USS Bennington (CV-20)

The second USS "Bennington" (CV-20) was an Sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. Named for the Battle of Bennington in the town of Bennington, Vermont, she was the second U.S. Naval vessel to bear the name. She was launched 28 February 1944 by New York Navy Yard, sponsored by Mrs. Melvin J. Maas, wife of Congressman Maas of Minnesota, and commissioned 6 August 1944, Captain J. B. Sykes in command.

WW-II

On 15 December "Bennington" got underway from New York and transited the Panama Canal on the 21st. The carrier arrived at Pearl Harbor 8 January 1945 and then proceeded to Ulithi Atoll, Caroline Islands, where she joined Task Group 58.1 on 8 February. Operating out of Ulithi she took part in the strikes against the Japanese home islands (16 February-17 February and 25 February), Volcano Islands (18 February–4 March), Okinawa (1 March), and the raids in support of the Okinawa campaign (18 March–11 June). On 7 April "Bennington's" planes participated in the attacks on the Japanese task force moving through the East China Sea toward Okinawa which resulted in the sinking of the Japanese battleship Yamato, light cruiser Yahagi, and four destroyers . On 5 June the carrier was damaged by a typhoon off Okinawa and retired to Leyte for repairs, arriving 12 June. Her repairs completed, "Bennington" left Leyte 1 July and during 10 July–15 August took part in the aerial raids on the Japanese home islands.

She continued operations in the western Pacific, supporting the occupation of Japan until 21 October. On 2 September her planes participated in the mass flight over "Missouri" (BB-63) and Tokyo during the surrender ceremonies. "Bennington" arrived at San Francisco 7 November 1945 and early in March 1946 transited the Panama Canal en route to Norfolk, Virginia. Following pre-inactivation overhaul, she went out of commission in reserve at Norfolk 8 November 1946.

Post War Service

The carrier began modernization at New York Naval Shipyard 30 October 1950 and was recommissioned as CVA-20 13 November 1952. In this period Bennington was the recipient of over 11 million manhours during her SCB-27A conversion. Her deck was extended convert|43|ft|m|0 in length and was widened by convert|8|ft|m|0. The point was to modernize the ship to be able to launch jet aircraft. She also had the convert|5|in|mm|0|sing=on guns removed from the flight deck, which were replaced by smaller convert|3|in|mm|0|sing=on guns.

On 13 November 1952, Captain David. B. Young took command of Bennington in a ceremony attended by more than 1,400, including the Secretary of the Navy Dan A. Kimball and Rear Admiral R.H. Hillenkoeter who said the Bennington was "the most modern carrier in our fleet today."

Marine Air Group 14 (MAG-14), under the command of Col. W.R. Campbell, USMC reported for duty on Bennington on 13 February 1953, and Bennington set off for the waters off Florida to conduct carrier qualifications. The first trap was made on Bennington since her recommissioning by Lt. Col. T.W. Furlow in his AD Skyraider. Furlow was the commanding officer of Marine Attack Squadron 211 (VMA-211). The first jet aircraft to land on Bennington occurred on 18 February 1953 by Major Carl E. Schmitt in an F9F-5 Cougar. When the qualifications were over, Bennington headed for Guantanamo Bay Naval Base where she underwent 11 weeks of shakedown training.

Her shakedown lasted until May 1953, when she returned to Norfolk for final fleet preparations. On 27 April 1953 a downcomer tube in Boiler Room One slipped loose which caused an explosion that killed 11 men, and seriously wounded four others. Killed were Charles A. Arrowood, Paul R. Cuvar, William A. Garretson, Robert A. Jones, Walter E. Liston, Jr., James W. Mills, Louis J. Mitchell, Richard J. Mott, William E. Satterfield, Jr., Frederick P. Selfridge, and Lowell D. Wells.

Between 14 May 1953 and 27 May 1954 she operated along the eastern seaboard; made a midshipman cruise to Halifax, Nova Scotia ; and a cruise in the Mediterranean. At 0811, 26 May 1954, while cruising off Narragansett Bay, the fluid in one of her catapults exploded, setting off a series of secondary explosions which killed 103 crewmen and injured 201 others. "Bennington" proceeded under her own power to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, to land her injured.

Moving to New York Naval Shipyard for repairs she was completely rebuilt during 12 June 1954-19 March 1955. On 22 April 1955 the Secretary of the Navy came aboard and presented medals and letters of commendation to 178 of her crew in recognition of their heroism on 26 May 1954. "Bennington" returned to operations with the U.S. Atlantic Fleet until departing Mayport, Florida, 8 September 1955 for the Pacific. She steamed by way of Cape Horn and arrived at San Diego one month later. The carrier then served with the Pacific Fleet making two Far Eastern cruises.

The 1956-57 air wing consisted of one squadron each of the following: FJ3 Fury, F2H Banshee, F9F Cougar fighters, AD-6 Skyraider, AD-5N Skyraider, and AD-5W attack aircraft, AJ2 Savage bombers, and F9F-8P photo reconnaissance planes.http://www.uss-bennington.org/airgroups.html]

Incident in Sydney

On 7 May 1957, while docked in Sydney for Coral Sea Day celebrations, ten University of Sydney students dressed as pirates boarded the aircraft carrier in the early morning hours undetected. While some began soliciting donations from the navy crew for a local charity, others entered the bridge. The public address system was turned on. "Now hear this!" announced Paul Lennon, a medical student. "The U.S.S. Bennington has been captured by Sydney University pirates!" [ [http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809510,00.html Incident in Sydney - TIME ] ] [ [http://www.uss-bennington.org/stz-gmaysydney57.html Gary May Sydney Australia May 1957 GQ - CREW STORIES - USS BENNINGTON ] ] Alarms for general quarters, atomic and chemical attacks were sounded, rousing the crew from their bunks. [ [http://www.uss-bennington.org/stz-sydneytyung.html 1957 Visit to Sydney - Terry Yung - CREW STORIES - USS BENNINGTON ] ] Marines escorted the students off the ship. No charges were filed. [ [http://www.uss-bennington.org/stz-hoax-usnview57.html United States Navy View Of University Hoax - Crew Stories - Uss Bennington ] ]

ASW Operations

She was redesignated as an ASW support carrier CVS-20 on 30 June 1959, and was on hand for the 1960 Laotian Crisis. She also had three tours of duty, between 1965 and 1968, in the Vietnam War.

As an ASW carrier her air wing consisted of two squadrons of S-2F Trackers, a squadron of Sikorsky SH-34s ASW helicopters which were replaced in 1964 by SH-3A Sea Kings in that role. Airborne early warning was first provided by EA-1Es modified for the AEW role, these were upgraded in 1965 to the E-1 Tracer which is built on the same frame as the S-2 Tracker. During the years 1964 and 1965 a squadron of A-4B Skyhawks were also embarked.

She was the prime recovery vessel for the unmanned Apollo 4 mission and on 9 November 1967 recovered the capsule which had splashdowned 16 km from the ship.

Disposal

"Bennington" was decommissioned 15 January 1970, stricken 20 September 1989, and sold for scrap 12 January 1994, being subsequently towed across the Pacific for scrapping in India.

ee also

* List of aircraft carriers
* List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy
* List of World War II ships

References

External links

* http://www.uss-bennington.org
* [http://www.hullnumber.com/CV-20 CV-20 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com]