_off_Pearl_Harbor_1968.jpg) USSHancock offPearl Harbor, 1968 | |
| History | |
|---|---|
 United States | |
| Name | Hancock |
| Namesake | John Hancock |
| Builder | Fore River Shipyard |
| Laid down | 26 January 1943 |
| Launched | 24 January 1944 |
| Commissioned | 15 April 1944 |
| Decommissioned | 9 May 1947 |
| Recommissioned | 15 February 1954 |
| Decommissioned | 30 January 1976 |
| Reclassified | CVA-19, 1 October 1952 |
| Stricken | 31 January 1976 |
| Fate | Scrapped, 1 September 1976 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class & type | Essex-classaircraft carrier |
| Displacement | 27,100long tons (27,500 t) standard |
| Length | 888 feet (271 m) overall |
| Beam | 93 feet (28 m) |
| Draft | 28 feet 7 inches (8.71 m) |
| Installed power |
|
| Propulsion |
|
| Speed | 33knots (61 km/h; 38 mph) |
| Complement | 3448 officers and enlisted |
| Armament | |
| Armor |
|
| Aircraft carried | 90–100 aircraft |
USSHancock (CV/CVA-19) was one of 24Essex-classaircraft carriers built duringWorld War II for theUnited States Navy.Hancock was the fourthUS Navy ship to bear the namesake ofFounding FatherJohn Hancock, president of theSecond Continental Congress and first governor of theCommonwealth of Massachusetts.[Note 1]Hancock was commissioned in April 1944 and served in several campaigns in thePacific Theater of Operations, earning fourbattle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA). In her second career, she operated exclusively in the Pacific, playing a prominent role in theVietnam War, for which she earned aNavy Unit Commendation. She was the first US Navy carrier to havesteam catapults installed. She was decommissioned in early 1976 and sold for scrap later that year.
The ship waslaid down asTiconderoga on 26 January 1943 byBethlehem Steel Co.,Quincy, Massachusetts and subsequently renamedHancock on 1 May 1943. This renaming was done in response to an offer from theJohn Hancock Life Insurance Company to conduct a special bond drive to raise money for the ship if that name was used. (The shipyard at Quincy was in the company's home state.) CV-14, originally laid down asHancock and under construction at the same time inNewport News, Virginia,took the nameTiconderoga instead.
The company's bond drive raised enough money to both build the ship and operate her for the first year.[1] The ship waslaunched 24 January 1944 by Juanita Gabriel-Ramsey, the wife of Rear AdmiralDeWitt Clinton Ramsey, Chief of theBureau of Aeronautics.[2][3]Hancock wascommissioned 15 April 1944, withCaptain Fred C. Dickey in command.[2]
 | This section'stone or style may not reflect theencyclopedic tone used on Wikipedia. See Wikipedia'sguide to writing better articles for suggestions.(March 2021) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
After fitting out in theBoston Navy Yard and shake-down training offTrinidad andVenezuela,Hancock returned to Boston for alterations on 9 July 1944. She departed Boston on 31 July en route toPearl Harbor via thePanama Canal andSan Diego, and from there sailed on 24 September to join AdmiralW. F. Halsey's3rd Fleet atUlithi on 5 October. She was assigned to Rear AdmiralGerald F. Bogan's CarrierTask Group 38.2 (TG 38.2).[2]
The following afternoon,Hancock sailed for a rendezvous point 375 nmi (690 km) west of theMarianas where units ofVice Admiral Mitscher'sFast Carrier Task Force 38 (TF 38) were to raid Japanese air and sea bases in theRyūkyūs,Formosa,[Note 2] and thePhilippines, to limit Japanese air power during the invasion ofLeyte.
_at_Philippines%2c_December_1944.jpg)
The armada arrived off the Ryukyu Islands on 10 October 1944, withHancock's aircraft claiming seven enemy aircraft destroyed on the ground and assisting in the sinking of asubmarine tender, 12torpedo boats, 2midget submarines, 4cargo ships, and a number ofsampans.
Formosanair bases were targeted on 12 October.Hancock's pilots claimed six Japanese aircraft and nine more on the ground. She also reported one cargo ship sunk, three probably destroyed, and several others damaged.[2]
During an enemy air raid that evening,Hancock's gunners accounted for a Japanese aircraft during seven hours of uninterrupted general quarters. The following morning her aircraft resumed their assault, knocking outammunition dumps,hangars,barracks, industrial plants ashore and damaging an enemy transport. As Japanese aircraft again attacked the Americans during their second night off Formosa,Hancock's antiaircraft fire claimed another raider which crashed about 500 yd (460 m) off her flight deck.
As the American ships withdrew a large force of Japanese aircraft approached the American fleet. One dropped a bomb offHancock's port bow a few seconds before being hit by the carrier's guns and crashing into the sea. Another bomb penetrated a gun platform but exploded in the water. The task force sailed toward the Philippines to support the landings at Leyte.[2]
On 18 October, she launched aircraft against airfields and shipping atLaoag,Aparri, andCamiguin Island in NorthernLuzon. Her aircraft struck the islands ofCebu,Panay,Negros, andMasbate, airfields and shipping. The next day, she retired toward Ulithi with Vice AdmiralJohn S. McCain, Sr.'sTG 38.1.[2]
She received orders on 23 October to turn back to the area offSamar to assist in the search for units of the Japanese fleet reportedly closing Leyte to challenge the American fleet, and to destroy amphibious forces which were struggling to take the island.Hancock did not reach Samar in time to assist theescort carriers anddestroyers of "Taffy 3" during the main action of theBattle off Samar, but her aircraft did manage to attack the retreatingJapanese Center Force as it passed through theSan Bernardino Strait.Hancock then rejoined Rear Admiral Bogan's Task Group with which she struck airfields and shipping in the vicinity ofManila on 29 October 1944. During operations through 19 November, her aircraft gave support to advancing Army troops and attacked Japanese shipping over a 350 mi (560 km) area. She becameflagship of the Fast Carrier Task Force (TF 38) on 17 November 1944 when Admiral McCain came on board.[2]
Unfavorable weather prevented operations until 25 November, when akamikaze targetedHancock, diving out of the sun. Antiaircraft fire destroyed the aircraft some 300 ft (90 m) above the ship, but a section of its fuselage landed amidships, and a part of the wing hit the flight deck and burst into flames. The fire was extinguished without major damage.[2]
_hit_by_kamikaze_1945.jpg)
Hancock returned to Ulithi on 27 November and departed from that island with her task group to maintain air patrol over enemy airfields on Luzon to preventkamikaze attacking amphibious vessels of the landing force inMindoro. The first strikes were launched on 14 December againstClark andAngeles City Airfields as well as enemy ground targets on Salvador Island. The next day her aircraft attacked installations atMasinloc,San Fernando, andCabanatuan, while fighter patrols limited Japanese attacks. Her aircraft also attacked shipping inManila Bay.[2]
Hancock encounteredTyphoon Cobra on 17 December 1944, in waves which broke over herflight deck, some 55 ft (20 m) above herwaterline. She put into Ulithi 24 December and got underway six days later toattack airfields and shipping around theSouth China Sea. Her aircraft struck at Luzon airfields on 7–8 January 1945 and turned their attention back to Formosa on 9 January, hitting airfields and the Toko Seaplane Station.[1] An enemy convoy north ofCamranh Bay,Indochina was the next target, with two ships sunk and 11 damaged. That afternoonHancock launched strikes against airfields atSaigon and shipping on the northeastern bulge ofFrench Indochina. Strikes by the fast and mobile carrier force continued through 16 January, hittingHainan Island in theGulf of Tonkin, thePescadores Islands, and shipping in the harbor of Hong Kong. Raids against Formosa were resumed on 20 January. The next afternoon one of her aircraft returning from asortie made a normal landing, taxied to a point abreast of the island before disintegrating in an explosion which killed 50 men and injured 75 others. Damage control work brought the fires under control in time to land the other aircraft of the same flight. She returned to formation and launched strikes against Okinawa the next morning.Hancock reached Ulithi on 25 January, where Admiral McCain left the ship and relinquished command of the5th Fleet.[2]
She sortied with the ships of her task group on 10 February and launched strikes against airfields in the vicinity of Tokyo on 16 February. On that day, her air group, Air Group 80, claimed 71 enemy aircraft and 12 more the following day. Her aircraft attacked enemynaval bases atChichi Jima andHaha Jima on 19 February, as part of a raid to isolateIwo Jima from air and sea support during American landing.Hancock took station off this island to provide tactical support through 22 February, attacking enemy airfields and strafing Japanese troops ashore.[2]
Returning to waters off the Japanese home islands,Hancock launched her aircraft against targets on northernHonshū, making a diversionary raid on theNansei-shoto islands on 1 March before returning to Ulithi on 4 March 1945.[2]
_recovers_a_Grumman_F6F_Hellcat%2c_circa_in_1944_(80-G-K-1929-A).jpg)
Back in Japanese waters,Hancock joined other carriers in strikes againstKyūshū airfields, southwestern Honshū and shipping in theInland Sea of Japan on 18 March.Hancock was refueling the destroyerHalsey Powell on 20 March whenkamikazes attacked the task force. One aircraft dove for the two ships but was destroyed by gunfire when about 700 ft (210 m) overhead. Fragments of the aircraft hitHancock's deck while its engine and bomb crashed thefantail of the destroyer.Hancock's gunners shot down another aircraft as it neared the release point of its bombing run on the carrier.[2]
Hancock was reassigned to CarrierTG 58.3 with which she struck the Nansei-shoto islands from 23 to 27 March andMinami Daito Island and Kyūshū at the end of the month.[2]
Hancock providedclose air support for the landing of theUS 10th Army on the western coast of Okinawa on 1 April,. On 7 April akamikaze struck her flight deck and hitting a group of aircraft while its bomb hit the portcatapult; 62 men were killed and a further 71 wounded but the fires were put out within half an hour and she was back in action inside an hour.[2]
_off_Iwo_Jima.jpg)
Hancock was detached from her task group on 9 April and steamed to Pearl Harbor for repairs. She sailed back into action 13 June and attackedWake Island on 20 June en route to the Philippines.Hancock sailed fromSan Pedro Bay with the other carriers on 1 July and attacked Tokyo airfields on 10 July. She continued to operate in Japanese waters until she received confirmation of Japan's capitulation on 15 August 1945 when she recalled her aircraft from their missions before they reached their targets. However aircraft of her photo division were attacked by seven enemy aircraft overSagami Wan. Three were claimed shot down and a fourth damaged. Later that afternoon aircraft ofHancock's air patrol shot down a Japanesetorpedo plane as it dived on a British task force. Her aircraft flew missions over Japan in search ofprison camps, dropping supplies and medicine, on 25 August. Information collected during these flights led to landings under command of Commodore R. W. Simpson which brought doctors and supplies to all Alliedprisoner of war encampments.[2]
When the formalsurrender of the Japanese government was signed on board battleshipMissouri,Hancock's aircraft flew overhead. The carrier enteredTokyo Bay on 10 September 1945 and sailed on 30 September embarking 1,500 passengers at Okinawa for transportation toSan Pedro, California, where she arrived on 21 October.Hancock was fitted out forOperation Magic Carpet duty at San Pedro and sailed forSeeadler Harbor,Manus,Admiralty Islands on 2 November. On her return voyage, she carried 4,000 passengers who were debarked at San Diego on 4 December. A week laterHancock departed for her secondMagic Carpet voyage, embarking 3,773 passengers at Manila for return toAlameda, California, on 20 January 1946. She embarkedAir Group 7 at San Diego on 18 February for air operations off the coast of California. She sailed from San Diego on 11 March to embark men of two air groups and aircraft at Pearl Harbor for transportation toSaipan, arriving on 1 April. After receiving two other air groups on board at Saipan, she loaded a cargo of aircraft atGuam and steamed by way of Pearl Harbor to Alameda, arriving on 23 April. She then steamed toSeattle, Washington, on 29 April to await inactivation. The ship was decommissioned and entered thereserve fleet atBremerton, Washington.[2]
_Mar_1954.jpg)
Hancock commenced theSCB-27C conversion and modernization to anattack aircraft carrier inPuget Sound 15 December 1951 and was reclassifiedCVA-19 on 1 October 1952. She recommissioned on 15 February 1954, Captain W. S. Butts in command. She was the first carrier of the United States Fleet withsteam catapults capable of launching high-performancejets.[2] The modernization cost $60 million ($703 million today).[4] She was off San Diego on 7 May 1954 for operations along the coast of California that included 17 June launching of the first aircraft to take off a United States carrier by means of a steam catapult. After a year of operations along the Pacific coast that included testing ofSparrow I andRegulus missiles andCutlass jet aircraft, she sailed on 10 August 1955 for7th Fleet operations ranging from the shores of Japan to the Philippines and Okinawa.
She returned to San Diego on 15 March 1956 and decommissioned on 13 April for herSCB-125 conversion that included the installation of anangled flight deck.[2]Hancock recommissioned on 15 November 1956 for training out of San Diego until 6 April 1957, when she again sailed for Hawaii and the Far East. She returned to San Diego on 18 September 1957 and again departed for Japan on 15 February 1958. She was a unit of powerful carrier task groups taking station off Taiwan when theNationalist Chinese islands ofQuemoy andMatsu were threatened with Communist invasion in August 1958.[2] The carrier returned to San Francisco on 2 October for overhaul in theSan Francisco Naval Shipyard, followed by rigorous at-sea training out of San Francisco. On 1 August 1959, she sailed to reinforce the 7th Fleet as troubles inLaos demanded the watchful presence of powerful American forces in water off southeast Asia. She returned to San Francisco on 18 January 1960 and put to sea early in February to participate in theCommunication Moon Relay project, a new demonstration of communications by reflectingultra-high frequency waves off themoon. She again departed in August to steam with the 7th Fleet in waters off Laos until lessening of tension in that area permitted operations ranging from Japan to the Philippines.[2]
Hancock returned to San Francisco in March 1961, then entered thePuget Sound Naval Shipyard for anoverhaul that gave her new electronics gear and many other improvements. She again set sail for Far Eastern waters on 2 February 1962, patrolling in the South China Sea as crisis and strife mounted both in Laos and inSouth Vietnam. She again appeared off Quemoy and Matsu in June to stem a threatened Communist invasion there, then trained along the coast of Japan and in waters reaching to Okinawa. She returned to San Francisco on 7 October, made a brief cruise to the coast of Hawaii while qualifying pilots then again sailed on 7 June 1963 for the Far East.[2]
Hancock joined in combined defense exercises along the coast ofSouth Korea, then deployed off the coast of South Vietnam after the coup which resulted in the death ofPresident Diem. She entered theHunter's Point Naval Shipyard on 16 January 1964 for modernization that included installation of a newordnance system, hull repairs, and aluminum decking for her flight deck.[2] She celebrated her 20th birthday on 2 June while visiting San Diego. The carrier made a training cruise to Hawaii, then departed Alameda on 21 October for another tour of duty with the 7th Fleet in the Far East.[2]
_plus_carriers_at_San_Diego_1970.jpg)
Hancock reached Japan on 19 November and soon was on patrol atYankee Station in the Gulf of Tonkin. She remained active in Vietnamese waters until heading for home early in the spring of 1965.[2] November found the carrier steaming back to the war zone. She was on patrol off Vietnam on 16 December; and, but for brief respites at Hong Kong, the Philippines, or Japan,Hancock remained on station launching her planes for strikes at enemy positions ashore until returning to Alameda on 1 August 1966. Her outstanding record during this combat tour won her theNavy Unit Commendation.[2]
Following operations off the West Coast,Hancock returned to Vietnam early in 1967 and resumed her strikes against Communist positions. After fighting during most of the first half of 1967, she returned to Alameda on 22 July and promptly began preparations for returning to battle.[2]
In the summer of 1969, she was back in Alameda preparing for yet another deployment to southeast Asia. In July, while in pre-deployment night landing exercises, anF-8 came in too low and crashed into the round-down splitting the aircraft into two pieces which hurtled down the deck and erupted in a massive fuel-fed fire. While there were no deaths, damage to the flight deck was extensive, resulting in a frenetic 24 × 7 repair effort to be ready by the deployment date.[citation needed]
Aircraft fromHancock, along with those fromUSS Ranger andUSS Oriskany, joined with other planes for air strikes against North Vietnamese missile and antiaircraft sites south of the19th parallel in response to attacks on unarmed U.S. reconnaissance aircraft on 21–22 November 1970 (Operation Freedom Bait).Hancock alternated withRanger andKitty Hawk on Yankee Station until 10 May 1971, when she was relieved byMidway.[2]
_with_HMH-463_on_deck_1975.jpg)
Hancock, along withUSS Coral Sea, was back on Yankee Station by 30 March 1972 whenNorth Vietnam invaded South Vietnam. In response to the invasion, Naval aircraft fromHancock and other carriers flew tactical sorties duringOperation Freedom Train against military and logistics targets in the southern part of North Vietnam. By the end of April, the strikes covered more areas in North Vietnam throughout the area below 20°25′ N. From 25 to 30 April 1972, aircraft fromHancock'sVA-55,VA-164,VF-211 andVA-212[5] struck enemy-held territory aroundKontum andPleiku.[2]
On 17 March 1975Hancock was ordered to offload her air wing. On arrival at Subic Bay, she offloaded CAG 21.[6] On 26 March, Marine Heavy Lift Helicopter SquadronHMH-463 comprising 25CH-53,CH-46,AH-1J andUH-1E helicopters embarked onHancock and then proceeded toSubic Bay to offload the other half of CAG 21.[6] After taking on more helicopters at Subic Bay,Hancock was temporarily assigned to Amphibious Ready Group Bravo, standing by offVung Tau, South Vietnam, but on 11 April she joinedAmphibious Ready Group Alpha in the Gulf of Thailand.[6]: 110 Hancock then took part inOperation Eagle Pull, the evacuation of Phnom Penh on 12 April 1975 andOperation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of Saigon on 29–30 April 1975.[7] From 12 to 14 May, she was alerted, although not utilized, for therecovery of SSMayagüez, a US merchantman with 39 crew, seized in international waters on 12 May by the CommunistKhmer Rouge.[2]
Hancock was decommissioned on 30 January 1976. She was stricken from the Navy list the following day,[Note 3] and sold for scrap by theDefense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) on 1 September 1976.[2] By January 1977, ex-Hancock was being scrapped in Los Angeles harbor and artifacts were being sold to former crew members and the general public, including items ranging from portholes to the anchor chain. The Associated Press noted that some of the scrap metal from the World War II-serving aircraft carrier would be sold to Japan to manufacture automobiles.[8]
    | ||
   | ||
    | ||
  .svg) | ||
   | ||
Hancock was awarded the Navy Unit Commendation and received fourbattle stars on theAsiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal for service in World War II.[2] She also earned 13 battle stars for service in Vietnam.
According to the US Navy Unit Awards website,Hancock and her crew received the following awards, in approximately chronological order:
Hancock was also awarded:
_underway_at_sea%2c_circa_in_1944.jpg)
%2c_October_1944.jpg)
_in_San_Francisco_Bay_in_September_1957_(2).jpg)
_in_1957.jpg)
%2c_in_1962.jpg)
_in_1975.jpg)
_1975.jpg)
_returning_from_Frequent_Wind_1975.jpg)
This article incorporates text from thepublic domainDictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be foundhere. This article incorporatespublic domain material fromHancock (CV-19) at theNaval Vessel Register. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in thepublic domain.
| United States founding events | |
|---|---|
| Life | |
| Related | |
| Legacy |
|
| Family |
|
