USS Randolph (CV-15)

The second USS "Randolph" (CV-15/CVA-15/CVS-15) was an s pilots estimated that from 10 July to 25 July they had destroyed 25 to 30 ships, ranging in size from small luggers to a 6,000-ton freighter, and had damaged 35 to 40 others. "Randolph"'s strikes continued right up to the morning of the 15 August surrender, when her planes hit Kisarazu Airfield and surrounding installations.

Post War

Following the end of the war, "Randolph" headed home. Transiting the Panama Canal in late September, she arrived at Norfolk on 15 October, where she was rigged for the "Magic Carpet" service. Before the end of the year, she completed two trips to the Mediterranean area to return American servicemen. Then, in 1946, she became a training ship for reservists and midshipmen, and made a Mediterranean cruise in the latter half of the year. After another voyage to the Caribbean, she embarked midshipmen in the early summer of 1947 for a cruise to northern European waters. "Randolph" was placed out of commission, in reserve, 25 February 1948, and berthed at Philadelphia.

Reclassified CVA-15 on 1 October 1952, "Randolph" recommissioned on 1 July 1953. After shakedown off Guantanamo Bay with Carrier Air Group 10, she took on Carrier Air Group 14, departed Norfolk for the Mediterranean, and joined the 6th Fleet on 3 February 1954. Deployed to the Mediterranean for 6 months of Fleet and NATO exercises during 1954 and 1955, "Randolph" entered the Norfolk Navy Yard on 18 June 1955 for installation of an angled flight deck and other modernization.

Leaving the yard in January 1956, "Randolph" conducted air operations off the East Coast for the next 6 months, and was the first Atlantic Fleet carrier to launch a Regulus guided missile from her flight deck.

On 14 July 1956, "Randolph" again steamed east for a 7-month tour of duty with the 6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. When Israel, Britain, and France invaded the United Arab Republic in October of that year, "Randolph" stood ready. Operating near the Suez Canal, her aircraft provided air cover and surface and air reconnaissance for the evacuation of U.S. nationals from Alexandria. She returned to the United States on 19 February 1957.

After a few months operating off the East Coast, "Randolph" deployed to the Mediterranean again on 1 July 1957. Between August and December, as political turmoil in Syria threatened to further disturb the already turbulent Mideast, she patrolled the eastern Mediterranean. Back in the United States on 24 February 1958, the flattop made her 5th Mediterranean deployment from 2 September 1958 to 12 March 1959.

Anti-submarine Warfare

"Randolph" was reclassified CVS-15 on 31 March 1959, and conducted anti-submarine warfare (ASW) operations off the East Coast throughout that year and the next, receiving her fourth consecutive Battle Efficiency Award in September 1960. After overhaul at Norfolk, "Randolph" sailed for operations in the Caribbean and served as the recovery ship after splashdown for astronaut Virgil Grissom on America's second manned space flight, a suborbital shot. In February 1962, "Randolph" was the primary recovery ship for astronaut John Glenn on his flight, the first American orbital voyage in space. After his historic three-orbit flight, he landed safely near destroyer USS|Noa|DD-841|2 from which he was transferred, by helicopter, to "Randolph".

In the summer of 1962, "Randolph" again steamed to the Mediterranean. Returning to the western Atlantic as the Cuban missile crisis broke, she operated in the Caribbean from the end of October through November.On October 27 1962, "Randolph" and a group of eleven United States Navy destroyers entrapped a nuclear-armed Soviet Foxtrot class submarine B-59 near Cuba and started dropping practice depth charges, explosives intended to force the submarine to come to the surface for identification. Allegedly, the captain of the submarine, Valentin Grigorievitch Savitsky, believing that a war might already have started, prepared to launch a retaliatory nuclear-tipped torpedo, but Second Captain Vasili Alexandrovich Arkhipov persuaded the captain to surface to await orders from Moscow.

After a Norfolk overhaul, "Randolph" resumed her station in the Atlantic. During the next 5 years she made two Mediterranean cruises and a northern European cruise, while spending most of her time off the East Coast and in the Caribbean.

Disposal

On 7 August 1968, the Defense Department announced that it would inactivate "Randolph" and 49 other ships to reduce fiscal expenditures in 1969. "Randolph" was placed out of commission, in reserve, berthed at Philadelphia, 13 February 1969, where she remained until 1 June 1973 when she was stricken from the Navy List. She was sold for scrapping in May 1975.

"Randolph" earned three battle stars for World War II service.

See also

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

External links

* [http://www.ussrandolph.com A website for USS "Randolph"] - contains photographs and historical documents regarding the ship and her crew
* [http://wgordon.web.wesleyan.edu/kamikaze/books/japanese/azusa/index.htm Azusa special attack unit] - story of kamikaze unit that hit "Randolph" at Ulithi
* [http://www.combinedfleet.com/Tan%20No.%202.htm Another account of the March 11, 1945 kamikaze attack on "Randolph" at Ulithi.]
* [http://www.hullnumber.com/CV-15 CV-15 Personnel Roster at HullNumber.com]