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USS Bunker Hill (CV 17 / CVA 17 / CVS 17 /
AVT 9):
USS Bunker Hill was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft
carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the
second U.S. Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the Battle of Bunker
Hill. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943, and served in several
campaigns in the Pacific War, earning eleven battle stars and a Presidential
Unit Citation. She was badly damaged on May 11, 1945 shortly after 10:00 a.m.
by Japanese kamikaze attacks, with the loss of approximately 600 of her crew,
becoming one of the most heavily damaged carriers to survive the war. She was
struck by two kamikaze planes who were able to evade the carrier radar by
following returning U.S. planes from other carriers in the strike force, and
thus remained undetected. Bunker Hill had not yet launched her planes, and
they were sitting on the flight deck fully loaded with fuel and munitions
when the kamikazes hit, thus causing extensive damage and creating horrendous
fires. She suffered over 600 casualties which included over 300 deaths. Many
of the crew below deck lost their lives due to the flaming gasoline and toxic
fumes from the fires which were sucked into the ventilation systems and
pumped below deck. The order to abandon ship was given when the carrier
started to list eleven degrees to her port side because of the weight of all
of the water which had been needed to extinguish the fires that had drained
into the decks below, but a small skeleton crew volunteered to stay aboard to
try to save her. They were successful in their efforts.
After the attack she limped first to Subic Bay in the Philippines for
immediate repairs to stabilise her, and then returned to the U.S. mainland.
She was decommissioned in 1947. While in reserve she was reclassified as an
attack carrier (CVA), then an antisubmarine carrier (CVS), and finally an
Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training Ship (AVT), but was never modernized and
never saw active service again. Bunker Hill and Franklin were the only
Essex-class ships never recommissioned after World War II.
Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1966, she served as an electronics
test platform for many years in San Diego bay, and was sold for scrap in
1973. An effort to save her as a museum ship in 1972 was unsuccessful.
History:
Bunker Hill was laid down on 15 September 1941 at the Bethlehem Steel
Company, Quincy, Massachusetts, and launched on 7 December 1942, sponsored by
Mrs. Donald Boynton. She was commissioned on 24 May 1943, with Captain J. J.
Ballentine in command.
World War II
1943-44
Reporting to the U.S. Pacific Fleet in the autumn of 1943, Bunker Hill
participated in carrier operations during: the crucial carrier air raid on
the major Imperial Japanese Navy base at Rabaul, along with USS Essex and USS
Independence on 11 November 1943; Gilbert Islands operation, including
support of the landings on Tarawa Atoll (13 November – 8 December); the air
raids on Kavieng in support of the amphibious landings in the Bismarck
Archipelago (25 December 1943, 1 January, and 4 January 1944); air raids in
the Marshall Islands (29 January – 8 February); the huge carrier air raids on
Truk Atoll (17–18 February), during which eight I.J.N. warships were sunk;
air raids on the Marianas Islands (Guam, Saipan, and Tinian) (23 February);
air raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai in the Palau Islands (30 March –
1 April); raids in support of the U.S. Army landings around Hollandia (21–28
April); air raids on Truk, Satawan, and Ponape in the Caroline Islands (29
April – 1 May); combat operations in the Marianas in support of the
amphibious landings on Saipan and Guam (12 June – 10 August), including the
titanic Battle of the Philippine Sea, just west of the Marianas.
On 19 June 1944, during the opening phases of the landings in the Marianas,
Bunker Hill was damaged when the explosion of a Japanese aerial bomb
scattered shrapnel fragments across the decks and the sides of the aircraft
carrier. Two sailors were killed, and about 80 more were wounded. Bunker Hill
continued to fight, with her antiaircraft fire shooting down a few IJN
warplanes.
During the Battle of the Philippine Sea, about 476 Japanese warplanes were
destroyed, nearly all of them shot down by Navy F6F Hellcat fighter planes,
such as those carried by Bunker Hill
During September, Bunker Hill carried out air raids in the Western Caroline
Islands, and then she and her task force steamed a to the north to launch air
raids on Luzon, Formosa, and Okinawa, through early November.
On 6 November 1944, Bunker Hill steamed eastward from the forward area, and
she was taken to the Bremerton Naval Shipyard, for a period of major
overhaul/upkeep work and weaponry upgrades, as all warships must undergo
periodically. She departed from the Port of Bremerton on 24 January 1945, and
then she steamed westward back into the combat area in the Western Pacific.
1945
During the remaining months of World War II, Bunker Hill fought in the Battle
of Iwo Jima; the 5th Fleet raids against Honshū and the Nansei Shoto (15
February – 4 March); and the 5th and 3rd Fleet raids in support of the Battle
of Okinawa. On 7 April 1945, Bunker Hill 's planes took
part in an attack by the Fast Carrier Task Force of the Pacific Fleet on
Imperial Japanese Navy forces in the East China Sea. The superbattleship
Yamato, one light cruiser, and four destroyers were sunk during this
Operation Ten-Go, as it was called by the Japanese Navy.
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the invasion of Okinawa,
Bunker Hill was struck and severely damaged by two Japanese kamikaze planes.
An A6M Zero fighter plane piloted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Seizō
Yasunori emerged from low cloud cover, dove toward the flight deck and dropped
a 550-pound (250 kilogram) bomb that penetrated the flight deck and exited
from the side of the ship at gallery deck level before exploding in the
ocean. The Zero next crashed onto the carrier's flight deck, destroying
parked warplanes full of aviation fuel and ammunition, causing a large fire.
The remains of the Zero went over the deck and dropped into the sea. Then, a
short 30 seconds later, a second Zero, piloted by Ensign Kiyoshi Ogawa,
plunged into its suicide dive. The Zero went through the antiaircraft fire,
dropped a 550-pound bomb, and then crashed into the flight deck near the
carrier's "island", as kamikazes were trained to aim for the island
superstructure. The bomb penetrated the flight deck and exploded. Gasoline
fires flamed up and several explosions took place. Bunker Hill lost a total
of 346 sailors and airmen killed, 43 more missing (and never found), and 264
wounded. She was heavily damaged and was sent to the Bremerton Naval Shipyard
for repairs. She was still in the shipyard when the war ended in mid-August
1945.
Post-war
In September 1945, Bunker Hill reported for duty with the Operation Magic
Carpet fleet, returning veterans from the Pacific. She remained on this duty
as a unit of TG 16.12 until January 1946, when she was ordered to Bremerton
for deactivation. She was decommissioned into reserve on 9 January 1947.
While she was laid up in mothballs, she was reclassified three times,
becoming CVA-17 in October 1951, CVS-17 in August 1953, and AVT-9 in May
1959, with the latter designation indicating that any future commissioned
operations would be as an "Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training
Ship". As all Essex-class carriers survived the war, Bunker Hill was
surplus to the needs of the navy. She and Franklin, which also had sustained
severe damage from an aerial attack, were the only aircraft carriers in the
Essex-class that did not experience any active duty after the end of World
War II, despite their being repaired. Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register
in November 1966, Bunker Hill was used as a stationary electronics test
platform at the Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, during the 1960s
and early 1970s.
Bunker Hill was sold for scrapping in May 1973.
Bunker Hill received the Presidential Unit Citation for the period 11
November 1943 to 11 May 1945. In addition, she received 11 battle stars for
her World War II service.
source: wikipedia
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another history:
Bunker Hill (CV-17) was launched 7 December
1942 by Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.; sponsored by Mrs. Donald Boynton;
and commissioned 24 May 1943, Captain J. J. Ballentine in command.
Reporting to the Pacific in the fall of 1943 Bunker Hill participated in
carrier operations during the Rabaul strike (11 November 1943); Gilbert
Islands operation, including support of the landings on Tarawa (13 November-8
December); the Kavieng strikes in support of the Bismarck Archipelago
operation (25 December 1943, 1 and 4 January 1944); Marshall Islands
operation (29 January-8 February); strikes against Truk (17-18 February),
during which eight Japanese combatant vessels were sunk; Marianas raid (23
February); Palau-Yap-Ulithi-Woleai raids (30 March-1 April);
Truk-Satawan-Ponape raids (29 April-1 May); Hollandia operation (21-28
April); and Marianas operation (12 June-10 August), including the Battle of
the Philippine Sea. On 19 June 1944, during the opening phases of the battle,
Bunker Hill was damaged when an enemy near miss scattered shrapnel fragments
across the ship. Two men were killed and over 80 were wounded. Bunker Hill
continued to do battle and her planes aided in sinking one Japanese carrier
and destroying a part of the 476 Japanese aircraft that were downed. During
September she participated in the Western Caroline Islands operation and then
launched strikes at Okinawa, Luzon, and Formosa until November.
On 6 November Bunker Hill retired from the forward area and steamed to
Bremerton, Wash., for a period of yard availability. Repairs completed, she
departed the west coast 24 January 1945 and returned to the war front. During
the remaining months of World War II Bunker Hill participated in the Iwo Jima
operation and the 5th Fleet raids against Honshu and the Nasei Shoto (15
February-4 March); and the 5th and 3d Fleet raids in support of the Okinawa
operation. On 7 April 1945 Bunker Hill's planes took part in a fast carrier
task force attack on a Japanese naval force in the East China Sea. The enemy
battleship Yamato, one cruiser, and four destroyers were sunk.
On the morning of 11 May 1945, while supporting the Okinawa invasion, Bunker
Hill was hit and severely damaged by two suicide planes. Gasoline fires
flamed up and several expolisions took place. The ship suffered the loss of
346 men killed, 43 missing, and 264 wounded. Although badly crippled she managed
to return to Bremerton via Pearl Harbor.
In September Bunker Hill reported for duty with the "Magic Carpet"
fleet. She remained on this duty as a unit of TG 16.12 returning veterans
from the Pacific until January 1946 when she was ordered to Bremerton for
inactivation. She was placed out of commission in reserve there 9 January
1947.
Bunker Hill received the Presidential Unit Citation for the period 11
November 1943 to 11 May 1945. In addition, she received 11 battle stars for
her World War II service.
Bunker Hill's designation was changed from CV-17 to CVA-17 on 1 October 1952
and from CVA-17 to CVS-17 on 8 August 1953. She was struck from the Navy
listing on 1 November 1966 and retained as a moored electronic test ship at
San Diego, Calif., until November 1972 and then scrapped in 1973.
source: US Naval History & Heritage Command
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