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U.S.S. TARAWA

 

The Chronology of the U.S.S. Tarawa

(CV-40) (CVA-40) (CVS-40) (AVT-12)

 

 

 

1942

 

Congress authorizes construction of "one million nine hundred thousand tons of combatant ships", including five hundred thousand tons in aircraft carriers, 9 July

 

1943

 

United States Marines and sailors assault and take Tarawa atoll in the Pacific's Gilbert Islands from the Japanese at a cost of 990 dead and 2,296 wounded, 20-23 November

 

The Secretary of the Navy announces the name TARAWA is to be assigned to one of the new authorized aircraft carriers, 31 December

 

1944

 

Keel laid down Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia, 1 March

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Tarawa Chronology – Launch to Scrap

 

1945

 

Launched into the Elizabeth River, Portsmouth, Virginia, 12 May

Commissioned, Portsmouth, Virginia, 8 December. Marine battle flag carried ashore at the Battle of Tarawa presented to the ship. That flag is supposed to be in the Marine Corps Museum, Quantico, Virginia

 

 

 

1946

 

Anchored Lynhaven Roads, Virginia, 31 January

Naval Operations Base, Norfolk, Virginia, 1 February

Up anchor for sea trials and air operations, 6 February

Yorktown, Virginia, taking on ammunition

Begin shakedown Cruise to Cuba, 15 February

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 19 February

Caribbean operations

Norfolk, Virginia, 16 April

New York, hosts Navy's 58-member Civilian Advisory Committee, 27 April

Norfolk, Virginia, 30 April

Portsmouth, Virginia, 11 May

Yorktown, Virginia, 26 June

Departed Hampton Roads, Norfolk, Virginia, for the Pacific; 23 guests of the Secretary of the Navy aboard, 28 June

Panama, 4 July

Traversed Panama Canal, 5 July

San Diego, California, 15 July

San Diego, California, 19 Secretary of the Navy guests aboard for Pacific crossing, 31 July

Carrier Air Group 4 comes aboard, 1 August

Pearl Harbor, 7 August

Guam, about 300 new crewmen report aboard

Saipan, 20 August

Saipan, 6 September

Operations, Marianas Islands

Yokosuka, Japan, 29 September to 3 October

Sasebo, Japan, 7 to 11 October

Tsingtao, China, 15 October

Operations, North China Coast to 30 October

Saipan, 7 November

Guam, 8 to 26 November

Saipan, 27 November

Guam, 21 December through the Christmas holidays

 

 

 

 

                                                                          1947

 

Guam, 1 January

Buckner Bay, Okinawa, 6 January (one day)

Saipan, 9 January

Guam, 10 to 14 January

Pearl Harbor, 24 January to 18 February

Kwajelein Atoll, begin exercises with Task Force 57 against opposing carriers of Task Force 38, 24 February

Pearl Harbor, Naval Air Station and repair yard, 11 March to 23 April

Arrive San Francisco, 29 April

During this period, the ship participated in exercises along the California coast, operating out of San Diego and San Francisco

San Diego, Air Group One embarked, 15 September

San Francisco, 26 September

San Diego

                                                                          1948

 

Drydock, Hunter's Point Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, January through April

San Diego, 1 May

Operations along California Coast, June and July

Naval Air Station, Alameda, San Francisco, 27 August

San Diego, 24 - 28 September

Carrier Air Group 1 comes aboard, 28 September

Departed San Diego, begins World Cruise, 1 October

During transit to Hawaii, 12 fighter planes used the U.S.S. Tarawa and the U.S.S. Princeton (CV-37) as refueling stations on 12-hour leap frog flight from Moffet Field near San Francisco to the Naval Air Station, Barber's Point, Oahu, Hawaii.

Pearl Harbor, 10 to 13 October

Tsingtao, China, 29 October

Operations with Task Force 38, East China Sea, 18 November

Tsingtao, China, 6 December

Hong Kong, 9 to 14 December

Singapore, 19 to 23 December

Christmas at sea, Indian Ocean

Colombo, Ceylon, 29 December to 2 January, 1949

 

 

 

 

 

1949

Depart Colombo, Ceylon, 2 January

Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, 7 to 10 January

Jidda, Saudi Arabia, 16 and 17 January

Traverse Suez Canal, 19 to 21 January

Athens, Greece, 23 to 26 January

In transit, Dardanelles Straits, Turkey, 26 January

Istanbul, Turkey, 27 January to 5 February

Suda Bay, Crete, 6 to 8 February

Gibralter, 12 and 13 February

Norfolk, Virginia, 21 February

Shifted from Naval Operating Base, Norfolk, Virginia, to Hampton Roads anchorage to offload ammunition onto barges; departed for Bayonne, New Jersey, 2 March

Arrived Bayonne, New Jersey, March 3; ship stripped of radar; upper mast removed to enable her to pass under Brooklyn Bridge

Towed in one and one half hours to Brooklyn Navy Yard, 8 March

Decommissioned to New York Group, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, at Brooklyn Navy Yard, 30 June

Towed to Bayonne for mothball storage

Officially inactivated, 28 July

 

 

                                                                          1950

 

Ordered reactivated in response to hostilities in Korea, 30 November

 

 

 

                                                                          1951

 

Towed from Bayonne, New Jersey, to Brooklyn Navy Yard, for refitting, second week in January

Recommissioned, Brooklyn Navy Yard, New York, 3 February

200 male high school students tour ship with Columbia University forum on democracy, 22 February

Marine Detachment reports aboard, March 5

Sea trials, 10 and 11 March

Bayonne, New Jersey, 12 March

Adopted by the State of Connecticut at Naval Supply Depot, Bayonne, New Jersey, ceremonies, 17 March

Norfolk, Virginia, loading ammunition, 19 to 23 March

Began Caribbean shakedown cruise, Carrier Air Group Seven embarked, 23 March

LCDR John Hill, CO VF-71, makes first jet landing on Tarawa in Panther.

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, in and out on operations through April

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 5 to 6 May

Norfolk, Virginia, 22 May

Portsmouth, Virginia, drydock repairs, 25 May to 8 June

Norfolk, Virginia, 11 June

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 16 June

New London, Connecticut, adopted state party, 3 to 5 July

Boston Navy Yard, repairs, 14 to 27 August

Mayport, Florida, 30 August to 1 September

Operations out of Jacksonville, Florida, Carrier Air Group Eight aboard

Mayport, Florida, 10 September

Boston Navy Yard, repairs of leaking fuel tank, 15 October

LantFlex-52, day and night air operations under battle conditions, 24 October to 18 November

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 2:30 p.m., 28 November, for Mediterranean

Carrier Air Group 8 comes aboard, 28 November

Mid-Atlantic storm, lost two days crossing, 1 to 5 December

Gibralter,  relieved U.S.S. Leyte (CV-32), 11 December (nine hours in port)

Augusta Bay, Sicily, 13 to 15 December

Cannes, France, 19 December to 2 January, 1952

 

 

                                                                          1952

 

Cannes, France, 1 and 2 January

Palma, Mallorca, Spain, 9 to 14 January

Oran, Algeria, 21 to 25 January

Palermo, Sicily, 31 January to 7 February

Genoa, Italy, 9 to 12 February

Naples, Italy, 14 to 17 February

La Spezia, Italy, 21 to 25 February

Naples, Italy, 6 to 9 March

Genoa, Italy, 15 to 26 March

Athens, Greece, 1 to 4 April

Suda Bay, Crete, 6 to 8 April

Istanbul, Turkey, 11 to 15 April

Cannes, France, 22 to 27 April

Relief carrier, U.S.S. Wasp (CV-7), struck and sank the escorting destroyer U.S.S. Hobson in Atlantic; Hobson sank in four minutes with loss of 176 crewmen, 26 April. U.S.S. Tarawa Mediterranian cruise extended a month until Wasp repaired

Gibraltar, 3 to 8 May

Aranci Bay, Sardinia, 14 to 18 May

La Spezia, Italy, 23 to 26 May

Cannes, France, 28 to 30 May

Gibraltar, 2 June (five hours)

Boston Naval Shipyard, overhaul, June - September

Designated CVA-40, 1 October

Naval Air Station, Mayport, Florida, first carrier to use new docking facilities, 27 October

Mayport open house, only half of 28,000 civilian visitors make it on board, 2 November

Caribbean cruise, about 3 November to 18 December

Thanksgiving, Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, hosted 92 orphans for Christmas party, 23 December

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Christmas

 

 

                                                                          1953

 

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, New Year's Day

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for Mediterranean, 7 January

Carrier Air Group 10 comes aboard, 7 January

Oran, Algeria, relieved U.S.S. Leyte (CV-32), 20 to 27 January

Palermo, Sicily, 3 to 7 February

Augusta Bay, Sicily, 8 to 12 February

Host to 200 officers and men of Italian battle cruiser Doria, 11 February

Gulfe Juan, France, 21 February to 3 March

Naples, Italy, 10 to 15 March

Completed Operation Rendezvous, six-nation NATO exercises, eastern Mediterranean, 24 March

Athens, Greece, 26 March to 2 April

Istanbul, Turkey, 3 to 10 April

Barcelona, Spain, 18 to 23 April

Gulfe Juan, France, 24 to 27 April

Algiers, Algeria, 4 to 9 May

Ajaccio, Corsica, 12 to 18 May

Gulfe Juan, France, 23 to 27 May

Marseille, France, 28 May to 2 June

Velletta, Malta, 8 to 12 June

Torento, Italy, 13 June; personnel inspection by Admiral J.H. Brown, ComCarDivSix

Augusta Bay, Sicily, 14 to 16 June

Gibraltar, 24 June

Departed Gibraltar for home, relieved by U.S.S. Roosevelt (CV-42) at 0001 hours, 25 June

Norfolk, Virginia, 3 July

New York Naval Shipyard for minor repairs

New London, Connecticut, adopted state visit, 15-16 August

Training air operations out of Quonset Point, Rhode Island, August, September and October

Norfolk, Virginia, 1 November

Flagship, Fast Carrier Task Force Group 44.2, U.S. Atlantic Fleet, 2 to 9 November

Departed Norfolk, Virginia, on second world cruise, Carrier Air Group Three embarked, 1438 hours, 12 November

Carrier Air Group 3 comes aboard, 12 November

Gibraltar, 23 to 25 November

Algiers, Algeria, 26 to 30 November

Naples, Italy, 3 and 4 December

LaSpezia, Italy, 5 to 10 December

Cannes, France, 18 to 28 December

Genoa, Italy, 28 December to 4 January, 1954

 

 

                                                                             

1954

 

Genoa, Italy, 28 December, 1953, to 4 January

Valencia, Spain, 9 to 13 January

Gibraltar, 9 hours, 14 January

Port Said, Egypt, 19 January

Transit Suez Canal, passed Port of Suez 1634 hours, 20 January

Colombo, Ceylon, 29 to 31 January

Singapore, 4 to 7 January

Departed Singapore, crossed equator at Latitude 0000, Longitude 105 30 E, at 1492 hours, 7 February

Yokasuka, Japan, 15 to 19 February (Five months with the Seventh Fleet)

Yokasuka, Japan, 26 and 28 February

Yokasuka, Japan, 8 to 15 March

Lt. T.D. Keller, Composite Squadron 12, makes 50,000th landing aboard Tarawa, 18 March

Sasebo, Japan, 31 March to 4 April; ship ordered to Australia

Yokasuka, Japan, 6 to 15 April

Sydney, Australia, 30 April to 4 May

Melbourne, Australia, 5 to 9 May, representing the United States on the 12th Anniversary of the Battle of the Coral Sea

Wellington, New Zealand, 13 to 17 May

Crossed Equator for fourth time at 2235 hours, 24 May

Subic Bay, Philippines, 28 and 29 May

Manila, Philippines, 4 to 7 June; 17 to 22 June; 26 to 28 June; 2 to 6 July

Hong Kong, 13 to 18 July

Manila, Philippines, 21 to 23 July

Subic Bay, Philippines, 23 to 30 July

Manila, Philippines, 30 July to 1 August

Crossed international date line, 180th meridian 25 06.25 N, 9 August

Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, 12 to 14 August

San Francisco, California; passed under Golden Gate Bridge in dense fog, 19 August

Provisioned, San Francisco, to 23 August

Balboa, Canal Zone, Panama, 30 August

Began transit Panama Canal, 31 August

Colon, Canal Zone, Panama, 1 September

Mayport, Florida, to disembark squadrons and air personnel, 4 September

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 6 September, completing 71,000 nautical miles in full circumnavigation of the globe

Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island, dragging anchor in Hurricane Edna, 11 September

Lantflex 55 November

Boston Navy Yard, December to May, 1955, for conversion to anti-submarine warfare support carrier

 

1955

 

Boston Navy Yard, overhaul, 1 January to 30 April

Designated CVS-40 (ASW), anti-submarine warfare carrier, 10 January

Begin sea trials, 30 April

New London, Connecticut, adopted state visit, 3 to 6 June

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 7 June

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, to begin anti-submarine warfare training, 13 June

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 17 July

Return Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 26 July

Air operations out of Quonset Point, August and September

Tarawa designated flagship for Hunter-Killer Group Four operations, 11 to 21 October

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 22 October

Air operations out of Quonset Point November and December

 

1956

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 1 to 4 January

Operation Springboard, Hunter-Killer Group Four, 5 January

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 14 to 16 January

Kingston, Jamaica, British West Indies, 27 January

During January set all-time carrier record of 694 operational training exercises

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 2 February

Port-au-Prince, Haiti, 4 to 6 February

Norfolk, Virginia, 10 February

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 13 February

Norfolk, Virginia, 21 March

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 27 March

Continuing air operations through April and May

Norfolk, Virginia, take aboard Naval Academy midshipmen for indoctrination cruise, 13 to 18 June

Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada, with midshipmen, 27 June-3 July

Severn River, Annapolis, offload midshipmen, 6 July

Norfolk, Virgina, 7 July

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 8 July

Martha's Vineyard, Massachusetts, 19 July

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, to resume operations, 20 July

Cruise for 200 guests, Rhode Island Navy League, chaplain's school students, War College guests, 13 August

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 29 October

Arrived Norfolk, Virginia, for ComAntiSubLant exercises, anti-submarine patrol under combat conditions, 1 November

Departed Norfolk, Virginia, 5 November

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for Thanksgiving

Mayport, Florida, qualifying Marine Corps squadrons on carrier landings, 4 to 15 December

Boston, Christmas holidays

 

1957

 

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, administrative inspection

South Boston Navy Yard, overhaul, 12 January to May

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, May

Caribbean shakedown and refresher training, June and July

St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, 4 July

Kingston, Jamaica

Guantanamo Bay, Cuba

Returned from Caribbean to Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 6 August

Hunter-Killer operations in Atlantic

Departed Newport, Rhode Island, for European theater, Operation Sea-Spray, 3 September

Plymouth, England, 14 September

Irish Sea, NATO exercise Strikeback

Crossed Arctic Circle, 8 degrees 13 minutes east longitude, 20 September

Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Jayne Mansfield pays one-day visit, 30 September to 11 October

Rotterdam, the Netherlands, Tarawa leaving harbor collides with Italian steamship, the 4,173-ton Volodda, causing minor damage to each; collides and heavily damages floating crane, 11 October

English Channel and Atlantic crossing, NATO exercise Pipedown

Arrived Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 0730 hours, 22 October

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for anti-submarine Hunter-Killer operations near Bermuda, 12 November

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for seven hours, 22 November

Bayonne, New Jersey, naval shipyard, two weeks

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Christmas and New Year

 

 

 

                                                                          1958

 

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 1 to 6 January

Depart Quonset Point for Caribbean, for Operation Springboard, 6 January

Ciudad Trujillo, Dominican Republic, 17 to 20 January

Port of Spain, Trinidad, 24 to 27 January

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 7 February

New York City, host to Greater New York Boy Scout Councils; 300 guests, 20 to 21 February

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 22 February

Anchored Lynhaven Roads, Virginia, 25 February

Embarked 2,000 Marines off North Carolia for Operation LantPhibLex, 11 March

Anchored 13 miles southeast of Bogue Inlet, North Carolina, to disembark Marines, 18 to 20 March

            Norfolk, Virginia, Operation Slamex, anti-submarine exercises, April

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, routine maintenance and repair

Norfolk, Virginia, 9 May; began Operation Convex, the protection of convoys from missile-firing submarines. During the exercise, the ship was ordered to Venezuela when then-Vice President Nixon was threatened by rioters; picked up combat-ready Marines with helicopters off North Carolina, but resumed operations when threat subsided.

Operation Packard IX

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, balance of May

Newport, Rhode Island, ship hosted Global Strategy and Type Commanders Conference, June

New London, Connecticut, two days with adopted state

Annual dependents cruise, 11 June

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for Norfolk, Virginia, 16 June

Picked up 200 Naval Academy midshipmen for 3-day indoctrination cruise, disembarked them by helicopter; picked up 600 West Point Army cadets for indoctrination cruise, disembarked them in New York City

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, June and July

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, as flagship of Task Force 88, 7 August

Initiated Polywogs, 16 August

Crossed Equator, 18 August

South Atlantic on Project Argus, scientific testing of nuclear missiles fired 300 miles from U.S.S. Norton Sound into upper atmosphere, 27 August - 6 September

Rio de Janiero, Brazil, 15 to 20 September

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 30 September to 15 November

Host to 200 members of American Helicopter Society on one-day cruise, 21 Novewmber

Anti-submarine warfare training exercises, 15 November to 15 December

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, Christmas holidays

 

                                                                             

 

 

1959

 

Quonset Point, Rhode Island

New York City,

Norfolk, Virginia, picked up squadrons and went on 3-week anti-submarine barrier patrol, late January

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 23 February

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, for Norfolk, Virginia, 5 March, for week of anti-submarine warfare operations

New York City, 12 March

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 19 March

New York City, early April

Developing and testing new anti-submarine warfare techniques, 20 April to 7 May

Newport, Rhode Island, late May and early June; host to Global Strategy Conference

Participated in CONVEX 3-59, an Atlantic Fleet exercise protecting convoys from submarine attack, 13 to 18 July

Quonset Point, Rhode Island, ship loses 300 to 400 gallons of fuel oil during refueling at pier, 8 August

Squadrons brought aboard 15 August for four months of training, two weeks at sea and two weeks in port

Norfolk, Virginia, 6 November; hosted 200 officers of National War College

Departed Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 30 November, for final operations cruise in support of testing new anti-submarine warfare equipment

Returned Quonset Point, Rhode Island, 14 December; officially notified of plans for decommissioning

 

 

                                                                          1960

 

Air squadrons removed, 15 January

Philadelphia Navy Yard to join Atlantic Reserve Fleet, decommissioned, 13 May

 

                                                                          1961

 

Still decommissioned, ship is designated Auxiliary Aircraft Transport Carrier, AVT-12, 1 May

 

                                                                          1967

 

Stricken from list of naval vessels, 1 June; stripped of guns and electronics and ordered scrapped

Departs Philadelphia Navy Yard, Atlantic Reserve Fleet, under tow, 19 September

Arrives Davisville, Rhode Island, where heavy machinery is to be removed, for cannibalization by other fleet carriers, 22 September

 

                                                                          1968

 

Sold for scrap, 3 October, to Boston Metals Corporation, Baltimore, Maryland

Towed to Baltimore in four days; tied up at foot of Benhill Avenue, Curtis Bay, last week of October

Cut up for scrap.