Bataan (CVL 29) - Naval Cruise Book

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Present Executive Officer Former Executive Officer Commander R. J. Pflum, USN Commonder R. W. Arndt, USN

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Present Commanding Officer Cap. ain S. S. Miller, USN Former Commanding Officer Coptoin H. R. Horney, USN

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A Bit of Biography The first ship to commemorate a bottle of World War II, was the USS BATAAN. Frank Knox said of her: . . . she has a rendezvous with destiny that shall not be denied. With these words still ringing off her bulkheads, she left Philadelphia on 28 December 1943 to begin a hurried shakedown cruise in the Chesapeake Bay and Caribbean Sea area. Captain V. H. SCHAEFFER, her first commanding officer, rested the crew for a day of liberty in Trinidad, British West Indies, on the 16th of January 1944. Liberty was short, however, and almost immediately she steamed again to Philadelphia, arriving there 14 February. BATAAN ' S first visit to Pearl Harbor was on the 22nd of March 1944, after she hod steamed through the Panama Canal and visited briefly the port of San Diego. From the dock at Ford Island, the men had a brief taste of Hawaiian liberty before settling down to a rigorous period of training and maneuvers. Maneuvers completed, BATAAN put her nose to the Pacific and headed westward to the war zone; destination — Mojuro Atoll. Five days later she anchored there and joined the famed Task Force 58. During the following months BATAAN sow plenty of action at Hollandio and the Marianas; the most noteworthy event being the Marianas ' Turkey Shoot action in which over 400 Jap planes were sent flaming into the sea. After a brief overhaul at Hunter ' s Point, BATAAN again headed toward Pearl Har- bor with a new captain, J. P. HEATH, in command. A new carrier air group was trained and qualified and BATAAN again joined Task Force 58, this time for strikes against the Japanese home islands. The months of March and April found BATAAN supporting action against Okinawa, heavily damaging island installations. Later she took port in the battle of the East China Sea, one of the most important battles in destroying the final effort of the Japanese Navy to stop the U. S. forward march in the Pacific. During this period planes landed on deck 14,622 times. Catapult launchings of planes totaled 6,383. Ship ' s casualties in action totaled 70. For eleven months the BA- TAAN was in the bitterest port of the war, traversing more than 120,000 miles of ocean in the co mbat area. Captain HEATH was relieved by Captain W. C. GILBERT on the 5th of June 1945. After the war ended the BATAAN cruised up and down the coast of Japan, awaiting the formal surrender aboard the USS MISSOURI. The surrender signed, she steamed out of Tokyo Bay toward Pearl Harbor, through the canal again and to New York. Operation Magic Carpet sent her to Italy to ferry troops bock to the United States. On 18 June 1946, the BATAAN was inactivated and placed in commission in re- serve, Philadelphia Group, 16th Fleet. Then, on 1 1 February 1947, she was placed out of commission in reserve, Philadelphia Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet. The U. S. was again in need for BATAAN and on 1 June 1949, her reactivation began. She was recommissioned on the 13th of May 1950. Through the Panama Canal again, she sailed into San Diego on the 28th of July 1 950. By then a new war was scream- ing across the headlines. So, after three months of qualifying pilots, she mode ready for war. On 16 November 1950, the BATAAN departed San Diego bound for Yokosuka, Japan, with a load of Air Force personnel, F-84 Thunderjets, machinery and other equip- ment. Off-loading at Yokosuka, the BATAAN sailed to Kobe and took aboard VMF-21 2. After a short stop at Sasebo for fuel, ammunition and provisions, she joined Task Force 77