USS Mindoro (CVE-120)

For other ships with the same name, see USS Mindoro.

USS Mindoro (CVE-120) underway in April 1952
History
United States
Name	USS Mindoro
Namesake	Mindoro
Builder	Todd Pacific Shipyards
Laid down	2 January 1945
Launched	27 June 1945
Commissioned	4 December 1945
Decommissioned	4 August 1955
Stricken	1 December 1959
Fate	Sold June 1960, and scrapped in Hong Kong
General characteristics
Class and type	Commencement Bay-class escort carrier
Displacement	11,373 long tons (11,556 t)
Length	557 ft 1 in (169.80 m)
Beam	75 ft (23 m)
Draft	32 ft (9.8 m)
Installed power	16,000 shp (12,000 kW) 4 × boilers
Propulsion	2 ×Steam turbines 2 shafts
Speed	19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph)
Complement	1,066
Armament	2 × 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns (2x1) 36 × 40 mm (1.6 in) Bofors AA guns 20 × 20 mm (0.8 in) Oerlikon AA guns
Aircraft carried	33

USS Mindoro (CVE-120) was a Commencement Bay-class escort carrier launched during World War II, but was completed too late to see active service. After service in the Caribbean, Atlantic and the Mediterranean during the early Cold War, the carrier was stricken from the Navy List on 1 December 1959 and scrapped.

Design

Main article: Commencement Bay-class escort carrier

In 1941, as United States participation in World War II became increasingly likely, the US Navy embarked on a construction program for escort carriers, which were converted from 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.

Mindoro was 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) long overall, with a beam of 75 ft (23 m) at the waterline, which extended to 105 ft 2 in (32.05 m) at maximum. She displaced 21,397 long tons (21,740 t) at full load, of which 12,876 long tons (13,083 t) could be fuel oil (though some of her storage tanks were converted to permanently store seawater for ballast), and at full load she had a draft of 27 ft 11 in (8.51 m). She had a complement of 1,066 officers and enlisted men.

The ship was powered by two Allis-Chalmers geared steam turbines, each driving one screw propeller, using steam provided by four Combustion Engineering-manufactured 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).

Her defensive anti-aircraft armament consisted of two 5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns in single mounts, thirty-six 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.

Service history

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

The keel for Mindoro was laid down at the Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., in Tacoma, Washington, on 2 January 1945. The completed hull was launched on 27 June 1945. She was commissioned at Tacoma on 4 December 1945, too late to have seen action during the war.

After her shakedown cruise along the West Coast, Mindoro sailed for the East Coast late in January 1946 and arrived Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 February. Assigned to Carrier Division 14, she began carrier air training operations along the East Coast. In May she joined ships of the 8th Fleet for exercises in waters of the West Indies. During the remainder of the year, she ranged the Atlantic from New England to Cuba, training naval aviators and taking part in anti-submarine Hunter killer exercises.

As the nation underwent a general demobilization, Mindoro continued to carry out a busy schedule of training and readiness operations. During the next nine years she operated out of Norfolk. Her numerous type training and fleet exercises sent her the length of the eastern coast of North America from Davis Strait to the Caribbean, and across the Atlantic to the British Isles and the Mediterranean. In 1950 and again in 1954, she deployed to the Mediterranean where she bolstered the forces of the 6th Fleet.

After completing exercises off the Virginia Capes, Mindoro steamed to Boston on 17 January 1955. She decommissioned at Boston on 4 August 1955 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. While berthed at Boston, she was reclassified as AKV‑20 on 7 May 1959. Later that year, she was authorized for disposal, and her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 December. Subsequently, she was disposed of in June 1960 and scrapped at Hong Kong later that year.

References

•  This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
• Friedman, Norman (1986). "United States of America". In Gardiner, Robert & Gray, Randal (eds.). Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships 1906–1921. London: Conway Maritime Press. pp. 105–133. ISBN 978-0-85177-245-5.
• "Mindoro III (CVE-120)". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. 10 August 2015. Retrieved 20 June 2023. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

External links

• Photo gallery at navsource.org