Bennington (CVA 20) - Naval Cruise Book

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v eu a-slew. V uw,,,N.,X , K N . A . N S . .........w.........,s.c..,....,. 1-.......,,s.-. ..,, ..........,......D,,.-.,... - . .. , .. , . . 9 f -- V- - . . H W- 4' - ----- - ' Within eight days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor, the 76th Congress authorized construc- tion of the USS BENNINGTON lCV-201. One year later, on December 15, 1942, workers at the New York Naval Shipyard laid the keel. Fourteen months later the ship was ready for launching. By late sum- mer 1944, the new carrier was ready for service, and on August 6 she was commissioned. On January 29, 1945, BENN got underway from Pearl Harbor with four other carriers and a battle cruiser. The force arrived at Ulithi Atoll on February 8, where they became part of Task Group 58.1 part of the already famous Fast Carrier Task Force 58 of the Western Pacific. BENN'S first taste of action came with a raid on Tokyo. Both GQ and flight quarters went early on the morning of February 16, finding BENN the westernmost carrier in the group and only 80 miles off the Japanese coast. The group's aircraft destroyed enemy planes, support factories, shipping and Tokyo- area airfields. February 19 saw BENN'S fliers in beachhead support strikes to help sustain the invasion oflwo Jima. Benn came under a crash-dive attempt in mid- March by an iniured two-engine Japanese Betty . The day's first strike of 16 Corsairs was warming up when the Betty flew in low over the screen. Several ships opened up with their guns, but the Betty was only struck by a cruiser's gunfire, which caused one engine to catch fire. The plane then turned in toward BENN'S starboard quarter in an attempt to slam into the flight deck. All the starboard machine guns which w could train opened up and sent the plane into the water only 200 yards from the ship.