Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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phshetl re11.111s .11 the lmtllx lmtteted Navy 1111-11, xxl11letl11' hl.il'lllt'N o1'e11111111l1l1v Y.1x .1l M1 8111111111 md se.1r1'l1e1l tht vl.1l1u1.1le e.1x' es 111 lllt'Sl1l'l'UlllHl- g hills lui l111l1lv11 s111111l11-s. pl.lllL'S and 111'111s. ixll' 51111111 ltik 1111 pt-do pl.111es lihltletl 11pwitl1 11111g.1.c111es .1111l t'lUll1lil?,1 KlKlll1llK'll by the L'YL'W. plus large 1111.1111111es ol load. ,md tlropped them 011 yet-twlu'-sl1l1e1'.1tc1l Pl'lYUll 1x1111ps g11'o1111d Kobe 111d Us.1l4.1 1l111i11g their li1111l days olllhI11p1111. U11 SCPlti'll1lWCl' 3. with ships 1'o111p1111y believi11g they were either l11x1tl1-tl lor Ul4i1111w11 or back to lolgyo 111 piflx up their hlL11'lllCS. orders were re- teived by H11,fz1fu1Q11f1 to lietiti towgtrds Pearl Har- wr. llCIL1CllCCl i111111edig11ely ll1'Gl'11 tl1e Task tlroup. she proceeded west at 20 knots with a single destroyer escort. Stopping at Pearl Har- ho 1' S1-ptr-111l11-1' ll, the 111e11 were naturally disap- poi11tecl at not moving on immediately to the United Statesg instead, tl1e ship 1'CIT1Zlil1Cd moored i11 Ilawaii lor the 1'e111ai11der of the mouth - get- ting painted, having tl1e 40111111 sponsons re- moved from the starboard side, and being re- plenished. The latter was particularly welcome, for lfzzzziflrygnlz had been at sea for 73 days on her final war cruise, steamiiig 29,000 miles. Sl1ip's company shared pride in their wartime aeco111plisl1111ents with the two air groups who had served aboard. Pilots flying from the deck ,1 25

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.. .--p1.-1 e..1f..5-4.1- fag'f?'9 1ff'- may -far. - ' ! Q. . ., ...fav w : ,W ,,.,,,.,.nT, , ,,,....ss:.,,.,-l..-,, -L.. fini '-1-fi .....i11.,! A: 1 'M' f . 1 - ' 1 I ws.. x . - .Q T' 5 as X , ' . ,,, - .. Q.. Q K N.. ... 4. it N , H Mes- ,., . W i, . ,ff i A ..f-- rm A -Q - Q , ,. ,, . - K ..-Q. , x . . .. r , ' K ' M,-i.u4 K, g A M ww , e MW ......,.,,e. and made the announcement to the American people at 7:00 p.m. On the morning of August 15, planes from Air Group 16 strafed and fired rockets at Kisarazu airfield on the east side of Tokyo Bay. At 6:42 a.m., just as aircraft of the second strike were reaching the japanese coast, a recall message went out from the Task Force Commander. Later that morning Captain jackson R. Tate, who had replaced Captain Baker as commanding officer in late july, came on the loudspeaker, an- nouncing the acceptance of Allied surrender terms by the japanese. Predictably, the message was greeted with a thunderous cheer from all hands. The japanese, however, were not as quick to get the word. Anticipating this, as well as the in- dividual zeal of the last-ditch Kamikaze pilots, the Fleet remained alert. Attacking aircraft were to be challenged, as Admiral Halsey said in his now-famous words: c'All snoopers will be in- vestigated and shot down, not vindictively, but in a friendly sort of way. Thirty-eight enemy planes were shot out of the air on V-J Day, in- cluding four who attacked the U. S. ships around 1:00 p.m. -while Admiral Halsey was in the middle of his 'iVictory Speechn tothe Third Fleet. Some unidentified aircraft were sighted during 24 .45 iris V -lwzsfn. , .. . , ' , K ,, ' IW, ' , I ff Ziff- we fl x f f f, I 714' .1 , , , , ' 9'-vrvfwf 'G f , ,f I I I' L , nf ,, , , Y .rw Ware A ,V ,l , A' f the week, but there were no hostile actions against Randolph or the planes of her Air Group. CVC-16 continued to fly patrols in and around the japanese home islands until August 25, when severe typhoons moved into the area, buffeting the ships unmercifully and canceling air operations. The carrier's Marine Detachment, plus amain- tenance force of four of the ship's officers and about fifteen sailors, went ashore at Yokosuka Naval Base August 30 with the first American landing force. The maintenance force accom- Above, Randolph remained in the Ives!- ern Paezfe onbz briefy folfowing iheena' of hosiz'h'tz'es,' when she pulled into Ha- waii September II, 1945, 29, 000 miles had been covered in fhe 73 days of sfeady steaming on her fhird wareruise. At right, she squeezes through ihe Pana- ma Cana! on her wa 12 home fo the East' Coast lhe ftJUO?UI'l'Ig monfh, ea 2'rj1'1'rzg hundreds ofp1z.s'se2zgers in ihe person of 77'll'fZ'fII71j2 men Illllllllfllilg S61DII7'IIfI'0I1fl'0III Zh e service. 1 i ., S231

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f- r H--' .. ..... ....... -WL.. fn - W- . -- - -,, . - . .- .. .. . ' - A 'W 'W -N 'xr-V' ' -T4.3?'?5i-'-1 g . fx ' . - . .1- :mmf-J-tw --4' V ,.., ' T of CV-15 had destroyed 143 enemy aircraft in the air, 160 more on the ground, and were credit- ed with sinking 87,000 tons of shipping. Departure day from Pearl Harbor was October 1, and as the flattop steamed at 15 knots toward the Panama Canal she carried approximately one thousand passengers. This was HOperation Magic Carpet, and the guests were war-weary service men heading toward home and separa- tion. Sleeping on cots or simply mattresses, generally arranged between the aircraft parked on the hangar deck, the passengers weren't com- plaining - they were going home ! ' Passing through the Canal October 16, and out of Christobal the following day, Randolph turned north. Five days later she steamed into USS Randolph was recommissioned at Norfolk Naval Shzloyaraf Portsmouth, Virginia on I, 1953. Among those attending the ceremonies were, Qleft to rightj E. E Randoloh, descendant of the carriers first namesake, Captain Felix Bahen Clllfiisjirst shzppen' Cap- tain R. S. Quachenbash, fr., new Com- manding Offcen' Vice Admiral Ballentine COMAIRLANYI' and Admi- ral L. D. McCormick, Commander-in Chief Atlantic Fleet. Chesapeake Bay and up towards Baltimore, where she was slated to be a feature of Navy Day celebrations. For CV-15 the war was officially over. In the introductory passages of the carrierls story of her first year, The Gangway, her editors had said: What a year !. . .For most of us it was the most eventful year we ever had, and perhaps ever will havefl It certainly was a memorable twelve months. There were some Magic Carpetn operations still scheduled for our troops across the Atlantic, and Randohih was assigned to participate. She made two trips to the Mediterranean and back, loaded with uguestsw on the returns. Later in the year she was designated as a train- ing carrier, and continued to make periodic short cruises in the Atlantic and to the Caribbeang reservists and midshipmen were the principal beneficiaries of these training exercises. By the end of 1946 Randoloh had also completed a Mediterranean cruise, touching ports in Greece, Turkey, Lebanon and Italy. Upon returning home in December she was dispatched almost immediately on another Caribbean cruise. Another European cruise Qthis time a '4Middie Cruise to the Northern part of the continent- the first such operation since before the outbreak of the Warj was undertaken in early summer,