USS Wasp (CV-18)
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USS Wasp underway in 1967
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History | |
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United States | |
Name | Wasp |
Namesake | Wasp[1] |
Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
Laid down | 18 March 1942 |
Launched | 17 August 1943 |
Commissioned | 24 November 1943 |
Decommissioned | 17 February 1947 |
Recommissioned | 28 September 1951 |
Decommissioned | 1 July 1972 |
Reclassified |
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Stricken | 1 July 1972 |
Fate | Scrapped, 1973 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type | Essex-class aircraft carrier |
Displacement | |
Length |
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Beam | 93 ft (28.3 m) |
Draft | 34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) |
Installed power |
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Propulsion |
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Speed | 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
Range | 14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph) |
Complement | 2,600 officers and enlisted men |
Armament |
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Armor |
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Aircraft carried |
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USS Wasp (CV/CVA/CVS-18) was one of 24
Construction and commissioning
The ship was laid down on 18 March 1942 at
Service history
World War II
Following a
Following training exercises in Hawaiian waters, Wasp steamed to the
When weather cancelled launches planned for 21 May, the two carriers rejoined San Jacinto and steamed to Wake. Planes from all three carriers pounded that island on 24 May and were sufficiently effective to neutralize that base. However, the system of selecting targets for each plane fell short of the Navy's expectations, and thereafter, tactical air commanders resumed responsibility for directing the attacks of their planes.[1]
The Mariana and Palau Islands
After the strike on Wake, TG 58.6 returned to Majuro to prepare for the Marianas campaign. On 6 June, Wasp—reassigned to TG 58.2 which was also commanded by Rear Admiral Montgomery—sortied for the invasion of Saipan. During the afternoon of 11 June, she and her sister carriers launched
Battle of the Philippine Sea
Meanwhile, Japan—determined to defend Saipan, no matter how high the cost—was sending Admiral
During the morning, carriers from Ozawa's fleet launched four massive raids against their American counterparts, but all were thwarted almost completely. Nearly all of the Japanese warplanes were shot down while failing to sink a single American ship. They did manage to score a single bomb hit on South Dakota, but that solitary success did not put the battleship out of action.[1] That day, Mitscher's planes did not find the Japanese ships, but American submarines succeeded in sending two enemy carriers (Taihō and Shōkaku) to the bottom. In the evening, three of Mitscher's four carrier task groups headed west in search of Ozawa's retiring fleet, leaving only TG 58.4 and a gun line of old battleships in the immediate vicinity of the Marianas to cover ground forces on Saipan. Planes from the American carriers failed to find the Japanese force until mid-afternoon on the 20th when an Avenger pilot reported spotting Ozawa almost 300 mi ( km) from the American carriers. Mitscher daringly ordered an all-out strike even though he knew that night would descend before his planes could return.[1]
Over two hours later, the American aviators caught up with their quarry. They damaged two
When fuel calculations indicated that no aircraft which had not returned could still be aloft, Mitscher ordered the carriers to reverse course and resume the stern chase of Ozawa's surviving ships—more in the hope of finding any downed fliers who might still be alive and pulling them from the sea than in the expectation of overtaking Japan's First Mobile Fleet before it reached the protection of the Emperor's land-based planes. During the chase, Mitscher's ships picked up 36 pilots and 26 crewmen.
Subsequent operations
The respite was brief, for on 30 June, Wasp sortied in TG 58.2—with TG 58.1—for strikes at Iwo Jima and Chichi Jima. Planes from the carriers pounded those islands on 3–4 July and, during the raids, destroyed 75 enemy aircraft, for the most part in the air. Then, as a grand finale, cruisers from the force's screen shelled Iwo Jima for two and one-half hours. The next day, 5 July, the two task groups returned to the Marianas and attacked Guam and Rota to begin more than a fortnight's effort to soften the Japanese defenses there in preparation for landings on Guam. Planes from Wasp and her sister carriers provided close air support for the marines and soldiers who stormed ashore on 21 July.[1] The next day, TG 58.2 sortied with two other groups of Mitscher's carriers headed southwest toward the Western Carolines, and launched raids against the Palaus on the 25th. The force then parted, with TGs 58.1 and 58.3 steaming back north for further raids to keep the Bonin and Volcano Islands neutralized while Wasp in TG 58.2 was retiring toward the Marshalls for replenishment at Eniwetok which she reached on 2 August.[1]
Toward the end of Wasp's stay at that base,
Philippines campaign
Ready to resume battle, she got underway again on 4 October and steamed to the Philippine Sea, where TF 38 reassembled at twilight on the evening of 7 October, some 375 mi (604 km) west of the Marianas. Its mission was to neutralize airbases within operational air distance of the Philippines to keep Japanese warplanes out of the air during the American landings on Leyte scheduled to begin on 20 October. The carriers steamed north to meet with a group of nine oilers, and spent the next day, 8 October, refueling. They then followed a generally northwesterly course toward the
Beginning on 12 October, Formosa received three days of unwelcome attention from TF 38 planes. In response, the Japanese Navy made an all-out effort to protect that strategic island, though doing so meant denuding its remaining carriers of aircraft. Yet, the attempt to thwart the ever-advancing American Pacific Fleet was futile. At the end of a three-day air battle, Japan had lost more than 500 planes and 20-odd freighters. Many other merchant ships were damaged as were hangars, barracks, warehouses, industrial plants, and ammunition dumps. However, the victory was costly to the United States Navy, for TF 38 lost 79 planes and 64 pilots and air crewmen, while cruisers Canberra and Houston and carrier Franklin received damaging, but nonlethal, torpedo and bomb hits.[1]
From Formosa, TF 38 shifted its attention to the Philippines. After steaming to waters east of
Battle of Leyte Gulf
While McCain's carriers were steaming away from the Philippines, great events were taking place in the waters of that archipelago. Admiral Soemu Toyoda, the commander in chief of Japan's Combined Fleet, activated plan Sho-Go-1, a scheme for bringing about a decisive naval action off Leyte, the Battle of Leyte Gulf.[1] The Japanese strategy called for Ozawa's carriers to act as a decoy to lure TF 38 north of Luzon and away from the Leyte beachhead. Then—with the American fast carriers out of the way—heavy Japanese surface ships were to debouch into Leyte Gulf from two directions: from the south through Surigao Strait and from the north through San Bernardino Strait. During much of 24 October, planes from Halsey's carrier task groups still in Philippine waters pounded Admiral Kurita's powerful Force "A", or Center Force, as it steamed across the Sibuyan Sea toward San Bernardino Strait. When darkness stopped their attack, the American aircraft had sunk superbattleship Musashi and had damaged several other Japanese warships. Moreover, Halsey's pilots reported that Kurita's force had reversed course and was moving away from San Bernardino Strait.[1]
That night, Admiral
Remembered[1] by their call names, "Taffy 1", "Taffy 2", and "Taffy 3", these three American escort-carrier groups were deployed along Samar's east coast with Taffy 3 in the northernmost position, about 40 mi ( km) off Paninihian Point. Taffy 2 was covering Leyte Gulf, and "Taffy 1" was still farther south watching Surigao Strait.[1] At 0645, lookouts on Taffy 3 ships spotted bursts of antiaircraft fire blossoming in the northern sky, as Center Force gunners opened fire on an American antisubmarine patrol plane. Moments later, Taffy 3 made both radar and visual contact with the approaching Japanese warships. Shortly before 0700, Kurita's guns opened fire on the hapless "baby flattops" and their comparatively tiny but incredibly courageous escorts. For more than two hours, Taffy 3's ships and planes—aided by aircraft from sister escort-carrier groups to the south—fought back with torpedoes, guns, bombs, and consummate seamanship. Then, at 0311, Kurita—shaken by the loss of three heavy cruisers and thinking that he had been fighting TF 38—ordered his remaining warships to break off the action.[1]
Meanwhile, at 0848, Admiral Halsey had radioed McCain's TG 58.1—then refueling en route to Ulithi—calling that carrier group back to Philippine waters to help Taffy 3 in its fight for survival. Wasp and her consorts raced toward
Later operations
Following the Battle of Leyte Gulf, TG 38.1 operated in the Philippines for two more days, providing close air support before again heading for Ulithi on 28 October. However, the respite—during which Rear Admiral Montgomery took command of TG 38.1 when McCain fleeted up to relieve Mitscher as TF 38—was brief; Japanese land-based planes attacked troops on the Leyte beachhead on 1 November. Wasp participated in raids against Luzon air bases on 5 and 6 November, destroying over 400 Japanese aircraft, for the most part on the ground. A kamikaze hit Lexington during the operation. Afterwards, Wasp returned to Guam to exchange air groups.[1]
Wasp returned to the Philippines a little before midmonth and continued to send strikes against targets in the Philippines until 26 November when the Army Air Forces assumed responsibility for providing air support for troops on Leyte. TF 38 then retired to Ulithi. There, the carriers received greater complements of fighter planes, and in late November and early December, conducted training exercises to prepare them better to deal with the new kamikaze threat.[1]
TF 38 sortied from Ulithi on 10 and 11 December and proceeded to a position east of Luzon for round-the-clock strikes against air bases on that island from 14 through 16 December to prevent Japanese fighter planes from endangering landings on the southwest coast of Mindoro scheduled for 15 December. Then, while withdrawing to a fueling rendezvous point east of the Philippines, TF 38 was caught in a terribly destructive typhoon which battered its ships and sank three American destroyers. The carriers spent most of the ensuing week repairing storm damage and returned to Ulithi on Christmas Eve.[1]
The accelerating tempo of the war, though, ruled out long repose in the shelter of the lagoon. Before the year ended, the carriers were back in action against airfields in the Philippines on
On the night after the initial
While the flattops were catching their breath at Ulithi, Admiral Spruance relieved Halsey in command of the fleet, which was thereby transformed from the 3rd to the 5th Fleet. The metamorphosis also entailed Mitscher's replacing McCain and Clark's resuming command of TG 58.1—still Wasp's task group.[1]
Battle of Iwo Jima
The next major operation dictated by Allied strategy was the capture of Iwo Jima in the Volcano Islands. Iwo was needed as a base for fighter planes to escort
For the next few days, planes from the American carriers continued to assist the Marines who were engaged in a bloody struggle to wrest the island from its fanatical defenders. On 23 February, Mitscher led his carriers back to Japan for more raids on Tokyo. Planes took off on the morning of 25 February, but when they reached Tokyo, they again found their targets obscured by clouds. Moreover, visibility was so bad the next day that raids on Nagoya were called off, and the carriers steamed south toward the Ryūkyūs to bomb and reconnoiter Okinawa, the next prize to be taken from the Japanese Empire. Planes left the carriers at dawn on 1 March, and throughout the day, they hammered and photographed the islands of the Ryūkyū group. Then, after a night bombardment by surface ships, TF 58 set a course for the Carolines and anchored in Ulithi lagoon on 4 March.[1]
Damaged as she was, Wasp recorded—from 17 to 23 March—what was often referred to as the busiest week in flattop history.[1] In these seven days, Wasp accounted for 14 enemy planes in the air, destroyed six more on the ground, scored two 500 lb (230 kg) bomb hits on each of two Japanese carriers, dropped two 1,000 lb (450 kg) bombs on a Japanese battleship, put one 1,000 lb bomb on another battleship, hit a heavy cruiser with three 500 lb missiles, dropped another 1,000 lb bomb on a big cargo ship, and heavily strafed "and probably sank" a large Japanese submarine. During this week, Wasp was under almost continuous attack by shore-based aircraft, and experienced several close kamikaze attacks. The carrier's gunners fired more than 10,000 rounds at the determined Japanese attackers.[1]
In spite of valiant efforts of her gunners, on 19 March 1945, Wasp was hit with a 500-pound armor-piercing bomb. The bomb penetrated the flight deck and the armor-plated hangar deck, and exploded in the crew's galley. Many of her shipmates were having breakfast after being at general quarters all night. The blast disabled the number-four fire room. Around 102 crewmen were lost. Despite the losses, Wasp continued operations with the Task Group and the air group was carrying out flight operations 27 minutes after the damage.[3][4]
End of the war
On 13 April 1945, Wasp returned to the
Then, on 15 August, when the fighting should have been over, two Japanese planes tried to attack Wasp's task group. Fortunately, Wasp pilots were still flying on combat air patrol and sent both enemies smoking into the sea. This was the last time Wasp pilots and gunners were to tangle with the Japanese.
On 25 August 1945, a severe typhoon, with winds reaching 78 kn (140 km/h), engulfed Wasp and stove in about 30 ft (9 m) of her bow. The carrier, despite the hazardous job of flying from such a shortened deck, continued to launch her planes on missions of mercy or patrol as they carried food, medicine, and long-deserved luxuries to American
The ship returned to Boston for Navy Day, 27 October 1945. On 30 October, Wasp moved to the naval shipyard in New York, to have extra accommodations installed for transportation of troops returning from the Pacific. This work was completed on 15 November and enabled her to accommodate some 5,500 enlisted passengers and 400 officers.
Post-war
1947–1955
After receiving the new alterations, Wasp was assigned temporary duty as an
Wasp reported to the Atlantic Fleet in November 1951 and began a period of shakedown training which lasted until February 1952. After returning from the shakedown cruise, she spent a month in the New York Naval Shipyard preparing for duty in distant waters. On 26 April 1952, Wasp collided with destroyer minesweeper Hobson while conducting night flying operations en route to Gibraltar. Hobson lost 176 of the crew, including her skipper. Rapid rescue operations saved 52 men. Wasp sustained no personnel casualties, but her bow was torn by a 75-foot saw-tooth rip. The carrier proceeded to Bayonne, New Jersey, for repairs, and after she entered drydock there, the bow of aircraft carrier Hornet (CV-12)—then undergoing conversion—was removed and floated by barge from Brooklyn, New York, and fitted into position on Wasp, replacing the badly shattered forward end of the ship. This remarkable task was completed in only 10 days, enabling the carrier to get underway to cross the Atlantic.
On 2 June 1952, Wasp relieved Tarawa at Gibraltar and joined Carrier Division 6 in the Mediterranean Sea. After conducting strenuous flight operations between goodwill visits to many Mediterranean ports, Wasp was relieved at Gibraltar on 5 September by Leyte. After taking part in the NATO Exercise Mainbrace at Greenock, Scotland, and enjoying a liberty period at Plymouth, Wasp headed home and arrived at Norfolk early on the morning of 13 October 1952. On 7 November 1952, Wasp entered the New York Naval Shipyard to commence a seven-month yard period to prepare her for a world cruise which was to bring her into the Pacific Fleet once more. After refresher training in the Caribbean, Wasp departed Norfolk on 16 September 1953 to participate in the North Atlantic NATO Exercise "Mariner" before entering the Mediterranean.[1]
After transiting the Suez Canal and crossing the Indian Ocean, making port in Columbo, Ceylon, the carrier made a brief visit to the Philippines and onto Japan and then conducted strenuous operations with the famed TF 77. While operating in the western Pacific, she made port calls at Hong Kong, Manila, Yokosuka, and
Wasp spent the next few months preparing for another tour of the Orient. She departed the United States in September 1954 and steamed to the Far East, visiting Pearl Harbor and Iwo Jima en route. She relieved Boxer in October 1954 and engaged in air operations in the South China Sea with Carrier
1956–1960
After training during the early months of 1956, Wasp departed San Diego on 23 April for another cruise to the Far East with Carrier Air Group 15 embarked. She stopped at Pearl Harbor to undergo inspection and training, and then proceeded to Guam, where she arrived in time for the
Wasp returned to San Diego on 15 October and while there was reclassified an
On 3 September, Wasp got underway to participate in
The carrier began her Atlantic crossing on 12 May and sailed only a few hundred miles when trouble flared in
Four days later, Wasp became the flagship of Task Group Bravo, one of two new antisubmarine defense groups formed by the commander in chief of the Atlantic Fleet. Wasp's air squadrons and seven destroyers were supported by shore-based seaplane patrol aircraft. She sailed from Quonset Point on 26 November for a 17-day cruise in the North Atlantic. This at-sea period marked the first time her force operated together as a team. The operations continued day and night to coordinate and develop the task group's team capabilities until she returned to Boston on 13 December 1958 and remained over the Christmas holiday season.
Wasp operated with Task Group Bravo throughout 1959, cruising along the Eastern Seaboard conducting operations at Norfolk, Bermuda, and Quonset Point. The ship was heavily damaged by an explosion and subsequent fires on 18 August 1959, when a helicopter engine exploded while being tested in hangar bay number one. The fires required two hours to control. At the time of the accident, Wasp was carrying nuclear weapons. In the first 30 minutes as the fires burned out of control and the forward magazines were flooded, preliminary preparations were also made to flood the nuclear weapon magazine. This was not done, however, and 30 minutes later, the nuclear weapon magazine reported no significant rise in temperature.
On 27 February 1960, Wasp entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for overhaul. In mid-July, the carrier was ordered to the South Atlantic, where she stood by when civil strife broke out in the newly independent Congo and operated in support of the United Nations airlift. She returned to her home port on 11 August and spent the remainder of the year operating out of Boston with visits to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, for refresher training and exercises conducted in the Virginia Capes operating areas and the Caribbean operating areas. The carrier returned to Boston on 10 December and remained in port there into the New Year.
1961–1965
On 9 January 1961, Wasp sailed for the Virginia Capes operating area and devoted the first half of 1961 to exercises there, at Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, and at Nova Scotia. On 9 June, Wasp got underway from Norfolk, for a three-month Mediterranean cruise. The ship conducted exercises at Augusta Bay, Sicily; Barcelona, Spain; San Remo and La Spezia, Italy; Aranci Bay, Sardinia; Genoa, Italy; and Cannes, France, and returned to Boston on 1 September. The carrier entered the Boston Naval Shipyard for an interim overhaul and resumed operations on 6 November 1961. After loading food, clothing, and equipment, Wasp spent the period 11–18 January 1962 conducting antisubmarine warfare exercises and submarine surveillance off the East Coast. After a brief stop at Norfolk, the ship steamed on to further training exercises and anchored off Bermuda 24–31 January. Wasp then returned to her home port.
On 17 February, a delegation from the
From August through October, Wasp visited Newport, Rhode Island, New York City, and Naval Weapons Station Earle in New Jersey, then conducted a dependents' cruise, as well as a reserve cruise, and visitors cruises. On 1 November, Wasp used her capabilities when she responded to a call from President John F. Kennedy and actively participated in the Cuban blockade. After tension relaxed, the carrier returned to Boston on 22 November for upkeep work, and on 21 December, she sailed to Bermuda with 18 midshipmen from Boston-area universities. Wasp returned to Boston on 29 December and finished out the year there.
The early part of 1963 had Wasp conducting antisubmarine warfare exercises off the Virginia Capes and steaming along the Caribbean coast of
In March 1964, the carrier conducted sea trials out of Boston. During April, she operated out of Norfolk and Narragansett Bay. She returned to Boston on 4 May and remained there until 14 May, when she got underway for refresher training in waters between Guantánamo Bay and Kingston, Jamaica, before returning to her home port on 3 June 1964.[1] On 21 July 1964, Wasp began a round-trip voyage to Norfolk and returned to Boston on 7 August. She remained there through 8 September, when she headed, via the Virginia Capes operating area, to Valencia, Spain. She then cruised the Mediterranean, visiting ports in Spain, France, and Italy, and returned home on 18 December.
The carrier remained in port until 8 February 1965, and sailed for fleet exercises in the Caribbean. Operating along the Eastern Seaboard, she recovered the
1966–1967
On 24 January 1966, Wasp departed Boston for fleet exercises off Puerto Rico. En route, heavy seas and high winds caused structural damage to the carrier. She put into
The carrier returned to Boston on 24 March 1966 and was moored there until 11 April. On 27 March, Doctor
Wasp participated in ASWEX III, an antisubmarine exercise which lasted from 20 June through 1 July 1966. She spent the next 25 days in port at Boston for upkeep. On the 25th, the carrier got underway for ASWEX IV. During this exercise, the Soviet intelligence collection vessel, Agi Traverz, entered the operation area, necessitating a suspension of the operation and eventual repositioning of forces. The exercise was terminated on 5 August. She then conducted a dependents' day cruise on 8–9 August, and orientation cruises on 10, 11, and 22 August. After a two-day visit to New York, Wasp arrived in Boston on 1 September and underwent upkeep until 19 September. From that day to 4 October, she conducted hunter/killer operations with the Royal Canadian Navy aircraft embarked.
Following upkeep at Boston, the ship participated in the
Wasp served as carrier qualification duty ship for the
1968–1970
Wasp completed her cyclical overhaul and conducted postrepair trials throughout January 1968. Returning to the Boston Naval Shipyard on 28 January, the ship made ready for two months of technical evaluation and training which began early in February. Five weeks of refresher training for Wasp began on 28 February, under the operational control of Commander, Fleet Training Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. On 30 March, Wasp steamed north and was in Boston 6–29 April for routine upkeep and minor repairs. She then departed for operations in the Bahamas and took part in Fixwex C, an exercise off the Bermuda coast. The carrier set course for home on 20 May, but left five days later to conduct carrier qualifications for students of the Naval Air Training Command in the Jacksonville, Florida, operations area. On 12 June, Wasp and Truckee had a minor collision during an underway replenishment. The carrier returned to Norfolk, where an investigation into the circumstances of the collision was conducted. On 20 June, Wasp got underway for Boston, where she remained until 3 August when she moved to Norfolk to take on ammunition.
On 15 June, Wasp's home port was changed to Quonset Point and she arrived there on 10 August to prepare for overseas movement. Ten days later, the carrier got underway for a deployment in European waters. The northern European portion of the cruise consisted 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 in the NATO Exercise Silvertower, the largest combined naval exercise in four years. Silvertower brought together surface, air, and subsurface units of several NATO navies. On 25 October 1968, the carrier entered the Mediterranean, and the following day, became part of TG 67.6. After a port visit to Naples, Italy, Wasp departed on 7 November to conduct antisubmarine warfare exercises in the Tyrrhenian Sea, Levantine Basin, and Ionian Basin. After loading aircraft in both Taranto and Naples, Italy, Wasp visited Barcelona, Spain, and Gibraltar. On 19 December, the ship returned to Quonset Point, and spent the remainder of 1968 in port.
Wasp began 1969 in her home port of Quonset Point. Following a yard period which lasted from 10 January through 17 February, the carrier conducted exercises as part of the White Task Group in the Bermuda operating area. The ship returned to Quonset Point on 6 March and began a month of preparations for overseas movement. On 1 April 1969, Wasp sailed for the eastern Atlantic and arrived at Lisbon, Portugal, on 16 April. From 21 to 26 April, she took part in joint Exercise
A period of restricted availability began on 10 October and was followed by operations in the Virginia Capes area until 22 November. In December, Wasp conducted a carrier qualification mission in the Jacksonville operations area which lasted through 10 December. The ship arrived back at Quonset Point on 13 December and remained there for the holidays. The carrier welcomed 1970 moored in her home port of Quonset Point, but traveled over 40,000 mi (60,000 km) and was away from home port 265 days. On 4 January, she proceeded to Earle, NJ, and offloaded ammunition prior to entering the Boston Naval Shipyard for a six-week overhaul on 9 January.
The carrier began a three-week shakedown cruise on 16 March, but returned to her home port on 3 April and began preparing for an eastern Atlantic deployment. Wasp reached Lisbon on 25 May 1970 and dropped anchor in the
On 13 July 1970, Wasp arrived at Hamburg, Germany, and enjoyed the warmest welcome received in any port of the cruise. A Visitors' Day was held, and over 15,000 Germans were recorded as visitors to the carrier. After calls at Edinburgh and Glasgow, Scotland, Wasp got underway on 10 August for operating areas in the Norwegian Sea. The carrier anchored near Plymouth on 28 August, and two days later, sailed for her home port. Wasp returned to Quonset Point on 8 September and remained there through 11 October, when she got underway to offload ammunition at Earle, prior to a period of restricted availability at the Boston Naval Shipyard beginning on 15 October. The work ended on 14 December; after reloading ammunition at Earle, Wasp returned to Quonset Point on 19 December to finish out 1970.
1971–1972
On 14 January 1971, Wasp departed Quonset Point with Commander, ASWGRU 2, CVSG-54 and Detachment 18 from Fleet Training Group, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, embarked. After refresher training at Bermuda, she stopped briefly at Rota, then proceeded to the Mediterranean for participation in the National Week VIII exercises with several destroyers for the investigation of known Soviet submarine operating areas. On 12 February, Secretary of the Navy John Chafee visited the carrier accompanied by Commander, 6th Fleet, Vice Admiral Isaac C. Kidd Jr. Wasp detached early from the National Week exercise on 15 February to support John F. Kennedy as she steamed toward Gibraltar. Soviet ships trailed Wasp and John F. Kennedy until they entered the Strait of Sicily when the Soviets departed to the east. After a brief stop at Barcelona, Wasp began her homeward journey on 24 February and arrived at Quonset Point on 3 March.
After spending March and April in port, Wasp got underway on 27 April and conducted a nuclear technical proficiency inspection and prepared for the forthcoming Exotic Dancer exercise which commenced on 3 May. Having successfully completed the week-long exercise, Wasp was heading home on 8 May when an ABC television team embarked and filmed a short news report on carrier antisubmarine warfare operations. On 15 May, the veteran conducted a dependents' day cruise, and one month later, participated in Exercise Rough Ride at Great Sound, Bermuda, which took her to Halifax, Nova Scotia. Wasp returned to Quonset Point on 2 July 1971, and spent the next two months in preparation and execution of Exercise Squeeze Play IX in the Bermuda operating area. In August, the ship conducted exercises with an East Coast naval reserve air group while proceeding to Mayport, Florida. She returned to her home port on 26 August and spent the next month there. On 23 September, Wasp got underway for Exercise Lantcortex 1-72, which terminated on 6 October. For the remainder of the month, the carrier joined in a crossdeck operation which took her to Bermuda, Mayport, and Norfolk. She arrived back at Quonset Point on 4 November.
Four days later, the carrier set her course for the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Co., where she was in drydock until 22 November. She then returned to Quonset Point and remained in her home port for the remainder of the year preparing for decommissioning.[1] On 1 March 1972, it was announced that Wasp would be decommissioned and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register after more than 28 years of service. Decommissioning ceremonies were held on 1 July 1972. The ship was sold on 21 May 1973 to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corporation, of New York City,[1] and subsequently scrapped at the former site of the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Company shipyard, Kearny, New Jersey. Her anchor is on display at the Freedom Park.[6]
Awards
Wasp earned eight
- Navy Unit Commendation (2)
- Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation
- China Service Medal (extended)
- American Campaign Medal
- battle stars)
- World War II Victory Medal
- Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Europe clasp)
- National Defense Service Medal (2)
- Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (3)
- Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
- Philippine Liberation Medal (2 battle stars)
See also
- List of aircraft carriers
- Wings of Fury, 1987 video game that centers around the Wasp
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r s t u v w x y z aa ab ac ad ae af ag ah ai aj ak al am an ao ap aq ar as at au av aw ax ay az "Wasp IX". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 20 April 2015.
- ^ "USS Wasp". War Diary. January 1945.
26 January 1945 - 1143 Anchored in Berth #29, ULITHI Lagoon, in 245 fathoms of water, sand and coral bottom, 90 fathoms of chain to the port anchor.
- ISBN 9781563114045. (Paragraph was copied from DANFS Vol VIII and reprinted in this book.)
- ^ Weller, O.A. (27 March 1945). Action Report 14 March to 21 March 1945 (Report). US Navy via Fold3. p. 253.
- ^ Arkin, William M.; Handler, Joshua (June 1989). "Naval Accidents 1945 - 1988" (PDF). Greenpeace / Institute for Policy Studies. Archived from the original (PDF) on 29 June 2021. Retrieved 12 January 2021.
- ^ "Omaha, Nebraska - Freedom Park, MO river view". Mapio.net. Retrieved 11 May 2021.
- This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
External links
- Hobson-Wasp Collision Collection, 1952-1953 MS 245 held by Special Collection & Archives, Nimitz Library at the United States Naval Academy