Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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1947. However, in june of that year a directive was issued taking her out of the Atlantic Fleet and assigning her to the Reserve Fleet. Follow- ing the Midshipman Cruise and a subsequent brief training mission, the directive was put into action and Randoynh Qnow an attack carrier - CVA-15D was 'Lmothballedf' In january of 1952, while the Korean War was still far from being a settled issue, Rana'04b1z was dispatched to the Newport News Shipbuild- ing and Drydock Company for an extensive overhaul and reconditioning. Emerging eighteen months later, after her 'crest cure,'7 she was re- commissioned july 1, 1953, and set forth to join our active forces. A rigorous four-month shake- down period at Guantanamo Bay QGitmoj, Cuba, readied CVA-15 for frontline duty. In early 1954 she went overseas again, this time joining our Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean on February 3. Her ports of call between NATO fNorth Atlantic Treaty Organizationj and U. S. Fleet maneuvers included Algiers and cities in France, Italy, Spain, and Greece. On August 1 of the following year, Rcmdolbh entered Norfolk Naval Shipyard for aface-lifting. The extensive modernization and conversion in- cluded installation of the canted, or angled deck. Originally developed by the British, this construc- tion feature would enable planes to take off and land simultaneously, and also eliminate dangers to personnel and parked aircraft when a landing plane failed to engage the arresting wires. The flight deck had also been strengthened, and the elevators and arresting gear had been complete- ly overhauled. For the next six months Randolph conducted routine air operations with squadrons from Vir- ginia and Florida. She made history during this period also - becoming the first flattop in the Atlantic Fleet to launch a Regulus guided missile from the flight deck. june 14, 1956, CVA-15 steamed eastward for a seven-month deployment with the U. S. Sixth Fleet. During that period the 'iSuez crisis oc- curred, and when Israel invaded Egypt in Octo- ber, Randofblz was among the Stxth Fleet units standing by. Her planes flew reconnaissance and air cover for the evacuation of United States citizens from Alexandria. Fortunately the situa- tion had quieted down by early the following year, and the cariier was able to return home on schedule, arriving February 19. Most of the next few months were spent in routine operations off the eastern U. S. coast, 30 if i

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