USS Bataan (CVL-29)
History of the USS Bataan Aircraft Carrier
The USS Bataan (CVL-29) was originally planned to be the USS Buffalo (CL-99). She was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at New York Shipbuilding Corporation on August 31, 1942. She was launched a year later on August 1, 1943 and commissioned on November 17, 1943 under the command of Captain V.H. Schaeffer.
USS Bataan joined the Navy’s Pacific Fleet after shakedown. She supported the attack on Hollandia from April 21 to April 24, 1944. The aircraft carrier moved on to support the strikes at Truk, Satawan, Ponape, Saipan and the Bonin Islands.
The USS Bataan was present for the Battle of the Philippine Sea on June 19-20, 1944. She was serving as part of Rear Admiral Joseph Clark’s Task Group 58.1, which also included USS Hornet, USS Yorktown and USS Belleau Wood. It was a decisive victory for the United States.
After a second attack on the Bonin Islands, the USS Bataan returned to the United States for repairs. Once the work was completed, she rejoined Task Force 58 to support the assault on Okinawa. Her aircraft helped to sink the Japanese battleship Yamato on April 7, 1945 and the Japanese submarine I-56 on April 18, 1945.
USS Bataan joined the 3rd Fleet to support operations against the Japanese home islands from July 10 to August 15, 1945. Admiral Gerald F. Bogan built Task Group 38.3 around her; the group also included USS Essex, USS Ticonderoga, USS Randolph and USS Monterey. At the end of the war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, helping to repatriate American troops. The USS Bataan was decommissioned on February 11, 1947.
The Korean War saw USS Bataan recommissioned on May 13, 1950. She arrived off the coast of Korea on December 15, participating in air strikes against North Korean targets until June 1951. The carrier returned to Bremerton, Washington for overhaul in July, then headed to Japan and Okinawa for training maneuvers and air exercises in early 1952.
Throughout the spring and summer of 1952, the USS Bataan carried supplies and personnel between Japan and Korea while launching air strikes at enemy forces. She headed back to San Diego from August until October, but returned to Korean waters until May 1953.
When USS Bataan returned to San Diego, she underwent overhaul and participated in training exercises. She then sailed to Kobe and Yokosuka via Pearl Harbor before returning to San Francisco for deactivation. She was decommissioned on April 9, 1954. The ship was reclassified as an aircraft transport, AVT-4, in May 1959, but struck from the Naval Vessel Register in September 1959, and sold for scrap in May 1961. The aircraft carrier earned six battle stars for her service in World War II and seven battle stars in the Korean War.
The use of asbestos was common in shipbuilding components for much of the 20th Century because of its resistance to heat, fire, water and corrosion. Because of their asbestos exposure onboard ship and in the shipyards, seaman, shipyard workers and longshoreman are at risk for developing asbestos-related diseases like mesothelioma .
Sources include:
John Hedley-Whyte and Debra R Milamed, "Asbestos and Ship-Building: Fatal Consequences," Ulster Med. J. 77(3):191-200 (Sep 2008) Naval Historical Center, Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships—USS Bataan Naval Historical Center, Library of Images—USS Bataan
