USS Wasp (CV/CVA/CVS-18) is one of 24 class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States. Navy. The ship, the ninth US Navy ship to bear the name, was originally called Oriskany , but was renamed while being built to honor the previous Wasp (CV-7), which was drowned September 15, 1942. Wasp was commissioned in November 1943, and served in several campaigns at the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning eight fighting stars. Like many of his sister ships, he was disabled after shortly after the war ended, but was modernized and communicated in the early 1950s as an attacker (CVA), and subsequently became a submarine antisubmarine (CVS) carrier. In his second career, he operates primarily in the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Caribbean. He plays an important role in the manned space program, serving as a recovery ship for five missions: Gemini IV, Gemini VI, Gemini VII, Gemini IX, and Gemini XII. He retired in 1972, and was sold for scrap in 1973.
Video USS Wasp (CV-18)
Construction and commissioning
The ship was inaugurated on March 18, 1942 in Quincy, Massachusetts, by Bethlehem Steel Company, and renamed Wasp on November 13, 1942, shortly after the sinking of Wasp before.. He was launched on August 17, 1943, sponsored by Miss Julia M. Walsh, the younger brother of Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, and was commissioned on 24 November 1943, with Captain Clifton AF Sprague as commander.
Maps USS Wasp (CV-18)
Service history
World War II
1943-1944
After a shakedown cruise that lasted until the end of 1943, Wasp returned to Boston for a brief period to correct a minor error that had been discovered during his time at sea. On January 10, 1944, a new aircraft carrier departed from Boston, steamed to Hampton Roads, Virginia, and remained there until the last day of the month, as it sailed to Trinidad, its operating base until February 22. He returned to Boston five days later and prepared to serve in the Pacific. Beginning in March, the ship sails south, transits the Panama Canal, arrives in San Diego on March 21, and reaches Pearl Harbor on April 4th.
After training in Hawaiian waters, Wasp steamed to Marshall Islands and in Majuro, Rear Admiral Alfred E. Montgomery formed Task Group 58.6 (TG 58.6) from Vice Admiral Marc A. Mitscher Fast Carrier Task Force TF 58). On May 14, he and his sisters from TG 58.6, Essex and San Jacinto, attacked Marcus and Wake Islands to provide a new task group battle experience, to tested the recently established determination system - before takeoff - each specific target pilot, and to neutralize the islands for the upcoming Marianas Campaign. When the troops approached Marcus, he split, sending the San Jacinto north to search for a Japanese picket while the Wasp and Essex launched a raid on May 19 and 20 , intended for installation on the island. The American plane faced heavy anti-aircraft fire but still managed to do enough damage to prevent the Japanese troops on the island disrupting the impending attack on Saipan.
When the weather is canceled launching is planned for May 21, the two operators rejoin San Jacinto and steam to Wake. Aircraft from all three aircraft carriers attacked the island on May 24 and was effective enough to neutralize the base. However, the target selection system for each aircraft fell short of the Navy's expectations, and afterwards, tactical air commanders continued the responsibility to direct their aircraft attacks.
After the strike at Wake, TG 58.6 returns to Majuro to prepare for the Marianas campaign. On June 6, Wasp - was transferred to TG 58.2 which was also ordered by Rear Admiral Montgomery - sorted for Saipan invasion. During the afternoon of June 11, he and his sisters launched fighter planes to attack Japanese air base in Saipan and Tinian. They were challenged by about 30 ground fighters, who were instantly shot down. The anti-aircraft shots were heavy, but American planes hit them as they continued to destroy many Japanese planes still on the ground.
Over the next three days, American fighters - now joining bombers - installed installations in Saipan to soften Japanese defenses for American assault troops that will sail ashore on June 15. That day and so on until early June, planes from TGs 58.2 and TG 58.3 provide close air support for Marines fighting in the Saipan front base.
Rapid carriers of the task groups were then handed over to escort the responsibility of the operator to provide air support for US ground forces, refueling, and steaming to meet with TGs 58.1 and 58.4, which returned from attacks on Chichi and Iwo Jima to prevent air Japan. bases on the islands were used to launch attacks against American troops on or near Saipan.
Meanwhile, Japan - determined to defend Saipan, no matter how much it costs - to send Admiral Jisabur? Ozawa's First Mobile Phone Fleet from the Sulu Islands to Marianas to drown the fifth Fleet Fleet Admiral Raymond A. Spruance and to wipe out American troops who fought on land in Saipan. As soon as the Japanese task force was sorted from Tawi Tawi on the morning of June 13, the American submarine Redfin saw it and reported it. Other submarines - which from time to time make contact with the warship Ozawa - made Spruance record their progress as they traveled across the islands of the Philippines, across the Strait of San Bernardino, and took part in the Battle of the Philippine Sea.
Throughout the day on June 18, 1944, each troop sent a scout plane in an attempt to find the enemy. Due to their greater reach, the Japanese aircraft managed to gain some knowledge of the Spruance ship, but the American scout aircraft could not find Ozawa's power. Early the following morning, June 19, the plane from the Mitscher carrier to Guam to neutralize the island for the upcoming battle and in a series of dogfights, destroyed many Japanese ground-based aircraft.
In the morning, the aircraft carrier from Ozawa's fleet launched four major attacks against their American counterparts, but everything was almost completely thwarted. Almost all Japanese fighter planes were shot down when they failed to sink an American ship. They managed to score a single hit bomb in South Dakota, but the solitary success did not make the warship inaction.
That day, Mitscher aircraft did not find a Japanese ship, but the American submarine managed to send two enemy carriers ( Taih? and Sh? Kaku ) down. In the evening, three of Jordch's four task force groups headed west to look for Ozawa's retired fleet, leaving only TG 58.4 and an old warship line around Marianas to cover ground troops in Saipan. Aircraft from American carriers failed to find Japanese troops until mid-afternoon on the 20th when Avenger pilot reported finding Ozawa nearly 300 miles (Ã, km) from the American carrier aircraft. Mitscher bravely ordered an all-out strike even though he knew the night would come down before his plane could return.
More than two hours later, American aviators captured their quarry. They ruined two tankers so badly that they had to be cut down; drowned carrier Hiy? , and scored a destructive but non-lethal goal on operator Ryuho , Juny? , Zuikaku , and some other Japanese ships. However, during a sunset attack, the fuel gauges in many American aircraft are listed half empty or more, presenting an anxious flight back to their present operator far away.
When the aircraft carrier saw the first return flight in 2030 that night, Rear Admiral J. J. Clark opposed the threat of Japanese submarine by ordering all lights to be lit to guide the tired leaflets.
After the plane from Hornet landed on Lexington , Mitscher gave the pilot permission to land on the available deck. Despite this unusual effort to help Navy aviators, many planes run out of fuel before they reach the aircraft carrier and fall into the water.
When fuel calculations indicate that no aircraft that has not returned can still be higher, Mitscher ordered the aircraft carrier to reverse and continue the stern pursuit of the surviving Ozawa ships - more in hopes of finding a falling flier that may still be alive and interesting they were from the sea rather than in the hope of overtaking Japan's First Mobile Fleet before reaching the protection of the Emperor's ground-based aircraft. During the chase, Mitscher's ships took 36 pilots and 26 crewmen.
In mid-June 21, Admiral Spruance separated Wasp and Bunker Hill from their task group and sent them by Admiral Lee in Ozawa to search for and destroy the enemy's paralyzed ship. The next two days of hunting failed to release any games, so the ad hoc forces went to Eniwetok for recharging and well-earned breaks.
The pause was brief, because on June 30, Wasp was sorted in TG 58.2 - with TG 58.1 - for strikes at Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima. Aircraft from aircraft carriers crashed into the islands on July 3-4 and, during the attack, destroyed 75 enemy aircraft, mostly in the air. Then, as a grand finale, the cruiser from the power screen fired on Iwo Jima for two and a half hours. The next day, July 5, two task groups returned to Marianas and attacked Guam and Rota to start over a two-week effort to soften the Japanese defense there in preparation for the landing in Guam. The aircraft from Wasp and his twin brothers provide close air support for marines and troops who raid ashore on 21 July.
The next day, TG 58.2 is sorted with two other Mitscher-carrying groups heading west to the Western Carolines, and launches an attack on Palaus on the 25th. The forces then split up, with TGs 58.1 and 58.3 steaming back north for further attacks to keep Bonin and the Volcano Islands temporarily neutralized Wasp in TG 58.2 retreated to Marshalls for charging in Eniwetok which he accomplished on 2 August.
Towards the end of the Wasp ' at the base, Admiral Halsey freed Admiral Spruance on August 26 and the 5th Fleet became the 3rd Fleet. Two days later, the Rapid Carrier Task Force - the redesigned TF 38 - is sorted for the Palaus. On September 6, Wasp , now assigned to Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. TG 38.1, started a three-day raid on the Palaus. On September 9, he headed for the southern Philippines to neutralize air power there during the American conquest of Morotai, Peleliu and Ulithi - three islands needed as a base for the upcoming campaign to free the Philippines. The planes of these airlines experienced little resistance because they attacked Mindanao air field that day and on September 10th. The raid against the Visayan Islands on 12 and 13 September was done with impunity and equally successful. Studying the lack of Japanese air defenses in the southern Philippines enables the Allied strategy to cancel the Mindanao invasion which is scheduled to begin on 16 November. Instead, the Allied forces could go straight to Leyte and advance reclaim Philippine land for nearly a month.
D-day at Palaus, Sept. 15, found Wasp and TG 38.1 about 50Ã, mi (80 km km) from Morotai, launched an air raid. Then returned to the Philippines to revisit Mindanao and Visayas before retiring to the Admiralties on 29 September for charging at Manus in preparation for Philippine liberation.
Ready to resume the battle, it will take place again on October 4 and steamed to the Philippine Sea, where TF 38 is reinstalled at dusk on the night of October 7, around 375 mi (604 km) west of Marianas. Its mission is to neutralize the airbase within operational operational distance of the Philippines to keep Japanese aircraft out of the air during American landings in Leyte is scheduled to begin on October 20th. The vessels sailed north to meet a group of nine oil ships, and spend the next day, October 8, refueling. They then follow the path that generally leads northwest to Ry kky until October 10, when their plane attacks Okinawa, Amami, and Miyaki. That day, the TF 38 crashed one Japanese submarine, 12 canoes, and more than 100 aircraft. But for Lieutenant Colonel Doolittle's attack on Tokyo from Hornet (CV-8) on April 18, 1942 and a bold Pacific Fleet submarine war patrol, this aircraft carrier was the closest approach to the US Navy to the home islands Japan. up to that point in the war.
Starting on October 12, Formosa received three days of unwanted attention from a TF 38 airliner. In response, the Japanese Navy made an all-out effort to protect the strategic island, although doing so meant rejecting the remaining carrier carrier. However, the attempt to thwart the forthcoming American Pacific Fleet was futile. At the end of a three-day air combat, Japan has lost more than 500 aircraft and 20 strange cargo. Many other damaged merchant ships such as hangars, barracks, warehouses, industrial plants, and ammunition dumps. However, the victory is expensive for the United States Navy, as TF 38 lost 79 aircraft and 64 pilots and crew, while Canberra and Houston cruisers and operators Franklin receive destructive, but non-lethal, torpedo and bomb attacks.
From Formosa, TF 38 turned his attention to the Philippines. After steaming into Luzon's eastern waters, TG 58.1 began launching an attack on the island on the 18th and resumed the attack the next day, hitting Manila for the first time since it was occupied by the Japanese at the start of the war.
On October 20, the day when the first American troops sailed the coast at Leyte, Wasp had moved south to the island's station from where he and his sisters launched several aircraft for close air support missions to help MacArthur soldiers, while sending other aircraft to destroy airfields in Mindanao, Cebu, Negros, Panay, and Leyte. TG 38.1 refueled the next day and, on October 22, set up a course for Ulithi to rearm and provide.
While the McCain airline is steaming away from the Philippines, major events occur in the waters of the archipelago. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, joint commander of the Japan Combined Armada, activated the Sho-Go-1 plan, a scheme to realize a decisive naval action from Leyte, the Battle of Leyte Bay.
Japan's strategy called for operators of Ozawa to act as a bait to lure TF 38 north of Luzon and away from Leyte's coastal head. Then - with American fast carriers out of the way - heavy Japanese ships should be demonstrating to Leyte Bay from two directions: from the south via Surigao Strait and from the north through the San Bernardino Strait. During most of 24 October, aircraft from Halsey's duties in the Philippine waters struck the Admiral's Power "A", or Central Admiral Kurita's Army, as it steamed through the Sibuyan Sea toward the San Bernardino Strait. When the darkness stopped their attacks, American aircraft had drowned Musashi's superbattleship and destroyed several other Japanese warships. In addition, Halsey pilots reported that Kurita troops had turned and moved away from the San Bernardino Strait.
That night, the Admiral Nishimura "C", or the Southern Army, attempted to transit the Strait of Surigao, but met with the old warship line commanded by Rear Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. The glorious American war troops crossed Nishimura's "T" and all destroyed his power. Admiral Shima - who follows behind Nishimura for support - realizes that the disaster has struck and wisely retreated.
Meanwhile, on the afternoon of October 24 - after the Kurita Forces Center had turned away from the San Bernardino Strait in a clear setback - Halsey's reconnaissance aircraft finally found Ozawa's carrier aircraft less than 200 mi (320 km) north of TF 38. This intelligence pushed Halsey toward north towards Ozawa with its Rapid Task Force. However, at this point, he does not remember McCain TG 58.1, but keeps it steaming toward Ulithi.
After dark, Kurita's Power Center reverses course and once again toward the San Bernardino Strait. About 30 minutes past midnight, it passes through that narrow passage; switch right; and steamed to the south, to the east coast of Samar. Since Halsey had run north to catch the Ozawa carrier, only three Fleet 7 guards and their destroyer and destroyer vessels were available to challenge the mighty Kurita warships and heavy cruisers and to protect American amphibious ships supporting troops fighting in Leyte.
Remember with their nicknames, "Taffy 1", "Taffy 2", and "Taffy 3", the three American escort groups are deployed along the east coast of Samar with Taffy 3 in the northernmost position, about 40 mi (km) from Paninihian Point. Taffy 2 is covering the Gulf of Leyte, and "Taffy 1" is still far south observing Surigao Strait.
In 0645, scouts on the Taffy 3 ships saw antiaircraft bursts of fire in the northern sky, as gunmen fired shots at American antisubmarine patrol aircraft. Moments later, Taffy 3 made radar and visual contacts with an approaching Japanese warship. Shortly before 0700, Kurita's weapons fired at the poor flattop infant and their relatively small but very brave bodyguard. For more than two hours, the Taffy 3 boats and planes - assisted by aircraft from sister escorts-carrier groups to the south - fought back with torpedoes, weapons, bombs, and perfect cruises. Then, in 0311, Kurita - shaken by the loss of three heavy cruisers and thought that he had fought TF 38 - ordered his remaining battleship to stop the action.
Meanwhile, in 0848, Admiral Halsey had radioed McCain TG 58.1 - then refueled on the way to Ulithi - calling the carrier group back to Philippine waters to help Taffy 3 in its struggle for survival. Wasp and his queen rushed to Samar with pelvic velocity up to 1030 when they began launching a plane for an attack on the Kurita ship which is still about 330 miles away. While these raids are slightly damaging to the Central Power of Japan, they reinforce Kurita's decision to retire from Leyte.
While the plane was in the air, McCain's carrier continued to head west to reduce the flight distance back to its pilot and was in its optimal position at dawn to launch more fighter planes to escape enemy troops. With the first light of October 26, TG 38.1 and Rear Admiral Bogan TG 38.2 - eventually sent south by Halsey - launched their first attack of the day against Kurita. The second left the operator a little more than two hours later. This leaflet drowned the lightweight cruiser Noshiro and was damaged, but not drowned, heavy cruiser Kumano . Two task groups launched a third attack in the afternoon, but did not increase their score.
After the Battle of Leyte Bay, TG 38.1 operates in the Philippines for two more days, providing close air support before returning to Ulithi on 28 October. However, the break - where Rear Admiral Montgomery took command of TG 38.1 when McCain rushed to free Mitscher as TF 38 - short; Japanese ground planes attack troops at Leyte beachhead on 1 November. Wasp participated in a raid on Luzon airbase on October 5 and 6, destroying more than 400 Japanese aircraft, for the most part on land. A kamikaze hit Lexington during the operation. After that, Wasp returns to Guam to exchange the air group.
Wasp returned to the Philippines slightly before mid-month and continued to send attacks on targets in the Philippines until October 26 when the Air Force Air Force took responsibility for providing air support for troops in Leyte. TF 38 then retired to Ulithi. There, operators receive a larger complement of fighter aircraft, and in late November and early December, do the exercises to prepare them better to deal with new kamikaze threats.
TF 38 sorted from Ulithi on December 10 and 11 and proceeded to the east of Luzon for a day-night attack on the island's air base from December 14 to 16 to prevent Japanese fighter aircraft from the dangerous landing on the southwest coast of Mindoro scheduled for the 15th December. Later, when he retired to a fuel collection site east of the Philippines, TF 38 was trapped in a devastating cyclone that hit his ships and drowned three American destroyers. The carrier spent most of the following week fixing the storm damage and returning to Ulithi on Christmas Eve.
Tempo war acceleration, though, put aside a long break in the lagoon shelter. Before the year ends, the aircraft carrier returns to action against the airfield in the Philippines at Sakishima Gunto, and in Okinawa. The raids were intended to pave the way for General MacArthur's invasion of Luzon through Lingayen Bay. While the transport plane can not paralyze all Japanese air resistance to Luzon landings, they succeed in destroying many enemy planes, and thereby reducing air threats to manageable proportions.
1945
On the eve of the initial landing in Luzon on January 9, 1945, Halsey took TF 38 to the South China Sea during a week of rampaging where his ships and planes took many of the victims of Japanese shipping and aircraft before they retransmitted the Luzon Strait on January 16. 1945 and returned to the Philippine Sea. Bad weather prevented Halsey's plane from flying higher over the next few days; but on January 21, 1945, they bombed Formosa, Pescadores, and Sakishimas. The next day, the plane returned to Sakishimas and Ryice for bombing and reconnaissance again. The overworked Rapid Task Force then heads to Ulithi and enters the lagoon on the 26th.
While the flattop catches their breath in Ulithi, Admiral Spruance releases Halsey as the commander of the fleet, which then changes at 3-5. Metamorphosis also requires Mitscher to replace McCain and resume orders from TG 58.1 - still Wasp ' s task group.
The next major operation determined by the Allies strategy was the arrest of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. Iwo is required as a base for fighter aircraft to escort the B-29 Superfortress bombers from Marianas that attack Japanese home islands, and as an emergency landing point for the paralyzed aircraft. TF 58 is sorted out on February 10th, holds an exercise in Tinian, and then heads to Japan.
The fighter plane took off from the aircraft carrier before dawn on February 16 to clear the skies of the Japanese aircraft. They succeed in this mission, but Wasp lost some of its fighters during a sweep. The bombing procession, directed mainly at aircraft factories in Tokyo, followed, but clouds hid many of these factories, forcing several airplanes to drop their bombs on secondary targets. The bad weather, which also hampered Mitscher's leaflets during the raids the following morning, prompted him to cancel a scheduled strike for the afternoon and lead a task force in the west.
That night, Mitscher turned the aircraft carrier to the Volcano Islands to provide air support for the Marines who would land on the Iwo Jima beach on the morning of 19 February.
Over the next few days, aircraft from American carriers continue to assist the Marines involved in the bloody struggle to seize the island from their fanatical supporters. On February 23, Mitscher led his carrier back to Japan for more attacks in Tokyo. The plane took off on the morning of February 25, but when they reached Tokyo, they again found their target obscured by clouds. In addition, the visibility was so bad the next day that the raids in Nagoya were canceled, and the ships were sailing south towards Ryyyy to bomb and interconnect Okinawa, the next prize taken from the Japanese Empire. The plane left the aircraft carrier at dawn on March 1, and throughout the day, they hit and photographed Ryyy islands? group. Then, after the night bombing by surface ships, TF 58 set up a course for Carolines and anchored in the lagoon of Ulithi on March 4th.
Damaged by then, Wasp was recorded - from March 17 to 23 - often referred to as the busiest week in flattop history. In these seven days, Wasp contributed 14 enemy aircraft in the air, destroying six more on the ground, scoring two 500-pound (230 kg) bombs on each of the two Japanese carriers, dropping two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bomb on a Japanese warship, placed a 1,000-pound bomb on another warship, crashed into a heavy cruiser with three 500-pound missiles, dropped another 1,000 pounds on a large cargo ship, and fired heavily "and possibly drowned" great Japanese submarine. During this week, Wasp was under continuous attack by a beach-based aircraft, and underwent several attacks near kamikaze . The shooters who fired fired more than 10,000 rounds at the determined Japanese attackers.
Despite the brave efforts of the shooters, on March 19, 1945, Wasp was struck with a bomb through a 500-pound armor. The bomb broke through the flight deck and the steel-coated hangar deck, and exploded in the crew's kitchen. Many of her traveling mates were having breakfast after being in public all night. The blast turned off the number four fire room. About 102 crew were missing. Despite the disadvantages, Wasp resumed operations with the Task Group and the air group performed an operation 27 minutes after the damage.
On April 13, 1945, Wasp returned to Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, and the damage caused by the bomb attack was fixed. After being intact again, he steamed to Hawaii, and after a brief visit in Pearl Harbor, heading for the western Pacific on July 12, 1945. Wasp attacked on Wake Island and stopped briefly in Eniwetok before rejoining the Task Force Hurry up. In a series of strikes, unique in the almost absence of enemy aircraft, the Pilot's <<> Wasp attacked the Yokosuka Naval Base near Tokyo, many airfields, and a hidden manufacturing center. On August 9, a kamikaze plane swooped down on the carrier, but a cautious gunman, who was cleaning his gun at the time, began firing at the plane. He shot straight through the windshield and killed the pilot, but the plane kept coming. Next, he fired the wings of the plane, causing it to turn aside, missing the ship.
Then, on August 15, when the battle should have ended, two Japanese planes tried to attack the task group Wasp '. Fortunately, the Pilot Wasps was still flying with a combat air patrol and sent both enemies smoking into the sea. This is the last time the Wasp pilot and shooter hummed with the Japanese.
On August 25, 1945, a severe typhoon, with winds reaching 78 kn (140 km/h), swallowed the Wasp and the stove at about 30 ft (9 m) of its bow. The aircraft carrier, despite the dangerous work flying from the shortened deck, continues to launch the plane on a mercy mission or patrol because they bring proper food, medicine and luxury items to American prisoners of war in Narumi, near Nagoya.
The ship returned to Boston for Navy Day, October 27, 1945. On October 30, Wasp moved to a naval shipyard in New York, to have additional accommodation installed to transport troops back from the Pacific. The work was completed on Nov. 15 and enabled it to accommodate about 5,500 registered passengers and 400 officers.
Post-war
1947-1951
Upon receipt of the new changes, Wasp was assigned a temporary assignment as Transportation troops Operation Magic Carpet, bringing POW Italy back to Italy. On February 17, 1947, Wasp was placed outside the commission as a reserve, attached to the Atlantic Fleet.
In the summer of 1948, Wasp was removed from the reserve fleet and housed in the New York Navy Shipyard for reinstallation and change to allow it to accommodate larger, heavier, and faster aircraft than jet age. Upon completion of this conversion, the ship was inaugurated on 10 September 1951.
1951-1955
Wasp reported to the Atlantic Fleet in November 1951 and commenced the search-and-retrieve training period that lasted until February 1952. After returning from the voyage, he spent a month at the New York Navy Shipyard preparing for a task in distant waters.
On April 26, 1952, Wasp collided with a Hobson destroyer ship destroyer during a night flight operation en route to Gibraltar. Hobson lost 176 crew members, including his captain. The rescue operation quickly saved 52 men. Wasp did not suffer casualties, but his bow was torn by a 75-foot sawtooth.
The carrier proceeded to Bayonne, New Jersey, for repairs, and after he entered the drydock there, the Hornet's (Hornet) carrier (CV-12) - subsequently converted - was removed and floated by a barge from Brooklyn, New York, and installed in position at Wasp , replacing the crushed front end of the ship. This extraordinary task is completed in just 10 days, allowing the aircraft carrier to start across the Atlantic.
On June 2, 1952, Wasp relieved Tarawa in Gibraltar and joined Carrier Division 6 in the Mediterranean Sea. After a heavy flight operation between goodwill visits to many Mediterranean ports, Wasp was relieved in Gibraltar on September 5th by Leyte .
After taking part in the NATO Training Mainbrace in Greenock, Scotland, and enjoying a period of freedom in Plymouth, Wasp returned home and arrived in Norfolk on the morning of October 13, 1952.
On November 7, 1952, Wasp entered the New York Navy Shipyard to start a seven-month yard period to prepare it for a world voyage that would take him to the Pacific Fleet once more. After a refresher training in the Caribbean, Wasp departed from Norfolk on September 16, 1953 to participate in the Atlantic North Atlantic Training "Before Breakout" entering the Mediterranean.
After transiting the Suez Canal and crossing the Indian Ocean, making the harbor at Columbo, Ceylon, the aircraft carrier made short visits to the Philippines and to Japan and then carried on a heavy operation with the famous TF 77. While operating in the western Pacific, he made port calls in Hong Kong, Manila, Yokosuka, and Sasebo.
On January 10, 1954, Chinese General Chiang Kai-shek spent more than four hours on a vessel Wasp watching a simulated air war maneuver in Formosa waters. On March 12, President Ramon Magsaysay of the Republic of the Philippines came to observe air operations as guests of American Ambassador Raymond A. Spruance. Wasp operated out of Subic Bay, Philippines, temporarily, then sailed to Japan, where in April 1954, he was released by Boxer and sailed to his home port new. San Diego.
Wasp spending the next few months preparing for another tour from the East. He left the United States in September 1954 and steamed to the Far East, visiting Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima on the way. He was relieved Boxer in October 1954 and involved in air operations in the South China Sea with Carrier Task Group 70.2. Wasp visited the Philippine Islands in November and December and continued to Japan in early 1955 to join TF77. When operating with TF77, Wasp provides an air cover for the evacuation of the Tachen Islands by the Chinese Nationalists. During this evacuation on February 9, 1955, the AD-5W USN/VC-11 deviated over the ROC area and was shot down. While flying an antisubmarine patrol mission from Wasp (CVA 18), the plane was discarded after being damaged by anti-aircraft fire when it overflowed China. The three men crew were rescued by a Chinese Nationalist patrol boat. After Tachen's evacuation, Wasp stopped in Japan before returning to San Diego in April. He entered the San Francisco Naval Shipyard in May for a seven-month conversion and improvement. On December 1, the carrier returns to the task of displaying a new sloping flight deck and a storm arc. When 1955 ended, Wasp had returned to San Diego and was busy preparing for another tour of the Far East.
1956-1960
After training during the early months of 1956, Wasp departed San Diego on April 23 for another voyage to the Far East with Carrier Air Group 15 launching. He stopped at Pearl Harbor for examination and training, and then went on to Guam, where he arrived in time for the Day of the Armed Forces ceremony on May 14th. On the way to Japan in May, he joined TF 77 for Operation Sea Horse, a five day day and night training for aircraft and aircraft. The ship arrived at Yokosuka on June 4, visiting Iwakuni, Japan, then steamed to Manila for a short visit. After the drydock period at Yokosuka, Wasp is steamed back south to Cubi Point, the Philippine Islands, to prepare for a new naval air station there. Carrier Air Group 15 provides an air show for President Magsaysay and Admiral Arthur Radford. During the third week of August, Wasp was in Yokosuka enjoying what was scheduled for two weeks, but he sailed a week early to help other ships in search of survivors of a Navy patrol aircraft that had been shot down at August 23 off the coast of mainland China. After a fruitless search, the ship proceeded to Kobe, Japan, and made the final stop at Yokosuka before leaving the Far East.
Wasp returned to San Diego on October 15 and when there was a reclassification of the submarine warcraft carrier CVS-18 , effective November 1, 1956. He spent the last days of 1956 in San Diego preparing for his transfer to the east coast.
Wasp left San Diego on the last day of January 1957, circling the Cape Horn for operations in the South Atlantic and Caribbean Sea, then proceeded to Boston, where he arrived on 21 March. The carrier came to Norfolk, Virginia, on April 6 to start his crew members from the Antisubmarine Warfare School. The carrier spent the next few months in tactics along the East Coast and in the waters of Bermuda before returning to Boston on 16 August.
On September 3rd, Wasp is underway to participate in the NATO Ocean Operations and Strikeback, which took him to the coast of Scotland and simulated a nuclear attack and counterattack on 130 different land bases. The carrier returned to Boston on October 23, 1957 and entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for a massive overhaul, which was not completed until March 10, 1958 when he sailed for antisubmarine war practice at Guantánamo Bay, Cuba. After returning to Boston on April 29 and taking an air squadron at Naval Air Station Quonset Point, Rhode Island, on May 12, he became the center of TF 66, a group of 6th Fleet's special antisubmarine.
The carrier started the Atlantic crossing on May 12 and sailed only a few hundred miles when the problem raged in Lebanon. Wasp arrives in Gibraltar on May 21 and goes east, stopping at Souda Bay, Crete, Rhodes, and Athens. Wasp subsequently spent 10 days at sea doing an Italian-American antisubmarine war training in the Tyrrhenian Sea in Sardinia. On July 15, the carrier sailed to patrol waters off the coast of Lebanon. Marines helicopter transport squadron left the ship five days later to set up camp at Beirut International Airport. They flew reconnaissance missions and transported sick and injured people from the Marine battalions in the hills to the airport's evacuation hospital. He continued to support ground troops in Lebanon until September 17, 1958, when he left Beirut Harbor, heading home. He arrived in Norfolk on October 7, lowered inventory, and then paused at Quonset Point before arriving at his home port in Boston on October 11.
Four days later, Wasp became the flagship of the Bravo Task Group, one of two new anti-submarine defense groups formed by the commander-in-chief of the Atlantic. wasp 'air squadrons and seven destroyers were supported by seaplane-based seaplane aircraft. He sailed from Quonset Point on 26 November for a 17-day cruise in the North Atlantic. This period in the sea marks the first time its troops operate together as a team. The operation continued day and night to coordinate and develop the team's task force skills until he returned to Boston on 13 December 1958 and remained during the Christmas holiday season.
Wasp operated with Task Group Bravo throughout 1959, sailed along the Eastern Seaboard operating in Norfolk, Bermuda and Quonset Point. The ship was severely damaged by the explosion and subsequent fire on August 18, 1959, when a helicopter engine exploded while being tested in the number one hangar bay. Fire takes two hours to control. At the time of the accident, Wasp carried a nuclear weapon. In the first 30 minutes when fires burned out of control and magazines were flooded ahead, early preparations were also made to flood nuclear weapons magazines. However, this was not done, and 30 minutes later, the nuclear weapons magazine reported no significant temperature rise.
On February 27, 1960, Wasp entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for repairs. In mid-July, the carrier was ordered to the South Atlantic, where it stood when civil disputes broke out in a newly independent Congo and operated to support the United Nations air transport. He returned to his home port on August 11 and spent the remainder of the year operating from Boston with a visit to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for refresher training and exercises conducted in the Virginia Capes operation area and the Caribbean operations area. The airline returned to Boston on December 10 and remained at the port there for the New Year.
1961-1965
On January 9, 1961, Wasp sailed to the Virginia Capes operation area and devoted the first half of 1961 to practice there, in Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and in Nova Scotia. On June 9th, Wasp is underway from Norfolk, for a three-month Mediterranean voyage. The ship did the exercises at Augusta Bay, Sicily; Barcelona, ​​â € <â € After loading food, clothing, and equipment, Wasp spent 11-18 January 1962 doing anti-submarine warfare exercises and submarine surveillance off the east coast. After a brief stop in Norfolk, the vessel was steered to further exercises and anchored in Bermuda from 24 to 31 January. Wasp then returned to his home port. On February 17, a delegation from Plimoth Plantation presented a photograph from Mayflower II to Captain Brewer, who received this gift for Tawon Person for Person "in an upcoming effort. European shipping. On February 18, Wasp left Boston, headed for England, and arrived in Portsmouth on 1 March. On March 16, the aircraft carrier arrived in Rotterdam, the Netherlands, for a good visit this week. From 22 to 30 March, Wasp went to Greenock, Scotland, from there to Plymouth. On April 17, Captain Brewer presented Alderman A. Goldberg, Lord Mayor of Plymouth, a great picture of Mayflower II as a gift from the people of Plymouth, Massachusetts. On May 5, Wasp arrived in Kiel, West Germany, and became the first aircraft carrier ever to visit the port. The vessel made calls to Oslo, ReykjavÃÆ'k and Naval Station Argentia, Newfoundland and Labrador, before returning to Boston, Massachusetts, on June 16. From August to October, Wasp visits Newport, Rhode Island, New York City, and Earle Naval Weapon Station in New Jersey, then cruises, as well as cruise ships, and cruise ships. On November 1, Wasp used his abilities when he responded to a call from President John F. Kennedy and actively participated in the Cuban blockade. After the tension relaxed, the carrier returned to Boston on November 22 for maintenance work, and on December 21, he sailed to Bermuda with 18 homeless people from Boston universities. Wasp returned to Boston on December 29 and spent the year there. The early part of 1963 had Wasp doing antisubmarine war exercises from Virginia Capes and steaming along the Caribbean coast of Costa Rica to support the president's visit. On March 21, President Kennedy arrived in San JosÃÆ'Â © for a conference with the presidents of six Central American states. After taking part in a fleet exercise in Puerto Rico, the aircraft carrier returned to Boston on April 4. From May 11th to 18th, Wasp took off Bermuda station as a reserve recovery vessel for Major Gordon Cooper's Mercury capsule recovery. The landing took place as planned in the mid-Pacific near Midway Atoll, and operator Kearsarge took Cooper and his Faith 7 spacecraft. Wasp then continued his anti-submarine warfare exercises along the Atlantic Coast and in the Caribbean until he improved in the fall of 1963 for Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization improvements at the Boston Naval Shipyard. In March 1964, the aircraft carrier conducted a sea test outside of Boston. During April, he operated in Norfolk and Narragansett Bay. He returned to Boston on May 4 and remained there until May 14, while he was underway for refresher training in the waters between Guantanimo Bay, Cuba and Kingston, Jamaica, before returning home to his port on June 3, 1964. On July 21, 1964, Wasp started a round-trip to Norfolk and returned to Boston on 7 August. He remained there until September 8, when he headed, through the operating area of ​​Virginia Capes, to Valencia, Spain. He then sailed to the Mediterranean, visited ports in Spain, France, and Italy, and returned home on December 18th. The carrier remained at the port until February 8, 1965, and sailed for fleet training in the Caribbean. Operating along the Eastern Coast, he discovered Gemini IV astronauts James McDivitt and Ed White and their spacecraft on 7 June after narrowing. Gemini IV is the first American mission to run in space, Ed White. During the summer, the ship conducts search and rescue operations for the C-121 Air Force plane that has fallen from Nantucket. Following the orientation voyage for 12 congressmen on August 20-21, Wasp participated in joint training exercises with German and French troops. From December 16 to 18, the carriers restored astronauts Gemini VI-A, Wally Schirra and Thomas P. Stafford and his sister Gemini VII, Frank Borman and Jim Lovell - the participants who involved in the first manned meeting room - after each slump, and then returned to Boston on December 22 to finish this year. 1966-1967
On January 24, 1966, Wasp departed from Boston for a fleet exercise off the coast of Puerto Rico. Travel, heavy sea and high winds cause structural damage to aircraft carriers. He was admitted to Roosevelt Roads, Puerto Rico, on February 1 to determine the extent of his damage and the effects of repairs as much as possible. The flying engineer from Boston decided that the ship could stop the "Springboard" operation early and return to Boston. The vessel performs a limited antisubmarine operation from 6-8 February before leaving the area. He arrived in Boston on February 18 and was placed in limited availability until March 7, when his repair work was completed.
Wasp joined in a rehearsal in the Narragansett Bay area of ​​operation. While the carrier did this task, the television film crew from National Broadcasting Company flew to Wasp on 21 March and stayed on board for the rest of his past at sea, making a movie for a special color television show to be presented on the Day Armed Forces.
The carrier returned to Boston on 24 March 1966 and was moored there until 11 April. On March 27, Doctor Ernst Lemberger, the Austrian Ambassador to the United States, visited the ship. On April 18, the ship started several guests from the Navy Secretary and arranged courses for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. He returned to Boston on May 6th. A week later, the veteran flattop sailed to take part in the recovery of the Gemini IX spacecraft . Starting with Wasp is about 66 people from NASA, the television industry, media personnel, underwater destruction recovery teams, and the Department of Defense medical team. On June 6, he found astronaut Lieutenant Colonel Thomas P. Stafford and Lieutenant Commander Eugene Cernan and flew him to Cape Kennedy. Wasp returns their capsules to Boston.
Wasp participated in ASWEX III, an antisubmarine exercise that lasted from June 20 to July 1, 1966. He spent the next 25 days at the port in Boston for treatment. On the 25th, the carrier is in progress for ASWEX IV. During this exercise, the Soviet intelligence collection vessel, Agi Traverz , entered the area of ​​operations, necessitating suspension of operations and finally repositioning troops. Training stopped on 5th August. He then took a cruise on August 8-9, and a cruise orientation at 10, 11 and 22 August. After a two-day visit to New York, Wasp arrived in Boston on September 1 and underwent treatment until September 19th. From that day until October 4, he conducted a hunter/killer operation with Royal Canadian Navy aircraft launched.
After maintenance in Boston, the vessel participated in the Gemini XII recovery operation from 5 to 18 November 1966. Recovery occurred on 15 November when splashdown space capsule occurred within 3Ã, mi (5 km) of Wasp . Captain James A. Lovell and Major Edwin E. Aldrin were picked up with a helicopter hoist to Hornet's deck and there enjoyed two days of celebration. Wasp arrived in Boston on 18 November with the spacecraft Gemini XII on the plane. After removing the special Gemini support equipment, Wasp spends 10 days preparing for the next period at sea.
On November 28 Wasp left Boston to take part in this year's largest exercise of the Atlantic Fleet, Lantflex-66, in which over 100 US ships took part. The bearer returned to Boston on December 16, where he remained through late 1966.
Wasp served as an operator qualifying vessel for Naval Training Command from 24 January to 26 February 1967 and conducted operations in the Gulf of Mexico and off the east coast of Florida. Noteworthy during this period was the celebration of the 58,000 airline landing on 10 February 1967 as a qualified Ensign Donald Koch operator with two touch-and-gos and six landings captured on the T-28C. He called in New Orleans for Mardi Gras from February 4-8, in Pensacola on 11 and 12 February, and in Mayport, Florida, on February 19 and 20. Returning to Boston a week later, he remained at the harbor until March 19, when he sailed for a Springboard operation in the Caribbean. On March 24, Wasp joined Salamonie for ongoing charging but crashed in a collision with an oiler. After making improvements on Roosevelt Roads, he resumed operations on March 29 and visited Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas, the US Virgin Islands, and participated in the celebration from March 30 to April 2, marking the 50th anniversary of the purchase of Virgin Islands by the United States from Denmark. Wasp returned to Boston on April 7, remained at the port for four days, then sailed to Earle, New Jersey, to unload ammunition before it was repaired. He visited New York for three days, then returned to the Boston Naval Shipyard and commenced repairs on 21 April 1967, which did not finish until early 1968.
1968-1970
Wasp completed the cyclical reshuffle and conducted a postrepair trial during January 1968. Returning to the Boston Naval Shipyard on January 28, the ship was ready for two months of technical evaluation and training beginning in early February.
The five-week refresher training for Wasp started on February 28, under the operational control of Commander, Fleet Training Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. As of March 30, Wasp is steaming north and is in Boston from 6 to 29 April for routine maintenance and minor repairs. He then departed for operations in the Bahamas and took part in Fixwex C, a workout off the coast of Bermuda. The operator arranged a course for the house on May 20, but left five days later to conduct operator qualification for Naval Command Training students in the Jacksonville, Florida operating area.
On June 12th, Wasp and Truckee had a small collision during charging. The aircraft carrier returns to Norfolk, where an investigation into the collision situation is carried out. On June 20, Wasp is underway for Boston, where he stayed until August 3 when he moved to Norfolk to pick up ammunition.
On June 15, wasp 'home port changed to Quonset Point, RI, and he arrived there on August 10 to prepare for a foreign movement. Ten days later, the aircraft carrier is underway to be placed in European waters. The northern European section of the yacht consists of several operational periods and port visits to Portsmouth, England; Firth of Clyde, Scotland; Hamburg, Germany; and Lisbon, Portugal. Wasp , as part of TG 87.1, joined the NATO Silvertower Training, the largest naval joint exercise in four years. Silvertower brings together the surface, air, and subsurface units of some NATO navies.
On 25 October 1968, the aircraft carrier entered the Mediterranean, and the next day, became part of TG 67.6. After a port visit to Naples, Italy, Wasp departs on November 7 for an antisubmarine war game in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Levantine Basin, and Ionian Basin. After loading aircraft in Taranto and Naples, Italy, Wasp visited Barcelona, ​​Spain, and Gibraltar. On December 19, the ship returned to Quonset Point, and spent the rest of 1968 at the harbor.
Wasp started in 1969 at the harbor of his home in Quonset Point. After a yard period that runs from January 10 to February 17, operators perform exercises as part of the White Task Group in the Bermuda operating area. The ship returned to Quonset Point on March 6 and commenced a month of preparation for overseas movements.
On April 1, 1969, Wasp set sail for the eastern Atlantic and arrived in Lisbon, Portugal, on April 16. From 21 to 26 April, he took part in a practice with Trilant, which was held with the United States navy, Spain, and Portugal. One of the highlights of the voyage occurred on May 15, when Wasp arrived in Portsmouth, England, and served as seeded for TF 87, representing the United States in NATO review by Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip in the 64 ships from 11 countries participating NATO.
After training and visiting Rotterdam, Oslo and Copenhagen, Wasp headed home on June 30, and for a one-day United Fund voyage on August 12, stay at Quonset Point until 24 August. The period from 29 August to 6 October is devoted to alternating operations between Corpus Christi, Texas, for advanced carrier qualification, and Pensacola for basic qualification, with a port period in Pensacola.
The limited availability period starts on October 10 and is followed by operations in the Virginia Capes region until 22 November. In December, Wasp conducted a career qualification mission in the Jacksonville area of ​​operations that lasted until December 10th. The ship arrives back at Quonset Point on December 13 and stays there for the holidays.
The carrier greeted 1970 tied up at its home port in Quonset Point, but traveled more than 40,000 mi (60,000 km) and was away from the 265-day port house. On January 4, he proceeded to Earle, NJ, and lowered the ammunition before entering the Boston Naval Shipyard for a six-week reshuffle on January 9th.
The carrier embarked on a three-week voyage on March 16, but returned to its home port on April 3 and began preparing for the east Atlantic placement. Wasp reached Lisbon on May 25, 1970 and anchored at the Tagus River. A week later, operators have been going on to participate in NATO's Night Patrol Training with units from Canada, the Netherlands, Portugal, England, and West Germany. On June 8, Wasp proceeded to Rota, Spain, to start a group of crew for a voyage to Copenhagen. During training in Scandinavian waters, the aircraft carrier was overshadowed by Soviet aircraft and planes. The ship departed from Copenhagen on June 26, and three days later, crossed the Arctic Circle.
On July 13, 1970, Wasp arrived in Hamburg, Germany, and enjoyed the warmest welcome received at each cruise ship port. Visitor Day was held, and more than 15,000 Germans were recorded as hosts. After a call in Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, Wasp is taking place on August 10 for the operation area of ​​the Norwegian Sea. The carrier anchored near Plymouth on August 28, and two days later, sailed towards the harbor of his home.
Wasp returns to Quonset Point on September 8 and stays there until October 11, while he is in progress to unload ammunition at Earle, before the limited availability period at the Boston Naval Shipyard begins on October 15th. The work ended on December 14; after replenishing ammunition at Earle, Wasp returned to Quonset Point on December 19 to complete 1970.
1971-1972
On January 14, 1971, Wasp left Quonset Point with Commander, ASWGRU 2, CVSG-54 and Detachment 18 of the Fleet Training Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, began. After refresher training in Bermuda, he paused in Rota, then proceeded to the Mediterranean to participate in the National VIII National training with several destroyers for investigation of a known Soviet submarine operating area. On February 12, Navy Secretary John Chafee visited the aircraft carrier accompanied by Commander, 6th Fleet, Rear Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr.
Wasp separated earlier from the National Week exercise on February 15 to support John F. Kennedy as he drove to Gibraltar. The Soviet ships trailed Wasp and John F. Kennedy until they entered the Sicilian Strait when the Soviets went east. After a brief stopover in Barcelona, ​​Wasp commenced his return journey on 24 February and arrived at Quonset Point on 3rd March.
After spending March and April at the port, Wasp is ongoing on 27 April and conducting a nuclear engineering skills checkup and preparing for an upcoming Exotic Dancer exercise that begins on May 3rd. After successfully completing the week-long exercise, Wasp was heading home on May 8 when ABC television team started and filming a brief news report about the antisubmarine submarine operation.
On May 15, the veteran made a cruise, and a month later, participated in the Rough Ride at Great Sound, Bermuda, which took him to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
Wasp returned to Quonset Point on July 2, 1971, and spent the next two months in preparation and execution of the Squeeze Play IX Training in the Bermuda operating area. In August, the ship did the exercises with the East Coast naval air force group while continuing to Mayport, Florida. He returned to his home port on August 26 and spent the next month there. On September 23rd, Wasp is in progress for Lantcortex 1-72 Exercise, which ends on October 6th. For the remainder of the month, operators join in cross-border operations that take him to Bermuda, Mayport, and Norfolk. He arrived back at Quonset Point on November 4th.
Four days later, the carrier arranged for Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., where she was in the drydock until 22 November. He then returned to Quonset Point and remained at his home port for the rest of the year preparing for decommissioning.
On March 1, 1972, it was announced that Wasp would be disabled and invalid from the Naval Vessel Register after more than 28 years of operation. The deactivation ceremony was held on July 1, 1972. The ship was sold on May 21, 1973 to Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, from New York City, and later removed.
Awards
Wasp earned eight star battles for his World War II service.
See also
- List of aircraft carriers and lists of United States Navy aircraft carriers
- List of World War II ships
- Wings of Fury - a video game centered around Wasp
References
- Naval History and Heritage Command. " Wasp IX". Dictionary of American Navy Combat Ships . Naval History And Heritage Command . Retrieved December 9 2013 .
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of the Navy Ships Vehicle of America . Entries can be found here.
External links
- Hobson-Wasp Collision Collection, 1952-1953 MS 245 organized by the Special Collection & amp; Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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