USS Bataan (CVL-29)
USS Bataan (CVL-29/AVT-4), originally planned as USS Buffalo (CL-99) and also classified as CV-29, was an 11,000 ton Independence-class light aircraft carrier which was commissioned in the United States Navy during World War II on 17 November 1943. Serving in the Pacific Theatre for the entire war, taking part in operations around New Guinea, the Invasion of the Mariana Islands, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Okinawa, and Attacks on the Japanese home islands. After World War II's end she was converted into an anti-submarine carrier and placed in reserve on 11 February 1947.
For other ships with the same name, see USS Bataan.She was reactivated on 13 May 1950 at Philadelphia in order to participate in the Korean War. After the war she returned to Pearl Harbor, and reported for a preinactivation overhaul on 26 August 1953. After moving to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Bataan was decommissioned on 9 April 1954 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Francisco. Although she was reclassified an auxiliary aircraft transport and redesignated AVT-4 on 15 May 1959, her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 September 1959. She was sold to Nicolai Joffe Corp., Beverly Hills, California, on 19 June 1961 for scrapping.
Service history[edit]
World War II[edit]
After fitting out at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, Bataan conducted preliminary shakedown training in Chesapeake Bay before sailing to the West Indies on 11 January 1944. Two days later, while en route to Trinidad, she suffered her first loss when a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter crashed into her number 2 stack and burst into flames, killing three crewmen.
Returning to Philadelphia on 14 February, she underwent post-shakedown repairs and inspections until 2 March when she got underway for the Pacific. Transiting the Panama Canal on 8 March, she arrived in San Diego on the 16th. Two days later, she sailed for Hawaii with her flight and hangar decks full with passengers, aircraft and cargo. Arriving at Pearl Harbor on 22 March, she conducted a week of pilot qualification drills in preparation for "forward area deployment". The warship lost her second aircraft on 31 March when a "Hellcat" crashed the landing barrier and went over the side, although the pilot survived without injury.
Bataan departed Pearl Harbor on 4 April accompanied by her escorting destroyers and steamed to the Marshall Islands. She arrived at Majuro Atoll on 9 April and reported for duty with the fast carriers of Task Force 58 (TF 58) that same day. On 13 April, she sailed with the carriers Hornet, Belleau Wood, Cowpens and the rest of Task Group (TG) 58.1 for air operations against Hollandia, New Guinea (now known as Jayapura). These raids were intended to support American amphibious operations in the Humboldt Bay-Tanahmerah Bay region of New Guinea.
On 21 April, Bataan launched five fighter sweeps to attack Japanese aircraft and ground installations on New Guinea. The pilots claimed hits on numerous buildings, flak guns, coastal barges and three aircraft on the ground. Meanwhile, the carrier's Combat Air Patrol (CAP) shot down a Mitsubishi G4M1 Betty bomber and a Mitsubishi Ki-21 Sally.
The Task Group then headed north and struck the Japanese base at Truk Lagoon on 29 April. Bataan launched a fighter sweep and three bombing raids, with the Grumman/General Motors TBM Avenger torpedo bombers dropping 13 short tons (12 t) of bombs on the Japanese base. One TBM Avenger was shot down during the attack, but the crew was rescued by submarine Tang, which was engaged in lifeguard duty - patrolling for such survivors during the battle. On 30 April, Bataan's task group turned toward Ponape (now Pohnpei), Caroline Islands; and, the next day, she flew CAP and Anti-Submarine Patrol (ASP) missions over the battleships bombarding that island. The warships then steamed to the Marshall Islands, arriving at Kwajalein lagoon on 4 May.[1]
Awards[edit]
Bataan received six battle stars for her World War II service and seven for her Korean War service.[1]
This article incorporates text from the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.
