Bennington (CVA 20) - Naval Cruise Book

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adwy' 'idilf CHIEF' OF' NAVAL OPERATIONS 17 December 1956 Throughout the world the officers and men of the United States Navy stand watch over troublede seas--always ready to protect and defend the in- terests of their country. There is a Job to be done--a job that can be done only by the Navy. The carrier striking forces are the cutting' edge of modern naval power. Upon the strength and readiness of these forces depends not only ' the success of the Navy's mission but the security of the United States. The officers and men who have the Job of, welding a ship, planes and equipment into a , tough, competent fighting unit share a great responsibility. And they also share the con- viction of excellence which comes from performing well a demanding task--and in knowing that their country'deponds.upon them for its continued right 597074 T ARLEIGH BURKE to be free.

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. .1 ab0afd'fm Q. NNINGTO VA? C0 MANDER CARRIEB Dl I I0 IRT!-YSK GROP 11 V. U S ,

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hi i0r I the name shines brightly in the history of our Nation. In 1777, during the American Revolution, the British planned a giant offensive to crush the rebellious colonies. As part of the strategy General Bur- goyne's army marched down from Canada to strike the colonies from the north. Indeed, so rapidly did Burgoyne move into upper New York that he over extended his supply lines and was forced to delay while he sought provisions for his troops. Intelligence reports spoke of large stores of horses, munitions and food held by the Colonials at Bennington, Vermont. lf he could have these Burgoyne could continue south, without them he might fail. A force of German mercenaries was dispatched to wrest this prize from the untrained New England farmer-soldiers. Good fortune and bravery saved the Colonials. The Vermont Militia led by Colonel John Stark trounced Burgoyne's detachment in what is now remembered as the Battle of Bennington. This unexpected Colonial victory was the prelude to Burgoyne's final defeat at Saratoga on 4 December 1777. The United States Navy paid tribute to the historic Vermont battle late in the 19th century. ln 1891 a 1700-ton gunboat was commissioned and named BENNINGTON. This warship served the country for fourteen years, years in which the United States acquired the Philippines, Puerto Rico, Guam and Hawaii, there by vastly increasing the responsibilities of the fleet. ne World War fought in Europe, followed by years of disarmament, a major eco- nomic depression followed by an acute shortage of funds for a peacetime navy-these all acted to prevent the formation of a truly strong American Navy. However well-trained it was, the Fleet was small, however dedicated its men, the ships were old. Its responsibilities, particularly in the Pacific, were far greater than its capabilities. Japan had embarked on a planned period of conquest throughout all of Asia. Her armies fell upon Manchuria in 1931 and invaded China in 1936. Ahead lay the Philippines and the rich East Indies. There the Japanese military ex- tremists would find the oil, rubber, and tin so badly needed for their growing Empire. Little stood in the way of the Japanese. Great Britain, France, and the Netherlands faced the German threat in Europe. Only the United States with its numerically inferior Pacific Fleet stood in the way of Japan's Grand Conquest. On 7 December 1941 Japan struck at Hawaii. This was no drill: American battleships lay on the bottom of Pearl Harbor. Warfhad come. Spurred by an explosive mixture of indignation, pride, and determination the nation went all ahead, fiankspeedn in its gigantic war effort. By the end of the first month Congress had author- ized the construction of more warship tonnage than ever before had existed in the United States Navy. Among the vessels to ioin the expanded fieet was an ESSEX class aircraft carrier, hull number twenty. X I 1 aid down in 1942, hull number twenty was given the name BENNINGTON. This second BENNINGTON was launched at the New York Navy Yard on 26 February 1944. She was quickly outfitted, her topside structures were completed, and finishing touches of weld metal and paint were applied. On 6 August BENNlNGTON's crew, together with Air Group Eighty-Two, assem- bled on the flight deck to witness the Navy's formal acceptance of its newest aircraft carrier. After the commissioning ceremony CAPT J. P. Sykes read his orders and assumed command. The first watch was piped cnd set. USS BENNINGTON iCV-201 began its life with the Fleet. Four months of general shipboard training and special trials culminated in a short shake-down cruise off the Atlantic Coast. This completed, BENNINGTON sailed off to the Pacific, the Battle of the Atlantic had been won. The final Pacific battles were yet to ccme. hree thousand miles west of Pearl Harbor lay the giant protected harbor of Ulithi Atoll. Here in the Western Carolines was assembled the most powerful naval force ever to sail the oceans. Soon the Fleet would avenge Pearl Harbor. lwo Jima, Okinawa, and the main Japanese Islands lay ahead. Task Force 58 with BENNINGTON in company sailed northwest in early February. During the early morning of the sixteenth day of the month, from a position only eighty miles off the Japanese coast, BENNINGTON launched aircraft against the enemy. Strike after strike continued. BENNINGTON planes saturated the Tokyo-Nagoya-Osaka-Kobe area throughout the end of the winter and into the spring. ln air battles on the eighteenth and nineteenth of March, Air Group 82 destroyed 57 aircraft, damaged 35 more, and scored hits on the largest battleship in the world, the giant YAMOTO. This score was in addition to 86 planes previously shot down or destroyed earlier that month. Not content solely with aviation