USS Valley Forge (CV-45)
History of the USS Valley Forge Aircraft Carrier
The USS Valley Forge (CV-45) was ordered for the U.S. Navy during World War II. Her keel was laid down at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania on September 7, 1944. She was launched on November 18, 1944 and commissioned on November 3, 1946 under the command of Captain John W. Harris.
USS Valley Forge joined the Pacific Fleet on August 14, 1947 with her homeport in San Diego, California. She embarked Air Group 11 and conducted training operations as the flagship of Rear Admiral Harold L. Martin, Commander Task Force 38. The aircraft carrier headed to Australia on January 16, 1948 to participate in exercises with the Royal Australian Navy before sailing to Hong Kong. She was ordered to return home via the Atlantic, and made ports of call at Hong Kong, Manila, Singapore, Ceylon and Saudi Arabia along the way, becoming the largest aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal.
The USS Valley Forge was deployed to the Far East again in May 1950. She was anchored in Hong Kong when news came that the Korean War had begun. The carrier sailed for Korea and launched the first carrier air strike on July 3. She launched numerous air strikes against North Korean targets, supporting the troop landing at Inchon and flying over 5,000 combat sorties before heading back to San Diego, California in December for an overhaul she didn’t receive. The aircraft carrier had received urgent orders to return to Korea when Communist Chinese entered the fighting.
After replenishing, USS Valley Forge headed back to join Task Force 77 on December 22, joining in air strikes the following day. This was the second of several more deployments to the Korean War zone over the next few years. She was reclassified as an attack carrier, CVA-45, on January 2, 1953. The aircraft carrier left the Korean War zone for the last time in June that same year.
Another overhaul saw the USS Valley Forge reclassified as an antisubmarine warfare support carrier, CVS-45. She was transferred to the Atlantic Fleet and began exercises in January 1954. The carrier operated mainly off the East Coast until the end of 1956. She conducted training operations out of Guantanamo Bay in 1957, experimenting with vertical envelopment during exercises.
USS Valley Forge became the flagship of Rear Admiral John S. Thach, Commander Task Group Alpha, on April 1, 1958. Her purpose was to develop and perfect ways for dealing with the new technology in enemy submarines. This lasted until autumn 1959, when she headed to New York Naval Shipyard for repairs.
When the repair work was finished in January 1960, the USS Valley Forge headed to the Caribbean for maneuvers. While there, she served as the launching platform for three of the largest balloons ever made as part of Operation Skyhook. She then moved on to a Mediterranean deployment and local operations out of Norfolk, Virginia with Task Group Alpha. The carrier was the primary recovery ship for the Mercury-Redstone 1A space capsule on December 30. Two days later, she picked up 28 survivors from the wreck of the SS Pine Ridge off Cape Hatteras.
The USS Valley Forge headed back to Norfolk for overhaul on March 6, 1961. She was converted to an amphibious assault ship, reclassified as LPH-8 on July 1. The carrier headed south to Hispaniola in October and November, standing ready to evacuate Americans from the Dominican Republic if hostilities erupted following the assassination of Generalissimo Rafael Trujillo.
In January 1962, USS Valley Forge headed to Long Beach, California to serve with the Pacific Fleet. She became the flagship for Commander Ready Amphibious Task Group Seventh Fleet as she sailed to Indochina to land her Marines on May 17. President John F. Kennedy hoped to avoid a communist invasion of Laos. She brought the Marines back out in July.
After heading back to the United States to conduct amphibious exercises in early 1963, the USS Valley Forge underwent a Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization (FRAM) overhaul from July 1 until January 27, 1964. She then headed back to the Western Pacific, participating in amphibious exercises and begin awarded with the Battle Efficiency “E.”
When North Vietnamese torpedo boats attacked the USS Maddox in August 1964, the USS Valley Forge arrived to spend 57 days off the coast of Vietnam, ready to land her Marines if necessary. She then carried Marines and aircraft from Long Beach to Okinawa before being deployed to the South China Sea in the fall of 1965. As the flagship of Commander Amphibious Squadron 3, she carrier out training exercises in the Philippines before joining in Operation Blue Marlin, Operation Dagger Thrust and Operation Harvest Moon.
USS Valley Forge spent Christmas at Okinawa before taking on a new Marine battalion and heading back to Vietnam in January 1966. Her troops landed on January 29 as part of Operation Double Eagle. The second phase of the operation began on February 19, and the aircraft carrier headed back to Subic Bay on February 26 before returning to California for an overhaul.
The USS Valley Forge remained an integral part of the Vietnam War for the next few years, as she participated in Operation Fortress Ridge, Operation Badger Tooth, Operation Badger Catch (I, II, and III), Operation Swift Saber, Exercise Hilltop XX, Operation Defiant Measure, Operation Brave Armada and many other combat actions. She sailed home for the last time in the summer of 1969.
USS Valley Forge was decommissioned and struck from the Naval Vessel Register on January 15, 1970. When funds could not be raised to turn her into a museum ship, she was sold for scrap on October 29, 1971. While waiting to be scrapped, she was used as the filming location for Silent Running. The aircraft carrier earner eight battle stars for her service in the Korean War, as well as nine battle stars and three Navy Unit Commendations for her service in the Vietnam 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)
U.S. Navy, A Brief History of Aircraft Carriers – USS Valley Forge
