- USS Wright (CVL-49)
The second USS "Wright" (CVL-49) was a "Saipan"-class
light aircraft carrier of theUnited States Navy , later converted to thecommand ship CC-2. The ship was named after theWright brothers ."Wright" was laid down on
21 August 1944 atCamden, New Jersey , by theNew York Shipbuilding Corporation , launched on1 September 1945 , sponsored byMrs. Harold S. Miller , a niece of the Wright brothers, and commissioned at thePhiladelphia Naval Shipyard on9 February 1947 , CaptainFrank T. Ward in command."Wright" departed Philadelphia on
18 March 1947 and stopped briefly atNorfolk, Virginia , en route to theNaval Air Training Base atPensacola, Florida . After her arrival there on31 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, conducting 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 48Midshipmen for temporary training duty and later welcomed 62 Army officers when she stood out to sea on15 October in company with USS|Forrest Royal|DD-872|2 to let her guests observe flight operations in the Pensacola area. The exercises included the catapulting of GrummanF6F Hellcat s 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, from1 November to17 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 theNorfolk Naval Shipyard on26 January 1949 to commence a four-month overhaul.Following refresher training in Cuban waters, "Wright" returned to Norfolk on
1 August 1949 and, four days later, shifted toNewport, Rhode Island , for two weeks ofantisubmarine warfare (ASW) training in theNarragansett Bay area withsubmarine s anddestroyer s. She also visitedNew York City before taking up a steady schedule of carrier qualifications, air defense tactics and exercises out ofQuonset Point, Rhode Island ,Key West , and Pensacola. But for 10 days of maneuvers with the2d Task Fleet from21 October to31 October 1949 , she continued that duty until7 January 1951 , when she embarked the last increment of personnel from Fighter Squadron (VF) 14 for temporary duty."Wright" then sailed from Norfolk on
11 January with a fast carrier task group and reachedGibraltar on the 21st for her first tour of duty with the6th Fleet in the Mediterranean. "Wright' s" first Mediterranean deployment took her from Gibraltar toOran ,Algeria . She proceeded thence toAugusta Bay ,Sicily ;Suda Bay ,Crete ;Beirut ,Lebanon ; andGolfe 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 the 31st. 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 theBoston Naval Shipyard , and participated in a convoy exercise that ran from25 February to21 March 1952 ; and ranged from Newport to waters of thePanama Canal Zone andTrinidad in theBritish West Indies .As
flagship forCarrier Division 14 , "Wright" sailed on9 June 1952 in company with four destroyers forming Task Group (TG) 81.4 for ASW operations along the Atlantic Seaboard until the 27th, when the ships arrived at New York City. Returning to Quonset Point on1 July , "Wright" trained units of the organized Naval Reserve concurrently with hunter-killer tactics and pilot training in operations out of Narragansett Bay until26 August . On that day, she set course from Quonset Point and later rendezvoused with Vice AdmiralFelix Stump 's 2d Task Fleet en route to northern Europe for combined defense exercises and maneuvers with naval units of otherNorth 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 ,French Morocco , an operation she completed on4 September . Two days later, "Wright" and her escort rejoined the task force; and they reached theFirth of Clyde ,Scotland , on the 10th.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|6 and HMS|Eagle|R05|6 en route toRotterdam , Netherlands, where the force arrived on the 25th. On29 September , "Wright" departed Rotterdam, bound for the United States, and arrived at Newport on9 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 theVirginia Capes , before she began her second deployment to the Mediterranean. She reached Golfe Juan on21 February 1953 and operated with the 6th Fleet until31 March , when she sailed for home, via theAzores ."Wright" returned to Newport and, after a rigorous schedule of training in Narragansett Bay, sailed on
5 May for theGulf of Mexico . During that training cruise, she visitedHouston, Texas , where she hosted some 14,000 visitors on16 May and17 May . Returning to Quonset Point on28 May , "Wright" operated locally for another month before shifting south for a stint of operations out ofMayport, Florida ."Wright" was overhauled at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard from
31 July to21 November and then conducted refresher training in Cuban waters from4 January to16 February 1954 . Next, after departingDavisville, Rhode Island , on5 April , "Wright" sailed for the Far East—via the Panama Canal, San Diego, California, and Pearl Harbor—and reachedYokosuka , Japan, on28 May . The carrier, withMarine Attack Squadron 211 embarked, operated with the7th Fleet off both coasts ofKorea and also offOkinawa before she visitedHong Kong from24 September to30 September . Departing Yokosuka on15 October , "Wright" arrived at San Diego on the last day of October and entered theLong Beach Naval Shipyard where she remained until23 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|2—for the atomic test,Operation Wigwam , carried out in Pacific waters. Returning to the West Coast on20 May , "Wright" subsequently cruised to Pearl Harbor briefly before she entered theMare Island Naval Shipyard on14 July to commence preparation for inactivation. After shifting to thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard ,Bremerton, Washington , on17 October , for the final phase of preservation for inactivation, "Wright" was decommissioned at Puget Sound on15 March 1956 and assigned to the Bremerton group of thePacific Reserve Fleet .During her time in reserve, "Wright" was reclassified on
15 May 1959 , anauxiliary aircraft transport , AVT-7. However, she never served in that role, but remained inactive until15 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 world-wide military operations. Facilities were built into the ship for world-wide 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 until3 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 on30 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 theIsrael imerchantman , SS|Velos, on1 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. Upon completion of that mission of mercy, "Wright" resumed her voyage to Balboa.Transiting the Panama Canal on
7 December and8 December , "Wright" steamed via St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and moored at theHampton Roads Army Terminal on18 December . After a subsequent brief operational period off the Virginia Capes, "Wright" entered port on21 December and remained there through Christmas and New Year's.For the next six years, "Wright" operated out of Norfolk, training to perform her assigned mission as an 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, Fort Lauderdale and Port Everglades Florida, Boston, New York City, Annapolis, Philadelphia, Norfolk, and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On occasion, she alternated on "alert" status with USS|Northampton|CLC-1|2.
There were highlights and breaks from the cycle of periods in port and at sea. From
11 April to14 April 1967 , "Wright" lay at anchor off the coast of Uruguay, providing a world-wide communications capability in support of PresidentLyndon B. Johnson as he attended the Latin American summit conference atPunta del Este . On8 May 1968 , "Wright" went to the aid of USS|Guadalcanal|LPH-7|2 after thatamphibious 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 Ney award in the large mess afloat category. That award is given annually to the ship that maintains the highest food standards. During the USS|Pueblo|AGER-2|2 crisis in February 1969, "Wright"—while en route toPort Everglades, Florida —was hurriedly recalled to Norfolk and, upon her arrival there, stood by, on alert. Ultimately decommissioned on27 May 1970 , "Wright" was placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. The ship was stricken from the Navy List on1 December 1977 , and sold by theDefense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping on1 August 1980 .See also
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List of aircraft carriers
*List of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy References
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