Ticonderoga-class aircraft carrier - Revision history

DavidB4-bot: /* SCB-27 (1948-1955) */Spelling/Grammar Check, typos fixed: the the → the

2016-09-10T17:32:46Z

‎SCB-27 (1948-1955): Spelling/Grammar Check, typos fixed: the the → the

DavidB4-bot: clean up

2016-06-27T03:57:54Z

clean up

TerryH: Reverted edits by Ragra2 (Talk) to last version by Karajou

2009-06-02T21:24:26Z

Reverted edits by Ragra2 (Talk) to last version by Karajou

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2009-06-02T21:18:05Z

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Karajou: /* SCB-125 (1955-1959) */

2008-04-14T11:45:34Z

‎SCB-125 (1955-1959)

Karajou: /* Modernization programs */

2008-04-14T11:43:06Z

‎Modernization programs

Karajou: added modernization programs

2008-04-14T11:42:04Z

added modernization programs

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2008-04-07T06:42:30Z

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 ==Modernization programs==
 ====SCB-27 (1948-1955)====
-Between 1947 and 1955, fifteen ''Essex'' and ''Ticonderoga'' class aircraft carriers were thoroughly modernized. The impending arrival of high-performance jet aircraft and nuclear-armed heavy attack bombers had rendered these still rather new ships almost incapable of executing their most vital missions, while the post-World War II financial climate precluded building replacements. Accordingly, a reconstruction program began in Fiscal Year 1948, with the incomplete ''Oriskany'' as the prototype. Two more ships were converted the next year, three in FY 1950 and then, with the the Cold War in full bloom, nine more Fiscal Years 1951 to 1953.
+Between 1947 and 1955, fifteen ''Essex'' and ''Ticonderoga'' class aircraft carriers were thoroughly modernized. The impending arrival of high-performance jet aircraft and nuclear-armed heavy attack bombers had rendered these still rather new ships almost incapable of executing their most vital missions, while the post-World War II financial climate precluded building replacements. Accordingly, a reconstruction program began in Fiscal Year 1948, with the incomplete ''Oriskany'' as the prototype. Two more ships were converted the next year, three in FY 1950 and then, with the Cold War in full bloom, nine more Fiscal Years 1951 to 1953.
 Designated SCB-27, the modernization was very extensive, requiring some two years for each carrier. To handle much heavier, faster aircraft, flight deck structure was massively reinforced. Stronger elevators, much more powerful catapults, and new arresting gear was installed. The original four twin 5"/38 gun mounts were removed. The new five-inch gun battery consisted of eight weapons, two on each quarter beside the flight deck. Twin 3"/50 gun mounts replaced the 40mm guns, offering much greater effectiveness through the use of proximity-fuzed ammunition.

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 |-
 | Length:
-| 888 ft
+| 888&nbsp;ft
 |-
 | Beam (waterline):
-| 93 ft
+| 93&nbsp;ft
 |-
 | Beam (flight deck):
-| 147 ft 6 in
+| 147&nbsp;ft 6 in
 |-
 | Speed:
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 ''Boxer'' was commissioned in April 1945, too late to yake part in [[World War II]] operations, but was actively employed in the Pacific during the post-war years, making ten deployments to the Western Pacific from September 1945 into 1957. ''Boxer'' had just returned to the U.S. from her third deployment when the [[Korean War]] broke out in late June 1950. She carried badly-needed Air Force and Navy planes and personnel to the war zone in a record Pacific transit during July, then was quickly outfitted for combat service and spent September and October 1950 providing air support for [[United Nations]]' forces fighting ashore.
-''Boxer'' made three more Korean War cruises, in March-October 1951, March-September 1952 and May-November 1953. Her planes, along with those from other Task Force 77 carriers, hit transportation and infrastructure targets in [[North Korea]] and gave close air support to troops fighting on the front lines. On 5 August 1952, while engaged in combat operations, she suffered damage and casualties when a fire broke out in her hangar deck, but was able to return to duty off Korea after two weeks of repairs. Following her last Korean War deployment, which extended into the post-Armistice period, ''Boxer'' served as a Seventh Fleet attack carrier (CVA) on two more cruises, in 1954 and in 1955-56. Converted to an anti-submarine warfare aircraft carrier (CVS) in early 1956, she made a final Western Pacific tour in that role during 1956-57.
+''Boxer'' made three more Korean War cruises, in March–October 1951, March–September 1952 and May–November 1953. Her planes, along with those from other Task Force 77 carriers, hit transportation and infrastructure targets in [[North Korea]] and gave close air support to troops fighting on the front lines. On 5 August 1952, while engaged in combat operations, she suffered damage and casualties when a fire broke out in her hangar deck, but was able to return to duty off Korea after two weeks of repairs. Following her last Korean War deployment, which extended into the post-Armistice period, ''Boxer'' served as a Seventh Fleet attack carrier (CVA) on two more cruises, in 1954 and in 1955-56. Converted to an anti-submarine warfare aircraft carrier (CVS) in early 1956, she made a final Western Pacific tour in that role during 1956-57.
 Later in 1957, ''Boxer'' operated briefly as an experimental assault helicopter aircraft carrier, an indication of things to come for her, the Navy and the Marine Corps. In 1958, she was flagship for Operation "Hardtack", a nuclear weapons test program in the Central Pacific. Late in that year, she was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet as an "interim amphibious assault ship"and was formally redesignated LPH-4 on 30 January 1959.
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 ====USS ''Leyte'' (CV-32)====
-''Leyte'' was commissioned in April 1946. Her initial cruise was made along the South American Pacific coast in the fall of 1946. That was followed by three years of Atlantic Fleet operations, including four deployments to the Mediterranean in 1947, 1949 and 1950. ''Leyte'' had just returned from the last of those tours in August 1950 when she was quickly prepared for another, taking her to the other side of the world to augment naval forces during the Korean War. She operated off Korea from October 1950 into January 1951, providing nearly 4000 aircraft sorties to support UN forces ashore. During this cruise, one of her aviators, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., performed an act of heroism for which he was awarded the [[Medal of Honor[[.
+''Leyte'' was commissioned in April 1946. Her initial cruise was made along the South American Pacific coast in the fall of 1946. That was followed by three years of Atlantic Fleet operations, including four deployments to the Mediterranean in 1947, 1949 and 1950. ''Leyte'' had just returned from the last of those tours in August 1950 when she was quickly prepared for another, taking her to the other side of the world to augment naval forces during the Korean War. She operated off Korea from October 1950 into January 1951, providing nearly 4000 aircraft sorties to support UN forces ashore. During this cruise, one of her aviators, Lieutenant (Junior Grade) Thomas J. Hudner, Jr., performed an act of heroism for which he was awarded the [[Medal of Honor]].
 ''Leyte'' returned to the Atlantic in February 1951 and spent the rest of her service career there. She made two more Mediterranean deployments later in 1951 and in 1952-53, receiving the new designation CVA-32 in October 1952. During the last part of 1953, ''Leyte'' was converted to an anti-submarine warfare support carrier and was redesignated CVS-32. On 16 October 1953, while in the Boston Naval Shipyard undergoing this conversion, she suffered an explosion and fire that killed 37 men and injured many more. The carrier returned to the active fleet in January 1954 and conducted anti-submarine operations in the Atlantic and Caribbean over the next five years. She also served briefly as an interim amphibious assault ship in 1957, with her normal air group replaced with Marine Corps transport helicopters.
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 ''Antietam'' was commissioned in January 1945. She transited the [[Panama Canal]] to the Pacific in June and was en route to the Western Pacific war zone when Japan capitulated in August 1945. ''Antietam'' operated in Far Eastern waters during the first years of the post-war era, returning to the United States in 1949, when she was decommissioned and placed in the Reserve Fleet. Recommissioned in January 1951, in response to Korean War requirements, the carrier made one combat deployment, between September 1951 and March 1952.
-In September-December 1952, after joining the Atlantic Fleet, ''Antietam'' was modified to receive the U.S. Navy's first angled flight deck. During the next few years, she served as the test platform for this feature, which was to revolutionize carrier flight operations. After being rated as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-36) from October 1952 to August 1953, she was thereafter classified as an antisubmarine support aircraft carrier, with the hull number CVS-36. In that role, ''Antietam'' made Sixth Fleet cruises in the Mediterranean Sea in 1955 and in 1956-57. She was then assigned to carrier flight training duty, generally operating in waters near Pensacola, Florida. Relieved as training carrier in October 1962, she was decommissioned for the last time in May 1963. Following a decade in the Reserve Fleet, USS ''Antietam'' was sold for scrapping in February 1974.
+In September–December 1952, after joining the Atlantic Fleet, ''Antietam'' was modified to receive the U.S. Navy's first angled flight deck. During the next few years, she served as the test platform for this feature, which was to revolutionize carrier flight operations. After being rated as an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-36) from October 1952 to August 1953, she was thereafter classified as an antisubmarine support aircraft carrier, with the hull number CVS-36. In that role, ''Antietam'' made Sixth Fleet cruises in the Mediterranean Sea in 1955 and in 1956-57. She was then assigned to carrier flight training duty, generally operating in waters near Pensacola, Florida. Relieved as training carrier in October 1962, she was decommissioned for the last time in May 1963. Following a decade in the Reserve Fleet, USS ''Antietam'' was sold for scrapping in February 1974.
 ====USS ''Princeton'' (CV-37)====
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 In January 1954, ''Princeton'' was again reclassified from attack aircraft carrier to anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier, with new hull number CVS-37. In this role, she operated in the eastern Pacific and in Asiatic waters, deploying to the Indian Ocean and Persian Gulf area in 1957-58. Though scheduled for decommissioning after that, ''Princeton'' was instead redesignated LPH-5 in March 1959 and converted into an amphibious assault ship.
-As an LPH, she carried U.S. Marines and their helicopters in the then-new mission of vertical envelopment of amphibious warfare objectives. ''Princeton'' continued her pattern of alternating eastern and western Pacific operations and was heavily envolved in the war in Southeast Asia. She landed Marines at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, in May 1965 and transported Marine aircraft from the U.S. to the combat zone during the summer of that year. Again deploying to the Vietnam area in February-August 1966, she supported Marine and U.S. Army units in several combat operations. During the rest of the decade, ''Princeton'' continued her active participation in the Vietnam War during annual Western Pacific tours. In April 1969 she also served as a space recovery ship for the [[Apollo 10]] lunar mission. After two and a half decades of service, USS ''Princeton'' was decommissioned and striken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1970. She was sold for scrapping in May 1971.
+As an LPH, she carried U.S. Marines and their helicopters in the then-new mission of vertical envelopment of amphibious warfare objectives. ''Princeton'' continued her pattern of alternating eastern and western Pacific operations and was heavily envolved in the war in Southeast Asia. She landed Marines at Chu Lai, Republic of Vietnam, in May 1965 and transported Marine aircraft from the U.S. to the combat zone during the summer of that year. Again deploying to the Vietnam area in February–August 1966, she supported Marine and U.S. Army units in several combat operations. During the rest of the decade, ''Princeton'' continued her active participation in the Vietnam War during annual Western Pacific tours. In April 1969 she also served as a space recovery ship for the [[Apollo 10]] lunar mission. After two and a half decades of service, USS ''Princeton'' was decommissioned and striken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1970. She was sold for scrapping in May 1971.
 ====USS ''Shangri La'' (CV-38)====
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 Following a modernization that gave her a strengthened flight deck, new island and other improvements, ''Lake Champlain'' was recommissioned in September 1952 and was soon thereafter redesignated CVA-39. She transited the [[Suez Canal]] in May 1953, eastbound to join Task Force 77 for Korean War service. Arriving in the war zone in mid-June, she had six weeks of active combat duty before the Korean Armistice stopped the fighting. The carrier remained in the Far East until October 1953, when she returned to the U.S. east coast by way of the Indian Ocean and Mediterranean Sea.
-During the next four years, [[Lake Champlain]] made several Sixth Fleet cruises in the Mediterranean, including a crisis deployment in April-July 1957. In August 1957, she was converted to an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier and redesignated CVS-39. In that role, she continued her Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean assignments for another eight years, including participation in the Cuban Quarantine in October and November 1962. In addition to her normal anti-submarine activities, Lake Champlain conducted midshipmen training cruises, acted as recovery ship for manned space flights and assisted in hurricane relief activities.
+During the next four years, [[Lake Champlain]] made several Sixth Fleet cruises in the Mediterranean, including a crisis deployment in April–July 1957. In August 1957, she was converted to an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier and redesignated CVS-39. In that role, she continued her Atlantic, Caribbean and Mediterranean assignments for another eight years, including participation in the Cuban Quarantine in October and November 1962. In addition to her normal anti-submarine activities, Lake Champlain conducted midshipmen training cruises, acted as recovery ship for manned space flights and assisted in hurricane relief activities.
 By the early 1960s, ''Lake Champlain'' had become the only "axial" (or straight) flight deck fixed-wing aircraft carrier in a fleet that had long-since embraced the revolutionary angled flight deck. Incapable of safe operation of modern aircraft, and rendered redundant by the construction of new "super-carriers", she was decommissioned in May 1966. USS ''Lake Champlain'' was striken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1969 and sold for scrapping in July 1972.
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 ''Philippine Sea'' was commissioned in May 1946, and made an initial cruise to the Caribbean, then took part in Operation "Highjump", the 1947 expedition to the Antarctic led by Rear Admiral [[Richard E. Byrd]]. In 1948 and again in 1949, Philippine Sea deployed to the Mediterranean, with a period of Arctic operations intervening in late 1948. Following exercises in the Caribbean and the western Atlantic, in May 1950 the carrier was sent through the Panama Canal to join the Pacific Fleet.
-When war erupted in Korea late in June 1950, ''Philippine Sea'' was soon ordered to steam westward to support United Nations forces as they attempted to defend the Republic of Korea against Communist aggression. She entered action in early August, and thrust air power into the conflict for ten months as the fighting front retreated, advanced northward, retreated and advanced again, and finally stabilized near where it had started a year earlier. The carrier returned to the U.S. in June 1951, but made two more Korean combat tours, one in January-July 1952 and the last in January-July 1953. During this time, in October 1952, she was redesignated CVA-47.
+When war erupted in Korea late in June 1950, ''Philippine Sea'' was soon ordered to steam westward to support United Nations forces as they attempted to defend the Republic of Korea against Communist aggression. She entered action in early August, and thrust air power into the conflict for ten months as the fighting front retreated, advanced northward, retreated and advanced again, and finally stabilized near where it had started a year earlier. The carrier returned to the U.S. in June 1951, but made two more Korean combat tours, one in January–July 1952 and the last in January–July 1953. During this time, in October 1952, she was redesignated CVA-47.
-With the fighting over, ''Philippine Sea'' continued her pattern of Far Eastern tours with a deployment in March-November 1954, during which her planes shot down two attacking Chinese fighters off Hainan Island. She returned to the Western Pacific in April-November 1955, and was then converted to an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier and redesignated CVS-47. In that role, ''Philippine Sea'' made two more cruises in Asian waters, one in the Spring of 1957 and the last in January-July 1958. She was decommissioned in December 1958. Reclassified as an aircraft transport, with the hull number AVT-11, she spent more than a decade in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. USS ''Philippine Sea'' was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1969 and sold for scrapping in March 1971.
+With the fighting over, ''Philippine Sea'' continued her pattern of Far Eastern tours with a deployment in March–November 1954, during which her planes shot down two attacking Chinese fighters off Hainan Island. She returned to the Western Pacific in April–November 1955, and was then converted to an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier and redesignated CVS-47. In that role, ''Philippine Sea'' made two more cruises in Asian waters, one in the Spring of 1957 and the last in January–July 1958. She was decommissioned in December 1958. Reclassified as an aircraft transport, with the hull number AVT-11, she spent more than a decade in the Pacific Reserve Fleet. USS ''Philippine Sea'' was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in December 1969 and sold for scrapping in March 1971.
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 The modernized ships came in two designs, the first nine (SCB-27A) having a pair of H8 hydraulic catapults, the most powerful available in the late '40s. The final six received the SCB-27C update, with much more potent steam catapults, one of two early 1950s British developments that greatly improved aircraft carrier potential. These six were somewhat heavier, and wider, than their sisters. While still in the shipyards, three of the SCB-27Cs were further modified under the SCB-125 project, receiving the second British concept, the angled flight deck, plus an enclosed "hurricane bow" and other improvements. These features were so valuable that they were soon back-fitted to all but one (''Lake Champlain'') of the other SCB-27 ships. The fourteen fully modernized units were the "journeymen" aviation ships of the late 1950s and 1960s, providing the Navy with much of its attack aircraft carrier (CVA) force and, ultimately, all its anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carriers (CVS).
-====SCB-125 (1955-1959)====
+====SCB-125 (1954-1959)====
 Between 1954 and 1959, fourteen carriers modernized under SCB-27 were further updated under the SCB-125 program. This work, incorporating new features not known or accepted when the earlier scheme was originated in the later 1940s, greatly enhanced seakeeping and high-performance aircraft operations. Perhaps the most significant new attribute was the British-developed "angled flight deck", in which the carrier's aircraft landing area was slanted several degrees off to port, enabling aircraft to easily "go around" in the event of recovery difficulties. The benefits this brought to carrier aviation operating safety can hardly be overemphasized.
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 Though the SCB-125 program significantly changed the ships' appearance, the scope of the work was much less than that of SCB-27 and generally took seven or eight months' shipyard time, rather than the two years or more that was typical of the earlier modernization. The exception was ''Oriskany'', the SCB-27 prototype and the last to get the SCB-125 treatment. Uniquely, she had her hydraulic catapults replaced with more powerful steam types and received many other improvements in a reconstruction that lasted twenty-eight months in 1957-59.
 As quickly as new carriers and steam catapult conversions joined the fleet during the later '50s, the seven SCB-125 hydraulic catapult ships were reassigned to the anti-submarine mission, replacing unmodernized carriers. Four of the seven steam catapult carriers also became ASW ships during the 1960s, though some of these operated very little, if at all, in that role. Most of the ASW ships received SQS-23 long-range sonars in 1960-66. Nine ships left active service in 1969-71, as major reductions in fleet strength were implemented. Three more decommissioned in 1972-74.
 ==Ships==

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 As quickly as new carriers and steam catapult conversions joined the fleet during the later '50s, the seven SCB-125 hydraulic catapult ships were reassigned to the anti-submarine mission, replacing unmodernized carriers. Four of the seven steam catapult carriers also became ASW ships during the 1960s, though some of these operated very little, if at all, in that role. Most of the ASW ships received SQS-23 long-range sonars in 1960-66. Nine ships left active service in 1969-71, as major reductions in fleet strength were implemented. Three more decommissioned in 1972-74.
 ====USS ''Ticonderoga'' (CV-14)====
 ''Ticonderoga'', lead ship of a class, was commissioned in May 1944 and made a West Indies shakedown cruise prior to transiting the [[Panama Canal]] to the Pacific in early September. During the next few months, ''Ticonderoga'' transported aircraft to [[Hawaii]], took part in underway ordnance replenishment experiments and trained her crew and air group for participation in the war against Japan. After steaming to the western Pacific in October, the carrier launched her first strikes on 5 November 1944, hitting targets ashore and afloat in the northern Philippines area. As part of Task Force 38, she continued her attacks in the vicinity for the next two months, riding out a major typhoon in mid-December.

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 Beginning in March 1943, one visually very significant change was authorized for ships then in the early stages of construction. This involved reshaping the bow into a rather elegant "clipper" form to provide deck space for two 40mm quadruple gun mountings, thus greatly improving forward air defences. Thirteen ships were completed to this "long-hull", or ''Ticonderoga'', class. Four of these were finished in 1944, in time to join their ''Essex''-class near-sisters in Pacific combat operations. The rest went into commission between early 1945 and late 1946.
-Five of the ''Ticonderoga''-class were laid up in 1946-47, along with all of the ''Essexes''. Eight stayed on active duty to form, with the three much larger ''Midways'', the backbone of the post-war Navy's combat strength. Though the [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] Administration's defense economies sent three of the active ''Ticonderogas'' into "mothballs" in 1949, these soon came back into commission after the [[Korean War]] began. Ultimately, all thirteen had active [[Cold War]] service. Five of them were thoroughly rebuilt in the early 1950s under the SCB-27 program, and four of these were further modernized a few years later to the SCB-125 design. Another got a combined SCB-27 and SCB-125 redo, while yet another was given a modest reworking to test the revolutionary "angled deck" landing area.
+Five of the ''Ticonderoga''-class were laid up in 1946-47, along with all of the ''Essexes''. Eight stayed on active duty to form, with the three much larger ''Midways'', the backbone of the post-war Navy's combat strength. Though the [[Harry S. Truman|Truman]] Administration's defense economies sent three of the active ''Ticonderogas'' into "mothballs" in 1949, these soon came back into commission after the [[Korean War]] began. Ultimately, all thirteen had active [[Cold War]] service. Five of them were thoroughly rebuilt in the early 1950s under the SCB-27 program, and four of these were further modernized a few years later to the SCB-125 design (see below). Another got a combined SCB-27 and SCB-125 redo, while yet another was given a modest reworking to test the revolutionary "angled deck" landing area.
 Of the six unmodernized ''Ticonderogas'', three decommissioned in the late '50s and early '60s and were promptly reclassified as aircraft transports (AVT), reflecting their very limited ability to safely operate modern aircraft. The other three, converted to amphibious assault ships (LPH), were active until about 1970. The two least modernized units went into reserve in the mid-1960s, and the rest passed out of the active fleet between 1969 and 1976. All were scrapped, most in the 1970s, although ''Shangri La'' survived until the late 1980s.
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 *Aircraft (average operational complement, October 1944): 90 planes, including 38 F6F day fighters, 4 F6F night fighters, 27 SB2C scout-bombers, 18 TBM torpedo planes, 3 F6F photographic planes.
 *Gun Armament: Twelve 5"/38 guns in four twin and four single mountings plus a large (and variable) number of 40mm and 20mm machine guns
 ====USS ''Ticonderoga'' (CV-14)====