USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31)
_anchored_in_New_York_harbor_on_9_January_1945.jpg) Bon Homme Richard off New York in January 1945 |
|
| Overview | |
|---|---|
| Shipyard | |
| Order | 1942 |
| Keel laying | February 1, 1943 |
| Launch | April 29, 1944 |
| 1. Period of service |
|
| period of service |
Nov 26, 1944 - Jan 9, 1947 |
| Whereabouts | scrapped |
| Technical specifications | |
| Data at the time of commissioning | |
| displacement |
27,100 ts |
| length |
265.8 m |
| width |
45 m |
| Draft |
8.8 m |
| crew |
2,600 men |
| drive |
8 boilers, 4 turbines, 4 screws, 150,000 hp |
| speed |
33 knots |
| Range |
16,900 NM at 15 kn |
| Armament |
|
| Planes |
80-100 |
| Call sign: |
November Hotel Charlie Lima |
| Nickname: |
Bonnie Dick |
The USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) (later CVA-31 ) was the 14th aircraft carrier of the Essex class and stood from 1944 to 1971 in the service of the United States Navy . She was the second ship to be named USS Bonhomme Richard and took part in attacks against Japan , the Korean War and the Vietnam War in the Pacific during the final stages of World War II .
history
As the second ship to be named Bon Homme Richard , the new build CV-31 was laid down on February 1, 1943 at the New York Naval Shipyard (NYNSY) in New York by decision in 1942 . The ship was named after the 18th century frigate Bonhomme Richard , commanded by John Paul Jones . After being launched on April 29, 1944, the carrier was put into service on November 26, 1944.
Pacific War
-Tarn.jpg)
The first use of the ship led in the following March 1945 in the Pacific , where it was involved in the last attacks on Japan from June . After the de facto end of the Second World War in the Pacific in mid-August 1945, the USS Bon Homme Richard patrolled the coast of Japan for another month before being ordered back home. From November 1945 to January 1946 she took part in Operation Magic Carpet . She was then moved to Bremerton , Washington , where she was decommissioned for the first time on January 9, 1947 and added to the fleet reserve .
Korean War
The outbreak of the Korean War in mid-1950 made it necessary to return the USS Bon Homme Richard to active service. This finally took place on January 15, 1951. After a training mission from February to April 1951, the first deployment as part of the war led to the West Pacific, where numerous missions were flown over Korea from late May to mid-December 1951. From May to December 1952 she was sent again to the coast off Korea. During this time, on October 1, 1952, the carrier was also reclassified from CV-31 to CVA-31 (A stands for attack ) in order to clarify its actual status. After these two missions, the USS Bon Homme Richard returned to the USA to be rebuilt and modernized for new requirements. For this purpose, she was decommissioned for the second time on May 15, 1953.
After the completion of the conversion and modernization work, the aircraft carrier was put back into service on September 6, 1955. As part of the US 7th Fleet, the USS Bon Homme Richard took part in the Pacific Ocean voyages from August 1956 to February 1957, July to December 1957, November 1958 to June 1959, November 1959 from San Diego , California for the following decade to May 1960, April to December 1961, July 1962 to February 1963 and January to November 1964. The latter trip was supposed to end in September, but the return trip was delayed due to the Tonkin incident that sparked the Vietnam War .
_underway_in_the_Gulf_of_Tonkin_on_2_November_1964.jpg)
Vietnam War
For this reason, she was ordered to the waters off Vietnam for a good month and a half to actively participate in the first fighting. At the time, the aircraft carrier was the flagship of Admiral George Stephen Morrison , father of Jim Morrison , the lead singer of the rock band The Doors .
In the following six years, the USS Bon Homme Richard was dispatched five more times to combat missions in Southeast Asian waters as part of the Vietnam War . They took place from May 1965 to January 1966, from January to August 1967, from January to October 1968, from March to October 1969 and from April to November 1970. After returning to San Diego from her last mission in 1970, preparations began immediately for her decommissioning, which took place on July 2, 1971.
Whereabouts
Until September 20, 1989, the aircraft carrier, again in Bremerton, was still in the fleet reserve . On April 10, 1992, the ship was finally sold to "Southwest Recycling, Inc." on Terminal Island, San Pedro , California, where it was completely scrapped by the end of 1993.
Awards
- Battle Star (1), World War II
- Battle Star (5), Korean War
