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Page 14 text:
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'Me dcamlezaga my February 1944 The United States Ship Ticonderoga was born on Feb. 7, 1944, at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. She was the 10th of the Essex Class carriers and the fourth U.S. Naval vessel to bear this name. Officially commissioned at Norfolk, Va., on May 8, 1944, the Ticonderoga was turned over to her first com- manding officer, the late Capt. Dixie Kiefer. After three months of strenuous exercises at sea the Ti entered San Diego Harbor by way of the Panama Canal. She was ready for the forward Pacific area. Entering the Philippine Sea on Oct. 18, Ticonderoga became part of Task Group 38 and was soon to get her first taste of combat. On Nov. 5, four suicide attempts were made on the Group. One Kamikaze hit the USS Lexington and one barely missed the Ti. The other two were shot down. For the remainder of the year 1944 the Ti and her em- barked air group rolled up an impressive record in the Philippine fighting. On Dec. 14, Ticonderoga registered a proud mark when eight of her fighters knocked down 20 Japanese planes off the coast of Luzon without receiving as much as a single bullet hole in return. All was not give for the Ti, however. On Jan. 21, 1945, while operating off the island of Formosa, Ticon- deroga was again attacked by Japanese suicide planes. Three of the aircraft were shot down by the ship's guns, but her firing failed to stop two that ripped into the fiight deck and island structure. Despite heavy damages and casualties the valiant crew managed to patch the Ti up enough for her to limp out of the combat zone for emergency repairs. The double strike cost the lives of 143 men and wounded 202, including Capt. Kiefer and the Exec, Cdr. W. O. Burch. Cdr. H. V. Briner, Engineering Officer, took command and steamed south to Ulithi Atoll. After temporary repairs were made at Ulithi, Ticon- deroga sailed for the West Coast and the Puget Sound Shipyard. She arrived in Bremerton, Wash., on Feb. 15, 1945, following a layover in Pearl Harbor where Capt. William Stinton assumed the post of commanding officer. With extensive repairs and alterations to both the ship and her roster, the Ti pulled out of Bremerton on April 21 and headed back to the Philippine area to prove that she may have been knocked down, but certainly not out! In May the ship joined Task Group 38.4, under the command of Rear Admiral Radford, as part of Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet. ' For the remainder of the sununer the Task Group helped put the finishing touches on the Imperial Forces with strikes on Okinawa and Japan. From the 19th of July until the 15th of August the Third Fleet roamed at will off the coast of Japan blasting the remnants of the Japa- nese Navy and Merchant Marine, and hunting down the dwindling enemy air force which was cunningly dispersed and camoufiaged in their many air fields. On Aug. 15, just after the ship's first deck load of planes had dropped their bombs on Tokyo, word was receiv- ed to recall or cancel all strikes. The Empire of Japan had surrendered.
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Page 15 text:
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January 1945 Then at dawn of the 6th of September with the shadow of Mt. Fuji barely discernible through the morning mist, Ticonderoga steamed into Tokyo Bay and dropped her anchors 0E Yokohama. Shortly thereafter the Ti was assigned to the Magic Carpet Fleet transporting veterans to the U.S. In March of 1946 she was taken to Puget Sound and placed in the inactive reserves for a well-deserved rest. During World War II Ticonderoga and her planes etched the following box score into the pages of history: 358 enemy aircraft destroyed or damaged, 11 enemy war- ships sunkg 30 enemy merchant ships sunkg 12 enemy war- ships damaged, 87 enemy merchant ships damaged. The Big T, as she became known, was roused for duty by the Korean Conflict in 1952 and was sailed to New York for modernization and recommissioning. She was recom- missioned on Sept. 11, 1954, after being rebuilt and equip- ped with many of the latest advances in carrier design. The Ti joined the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean in November of 1955. She carried with her three surprise packages-the A4D Skyhawk, the F4D Skyray and the F3H Demon, This new and deadly trio of jets was initiated into the ileet aboard the Ti. Her nine month training cruise-the longest ever logged bv an Atlantic Fleet carrier-ended when Ticonde- roga entered her home port of Norfolk on Aug. 2. Later that month the Ti was placed in the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for a 31510-million face-lifting. After six months in the yards she emerged with an added 75 tons-an angled flight deck, enclosed hurricane bow and a landing mirror system-and returned to Pacific duty. She arrived at her new home port of Alameda, Calif., May 30, 1957. Ticonderoga is currently on her third West Pac tour since World War II. Capt. Robert F. Farrington is the llth Skipper to command the Big T. He relieved Capt. Turner F. Caldwell in August of this year, and will return Ticonderoga to her present home port of San Diego. --Commanding Oiiicersi Capt. D. Kiefer May 1944-Jan. 1945 Cdr. V.H. Briner Jan. 1945-J an. 1945 Capt. G.E. Short Jan. 1945-Feb. 1945 Capt. W. Stinton Feb. 1945-Mar. 1946 Capt. W.A. Schoech 1 Sept. 1954-Sept. 1955 Capt. A.McB. Jackson Sept. 1955-Oct. 1956 Capt. W.A. Stuart Oct. 1956-Oct. 1957 Capt. I. Chase, Jr. Oct. 1957-Sept. 1958 Capt. W.E. Coleman Sept. 1958-Sept. 1959. Capt. T.F. Caldwell Sept. 1959-Aug. 1960 Capt. R.F. Farrington Aug. 1960- 1960
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