Randolph (CVS 15) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS Randofplz. twenty years old and still going strong. celebrated her twentieth birthday on Friday. October 9. 196-1. at theNorfolk Naval Shipyard in a fashion befitting her long and ac- tive career. I An informal working party was held in Hangar Bay No. I during the noon hour to mark the oc- casion. As soon as the brief ceremony was over a special lunch was served to Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers and the ship's crew. Attending the Twentieth Anniversary party were three former Commanding Officers of Randofbh, the Mayors of Norfolk and Portsmouth, Va., officials of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company, officials ofthe Norfolk Na- val Shipyard. shipyard workers, and crew members. The ceremony opened with the playing of the national anthem and introductory remarks by Captain john F. Refo, the seventeenth Command- ing Officer of the present-day Rczndofbh. He in- troduced Rear Admiral M. Farrin, Commander of the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, who recounted the proud history of Rana'04bh. Captain Refo then presented the binnacle which guided Randofblz through her first twenty years of service to a representative of the Portsmouth Naval Museum who will place it in the Museum for permanent display. Ship's plaques were pre- sented by Captain Refo to Roy B. Martin, jr., Mayor of Norfolk, and R. Irvine Smith, Mayor of Portsmouth, in recognition ofthe support given to Randodbh by the people of Tidewater through the years. Randodbh is a true Virginian, having been named for a Virginian, built and almost always repaired in the Tidewater area, and home- ported here for most of her twenty years. Following the presentation of the binnacle and the plaques, the three former Commanding Offi- cers of Rcznd0Lbh took turns cutting the first slices of the huge birthday cake. All three are now Rear Admirals, one of whom is still on ac- tive duty. Rear Admiralj. R. Lee., USN, Com- mander Fleet Air Patuxent, Patuxent River., Md., who was the fifth Commanding Officer of Randognh, cut the first slice of cake, followed by Rear Admiral Felix Baker, USN fRet.j, Ran- dognhk first CO, and Rear Admiral jackson R. Tate, USN QRet.j, Rand04bh iv second CO. The Twentieth Anniversary ceremony was at- tended by five officials of the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company who have worked for the company a total of 176 years and who worked on the Randoqzh when she was being built. She was placed in commission at Newport News on October 9, 1944. After the ceremony a buffet luncheon was served in the hangar bays for Norfolk Naval Shipyard workers and ship's crew. The Randoabh is named for Peyton Randolph, a famous Virginian, soldier-statesman and a President of the first Continental Congress. The second United States ship to bear the name and the eleventh Essex-class aircraft carrier built, she was the first carrier ever to leave the building ways and enter combat without returning to the builders for a post-shakedown period. She was launching aircraft against the enemy just four months and ten days after her commissioning at Newport News - a feat believed to be without precedent in carrier history! She was officially credited with 308 enemy planes destroyed and 87,000 tons ofjapanese shipping sunk in World War II. In her first combat action, she launched her planes against the japanese mainland and later participated in the Iwo Jima and Okinawa campaigns.

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