USS Mindoro (CVE-120)

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For other ships with the same name, see USS Mindoro.
USS Mindoro (CVE-120) underway in April 1952
History
United States
NameUSS Mindoro
NamesakeMindoro
BuilderTodd Pacific Shipyards
Laid down2 January 1945
Launched27 June 1945
Commissioned4 December 1945
Decommissioned4 August 1955
Stricken1 December 1959
FateSold June 1960, and scrapped in Hong Kong
General characteristics
Class and typeCommencement Bay-class escort carrier
Displacement21,397 long tons (21,740 t)
Length557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) loa
Beam75 ft (23 m)
Draft32 ft (9.8 m)
Installed power
Propulsion
  • 2 ×
    Steam turbines
  • 2 ×
    screw propellers
Speed19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement1,066
Armament
Aircraft carried33
Aviation facilities2 × aircraft catapults

USS Mindoro (

naval register in December 1959 and thereafter scrapped
.

Design

Main article: Commencement Bay-class escort carrier
Mindoro underway in 1953

In 1941, as United States participation in

transport ships of various types. Many of the escort carrier types were converted from C3-type transports, but the Sangamon-class escort carriers were instead rebuilt oil tankers. These proved to be very successful ships, and the Commencement Bay class, authorized for Fiscal Year 1944, were an improved version of the Sangamon design. The new ships were faster, had improved aviation facilities, and had better internal compartmentation.[1]

Mindoro was 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m)

draft of 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m). The ship's superstructure consisted of a small island. She had a complement of 1,066 officers and enlisted men.[2]

The ship was powered by two

water-tube boilers. The propulsion system was rated to produce a total of 16,000 shp (12,000 kW) for a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). Given the very large storage capacity for oil, the ships of the Commencement Bay class could steam for some 23,900 nautical miles (44,300 km; 27,500 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph).[2]

Her defensive

40 mm (2 in) Bofors guns, and twenty 20 mm (1 in) Oerlikon light AA cannons. The Bofors guns were placed in three quadruple and twelve twin mounts, while the Oerlikon guns were all mounted individually. She carried 33 planes, which could be launched from two aircraft catapults. Two elevators transferred aircraft from the hangar to the flight deck.[2]

Service history

A K-class blimp landing on Mindoro in the 1950s

The

commissioned at Tacoma on 4 December 1945, too late to have seen action during the war.[2] Following her completion, she embarked on a shakedown cruise to test the ship along the West Coast of the United States, that lasted into January 1946; later that month, she departed for the East Coast of the United States, arriving in Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 February. Despite the fact that the United States was demobilizing much of the armed forces that had been assembled during the war, the newly completed Mindoro would be kept in active service.[3]

Mindoro was assigned to Carrier Division 14, which she soon joined for training exercises to practice carrier operations. In May, she sailed to the West Indies, where she took part in large scale maneuvers with ships from 8th Fleet. She spent the rest of the year cruising along the East Coast and as far south as Cuba; during this period, she conducted routine training exercises for her pilots and anti-submarine warfare (ASW) exercises.[3] In the postwar period, the Navy adopted a combined-arms approach to ASW defense for the fleet and the US coast; escort carriers like Mindoro formed hunter-killer groups, which were supported by patrol craft and blimps like the K class. The blimps frequently practiced joint operations with the escort carriers, including landing on the flight deck.[4] She spent the next nine years operating on a similar routine of training exercises and fleet maneuvers, and she was based at Norfolk for this period.[3] In November 1947, she took part in the Civilian Cruise Program, a public relations program the Navy had begun after the end of the war in 1945.[5] George Whelan Anderson Jr. captained Mindoro beginning in July 1948.[6]

She also made trips across the Atlantic to visit Britain, and in 1950, she was sent on a deployment to the Mediterranean Sea for assignment with the 6th Fleet.[3] During the deployment, Mindoro served as part of the ASW screen for the fleet. She also brought her escorting cruisers and destroyers, which further strengthened the fleet.[7] The deployment was in response to the outbreak of the Korean War earlier in 1950; many warships from the 6th Fleet had been transferred to the Pacific to support operations in Korea, so Mindoro's ASW group was sent to reinforce the 6th Fleet.[8] From 1951 to 1952, David L. McDonald served as the ship's commander.[6] In September 1952, Mindoro took part in the major NATO naval exercise, Exercise Mainbrace, off Norway and Denmark.[9][10] In 1954, she made a second deployment to the Mediterranean with the 6th Fleet.[3]

The ship took part in her final training maneuvers off the

naval register on 1 December 1959, sold in June 1960, and then towed to Hong Kong later that year, where she was broken up for scrap.[3]

Notes

  1. ^ Friedman, pp. 107–111.
  2. ^ a b c d Friedman, p. 111.
  3. ^ a b c d e f DANFS Mindoro.
  4. ^ Grossnick, pp. 64–66.
  5. ^ Seagoing Civilians, p. 12.
  6. ^ a b Oudine, p. 36.
  7. ^ Polmar, p. 92.
  8. ^ Field, p. 398.
  9. ^ "Bombardment Of A Lofoten Islet". The Times. No. 52420. 18 September 1952. p. 6.
  10. ^ "Landing in Denmark". The Times. No. 52424. 23 September 1952. p. 6.

References

External links

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