Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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,A 4. . .f fluM!.-.-5.4-. - I A . 3s,,. f M, we - .... x,....-- . .... 5-ugh 'Q .44 , .1-A .....,... A. W- ww if ' 'V-fm Ready and eager for combat, the RANDOLPH leaves Virginia in October 1944, headed for the Pacific. Her final destination - Tokyo Bay. Commodore Arleigh A. Burke plans operations with Vice Admiral Mark A. Mitscher in RAN- DOLPH's Flag Plot in June 1945. The USS ASTORIA CL-90 and RANDOLPH fire at enemy aircraft aft of sister ship USS ESSEX CV-9 during Task Force 58 opera- tions. LAL... X ,ff

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. :sL,f...-1 ' - Sw ' ..'.'.1..Q..I, . . .I .- '..t . V-,.....,g...Q'5 i ': Ij I I ' I N A 1 I Q ' 4 A ' a n '. - Ill -' I I I-'I-lm I 'I I- 'I l I- ' Il I I Q me ..i.,..- .ie ,.w,.,,,.,g TSG- Poised and ever-alert, RANDOLPH waits in the clouded Pacific with other units of VADM Mitscher's Task Force 58 . . . Eternal vigilance is the price of liberty. Again a Randoo Candoof' The second Randolph, a part of Task Force 58, launched raids on Chichi Jima, and lwo Jima, and returned to Ulithi for replenishment. At the same anchorage was the carrier Bunker Hill. . . . The first thing we saw was a pillar of smoke, white in the glare of a searchlight, pouring from an Essex- class carrier nearby. Fire was eating at the base of the pillar, and every few seconds the whole stern of the ship shuddered under an explosion, and the fire leaped, and the smoke boiled. 'There she goesl' Someone kept yelling. 'There she goesl' No one knew which carrier she was, or what had happened to her. Rumors were flitting around like chimney swifts: the victim was the Hancock, and a torpedo warhead had exploded, she was the Essex, and a kamikaze had hit her, she was the Randolph. . . . By the time the fire was under control . . . the facts began to filter through, the ship was the Ran- dolph, a kamikaze had plunged through the after end of her flight deck. There were two, both of them twin- engine bombers with crews of three . . . lt's not certain where they came from, but the logical presumption is that they refueled at Yap. One pilot evidently mistook the lights on an island for a ship, because that's where he crashed, injuring fourteen men. The one that hit the Randolph killed twenty-six and injured one-hundred five more. Even so, she was lucky, if the attack had come a little earlier or a little later, or if the plane had crashed a little further forward, casualties would have been much, much higher. . . This account was published in Aircraft Carrier, by LCDR Joseph Bryan, USNR, aboard the Bunker Hill at the time of the attack. The men of the Randolph saw this: . . . There was a movie on the hangar deck called 'A Song to Remem- ber.' We may have forgotten the song, but we'll always remember the night- IVlarch 11, 1945. At seven min- utes past eight a twin engine Japanese bomber slipped past the radar net and interceptor patrols, roared out i8 An F6F leaves the starboard catapult bound for the Japanese mainland. of the night, and crash landed with bombs at the edge of the flight deck, starboard side, aft. At this moment one showing of the movie was just over and the other was about to begin. lVlen were getting up from their seats and others were moving in. The explosion was terrific. A great hole was torn in the flight deck, a col- umn of flame shot into the night air. Hot ammunition began to detonate, planes were burning like torches. We had never faced an emergency like this, but some- how we were equal to it. This incident was the first close contact with the realities of death and destroyers that the new carrier had felt. The men were equal to the task, and after repairs were made, the Randolph rejoined the fleet. On lVlarch 25, 1945, she became flagship for Admiral G. F. Bogan and joined in operations against Okinawa, Napo, Shoto, continuing to restrain enemy aircraft movements on the Japanese mainland. ln lVlay, the Randolph became flagship for Admiral lVlitscher. Relieved of further support requirements she sailed for Guam, then proceeded to Leyte Gulf, Philip- pine lslands. A month later while replenishing depleted bomb supplies a U.S. Army P38 crashed into the for- ward part of the carrier's flight deck. Resulting explo- sions caused considerable damage, killing 14 crew members and injuring 11 more. After completing repairs, the Randolph got underway for her third war cruise as a unit of Admiral Bull Halsey's Third Fleet. This was the beginning of an extended battle and the final campaign against the Japanese. Many targets were brought under attack by planes from the Randolph during this campaign, in- cluding the battleship Nagato and the carrier Hyuga. The latter was completely destroyed. During the Randolph's wartime activities its air groups accounted for 143 Japanese planes in the air, 160 on the ground, and 87,000 tons of shipping. Thankfully - and inevitably - the war came to a close, and the Randolph was pressed into clean-up operations. Her planes dropped supplies and medicine

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M- ..-.. . M-.- on prison camps on the Japanese mainland, her ma- rines were landed at Yokosuka to implement the grow- ing occupation forces. Finally, the orders were sent. Leaving Pearl Harbor for the last time on October 1, 1945, the Randolph steamed through the Panama Canal on the 16th, and with over one thousand passengers billetted in hastily constructed cots in hangar bay three, docked in Baltimore on Sunday afternoon, Octo- ber 21st - Navy Day. The year was over, the Randolph had come back from War. After Baltimore, the Randolph was rigged for the Magic Carpet Service, and made two trips to the Mediterranean area to bring our servicemen to their homes in America. Assigned later as a training carrier, she made several cruises in the Atlantic and Caribbean areas, training reservists and midshipmen. Incident to the policy of rotating ships of the Atlantic Fleet between the Western Atlantic, the Eastern Atlan- tic, and the Mediterranean, the Randolph had visited ltaly, Turkey, Lebanon, and Greece by the end of 1946. upon returning to the United States in December she made another cruise to the Caribbean, and in early summer of 1947 took U.S. Naval Academy midshipmen on the first cruise to European waters of the North Atlantic since the opening hostilities of the Second World War. CV-15, then CVA-15, another brief training cruise, and by directive dated June 1947, the USS Randolph was placed out of commission, in reserve, attached to the U.S. Atlantic Reserve Fleet. After two and one-half years of active duty, the Randolph took a rest. January 1952, the Randolph entered the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company for eighteen months of extensive overhaul and reconditioning, and on July 1, 1953, the ship was recommissioned to take her place in the front lines of the nation's defense. Four months operation from Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, indicated that the Randolph was prepared for any- thingg she joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean on February 3, 1954. Spain, Italy, Greece, France and Algiers became familiar to the men of the Randolph as many complex Sixth Fleet and NATO operations were held. On August 1, 1955, the Randolph entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, Va., for extensive modern- ization and conversion, including the addition of the new angled deck. For the next six months the Randolph conducted normal air operations with aircraft from Florida and Virginia and also became the first Atlantic March 11, 1945 was a night to remember - fire fighters pour tons of water into the gaping hole left by a Japanese kamikaze. Fleet Carrier to launch the Guided Missile Regulus from her flight deck. On July 14, 1956, the Randolph departed for 'seven months tour of duty with the U.S. Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean. When Israel inyaded'Egypt in October of that year, the Randolph stood ready in case of war. Operating near the Suez Canal, her aircraft provided air cover and surface and air reconnaissance for the evacuation of the U.S. nationals from Alexandria. On February 19, 1957, the Randolph returned to the United States. ' The next few months found the Randolph operating off our Eastern Seaboard. This activity was followed by another Mediterranean deployment on July 1, 1957, and the winning of the 1957 Battle Efficiency Award. The Randolph spent Christmas with Admiral Brown's Sixth Fleet and visited once again her many ports of call. During the Syrian uprisings between August and December, most of the time was spent in the Eastern Mediterranean as a precautionary measure. The ship returned to the United States on February 24, 1958. She immediately entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard in Portsmouth, Virginia. ln June, 1958, the Randolph hauled in her lines to begin a shakedown cruise to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, followed by operating in our coastal waters in prepara- tions for another Mediterranean Cruise. She departed Pier 12, Naval Operating Base on September 2, 1958 to begin her fifth deployment there. On September 7, 1958, the Randolph was awarded the Atlantic Fleet 1958 CVA Battle Efficiency Pennant together with the E departmental awards for Air, Operations, Engineering and Gunnery. This feat of making a clean sweep of all E awards is believed to be without precedent in carrier history. The ship operated in the Western Mediterranean for the most part. calling at the islands of Malta, and Rhodes, and many coastal cities on the continent. On March 12, 1959, the carrier was once again in her home port after six and one-half months of intensive exer- cises with NATO and American units. Anti-Submarine Operations Randolph had completed her last operations as an attack carrier. On April 1, 1959, Randolph assumed a new role in the fleet - that of an anti-submarine sup- portucarrier KCVSD. After a period of schooling and qualifications, she embarked on June 1st on a six week cruise for the dual purpose of providing at-sea training The remains of an FBF mark the spot in the light of a new day. March 12, 1945, and surveys of the extensive damage to RAN- DOLPH were continued. 1 PQ, .bil