa, Indo-China, Hong Kong, and the Nansei Shoto in support of the Luzon operations during the South China Sea raid. From 10 February to 1 March 1945, her planes pounded the Japanese homeland and the Bonins to suppress opposition to the invasion of Iwo Jima. Continued strikes against Kyūshū and Okinawa in March prepared for the invasion of the latter island. After these prolonged, intensive operations, Cabot was homeward bound for San Francisco for a much-needed overhaul completed in June.

After refresher training at Pearl Harbor with Air Group 32 aboard, the carrier launched strikes on Wake Island on 1 August while en route to Eniwetok. Here she remained on training duty until the end of the war. Sailing on 21 August, she joined TG 38.3 to support the landings of occupation troops in the Yellow Sea area in September and October. Embarking homeward-bound men at Guam, Cabot arrived at San Diego on 9 November, then sailed for the east coast. Cabot was placed out of commission in reserve at Philadelphia on 11 February 1947.

Post-War (1948–1955)

Recommissioned 27 October 1948, Cabot was assigned to the Naval Air Reserve training program. She operated out of Pensacola as a training carrier qualifying carrier-based pilots before being relieved in that role by Monterey in 1951. Later, she was reassigned to Quonset Point, on cruises to the Caribbean, and had one tour of duty in European waters from 9 January to 26 March 1952. Cabot was again placed out of commission in the reserve fleet at the Philadelphia Naval Yard on 21 January 1955. She was reclassified AVT-3 on 15 May 1959.

1967–1989
In 1967, after over twelve years in "mothballs", Cabot was loaned to Spain, in whose navy she served with the name of SPANISH AIRCRAFT CARRIER Dédalo and was equipped with the AV-8S Matador. The loan was converted to a sale and USS Cabot was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 August 1972. Dédalo was stricken from the Spanish Navy in August 1989 and given to a private organization in the U.S. for conversion to a museum ship.

Preservation attempts (1990–2002)
Cabot was designated as a National Historic Landmark on 29 June 1990. The ship spent most of the 1990s berthed in New Orleans. The private groups attempting to preserve her as a memorial were unable to pay creditors, and on 10 September 1999 the ship was auctioned off by the U.S. Marshals Service to Sabe Marine Salvage of Brownsville, Texas. Its designation as a National Historic Landmark was withdrawn on 7 August 2001. Scrapping of the hulk was completed in 2002. Her island and stern plate, along with the island of USS Iwo Jima (LPH-2), were obtained for preservation by the Texas Air Museum, at Rio Hondo, Texas. However, that museum subsequently closed, and Cabot's island was demolished. Cabot's stern plate is on display at the Texas Air Museum, at Slaton, Texas. The National Museum of Naval Aviation at NAS Pensacola constructed a replica of Cabot's island using original plans, along with a reconstructed section of flight deck.

The USS Lexington aircraft museum in Corpus Christi, Texas, has a large collection of items from Cabot, including all the guns and the anchor. A museum room contains information, artifacts, and pictures of Cabot.

Awards

 * Presidential Unit Citation
 * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal with nine battle stars
 * World War II Victory Medal
 * Navy Occupation Medal with "ASIA" and "EUROPE" clasps
 * National Defense Service Medal

title: USS Cabot (CVL-28)