Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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,fy 1. '- 'Q ti' X V -f if N. H .Xa xy Q Wlt't5f 1 4 Yvlll' 1n'1g1'r111f Randolph, U32-gZt7If1'ZgIllC l'11I'7jI'ICllALf I1 3.511-1111111 l,'?'lfIl,', was n1mz1f1l In lmzzor ofl'1j1'l1n1 Rllllflflwll, 11 member of flu' l'1'1'.s'f I ,'1n1f1'111f11Z11f C1mgr1:.s',s'. Crm- .vf1'111'f1'1l 111'11r P!l1'flll1l'0Ifl1'Il in 1776, she f1111f Il f1ri1jf'bz1I 1'Ifz1.s'Zrz'0us crzreerin the A m1'1'1'1'1111 RC'Z'UfIlfl'0H b1f0r1: being sunk fini' N11' 64-gzuz 13rii1'.s'f2 m1m-ofwar Yar- mouth in fl-l112'1'lz, 1778. The original RlllIflOgJh was named for Peyton Randolph. an important legisla- tor of his time. A Virginia attorney, he presided over the Provincial Convention in August, 1774, was a member of the first Continental Congress and assisted in the framing of the Constitution. Following his death at fifty-four in 1775, a frig- ate was christened in his honor. The original Rcmdofjalz, a thirty-two gun frig- ate manned by a crew of 350, had a short but illustrious career in the Revolution. One of thir- teen of her class built for the Continental Navy in 1776 along the Delaware River near Philadel- phia. she was captained initially by a man from that city, Nicholas Biddle. Departing Philadel- phia in 1777, she sailed forth in search of British blockade ships in the Atlantic and roamed as far south as the Caribbean. One of her more signifi- cant prizes was a twenty-gun warship, Briton. In March of the following year she encountered the mighty English ship-of-the-line, Yarmouth, boasting sixty-four guns. Obviously out-gunned, she battled gamely. smashing the topmast and bowsprit ofher heavier foe before succumbing to a direct hit in the magazine. Captain Biddle had been wounded early in the battle, but heroically refused to go below, he requested a chair be brought to the bridge, and from that vantage point commanded his vessel is desperate fight un- til the sinking. Only a little more than a year in service. the original IfIUlI10!f1ll had established a heritage of which later ships to bear the name could bejustly proud. 13

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Page 16 text:

The keel of CV-15 was laid on May 10, 1943, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Shipyard workers during that period in American history were justly proud of their work on the home front, laboring rapidly and efficiently, day and night, to produce the warships for the expanding fleet. The 42,000 ton Randolph was launched june 28, 1944, just a little over thirteen months after work on the Essex-class flattop had commenced. ' Commissioned October 9, 1944, she was heading for the combat zone less than ten weeks later. Her aircraft were launching strikes against the enemy homeland by February 16 of the next year. USS Rana'o4bh QCV-15j thus set a record for a U. S. aircraft carrier in completing her training phase and confronting the opposition. In fact, never before had such a warship com- pletely omitted her important re-fitting and post- shakedown shipyard availability in a rush to get into action I Built during the frantically-paced construction period mid-way through the Second World War, the carrier had been assigned a name even be- fore the United States entered combat - in De- cember 1940. A pre-war build-up of our naval forces was being pushed by President Roosevelt during this period, and his memorandum to the Secretary of the Navy dated December 28 of that year asked that CV-15 be named Randolph. That summer the first officers and men reported aboard to assist civilian technicians in fitting her out. Other future members of ship's company spent the months at the Naval Training Station, Newport, Rhode Island, as a precommissioning detail, their thoughts, it was related, were not so much on fighting the japanese as Hhating to get up for Happy Hour, the dust on the drill field, and the beer and the babes in Newport. This contingent took a train from Newport to Newport News -.right into the shipbuilding yards - ar- riving October 8. They got their first look at Randofblz the same day as they embarked. The following morning shipyard personnel, assisted by the new officers and crew, took the carrier across to Norfolk Naval Shipyard,Ports- 14 ' M ::fn :.L.z.-f-11--,... r 1- : mouth, where that afternoon commissioning cere- monies were held, with Captain Felix Baker ac- cepting CV-15 for the Navy. On that occasion, with his new Qand in some cases inexperiencedj contingent of officers and enlisted men, the Com- manding Officer said he hoped to get his ship into combat as quickly as possible. The remainder of the month all hands were busily engaged in loading stores, taking on fuel, testing the equipment on board and familiarizing themselves with their new home and all it con- tained. There immediately developed a high de- gree of cooperation between all Departments, as an example, ordnance personnel from the Air Department joined with the Gunnery Department in loading the magazines with bombs and shells in the record time of two days. This resulted in the ship 's being able to depart ahead of schedule. The Gcmgzuay, a book C published by the men on boardj which relates the events ofRana'o4blz is first year of service, describes the tempo of the time: There was an urgency, a feeling of hurry- hurry in the air. The knowledge thata great sea battle was being fought in the Philippines, in which we lost a carrier, made us realize that the stakes in this race were high. CV-15 was moved to the Deperming Station at Lambert Point, Virginia, on October 30, and then the following day to Pier Five at Norfolk's Naval Operating Base. The Chesapeake Bay part of shakedown operations began November 5, and exactly a week later the ship's Air Officer landed the first aircraft aboard. The Chesapeake Bay Op Area cramped the style of the flattop, so she quickly dispensed with that phase of her shakedown, and moved off the Virginia Capes for more extensive maneu- vers. Her arrival there was greeted by a severe storm which gave veterans and boots alike a taste of old-fashioned seasickness. The training continued as much as possible, however, and on November 19 the carrier was back in Norfolk where a rigid inspection by Commander Fleet Air, Norfolk, and his staff was conducted two days later. That hurdle successfully out of the Way, Randolph got underway for her shake- down cruise in the West Indies November 22. -if nun 5' -svwnwvnsva-,naw