USS Boston (CA-69, CAG-1)

Figure 1:  USS Boston (CA-69) in Boston Harbor, Boston, Massachusetts, 30 June 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 2:  USS Boston (CA-69) on a full power run, 22 October 1943. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.   

Figure 3:  USS Boston (CA-69) steaming at high speed, probably during a full power trial in October 1943. Note that the ship is carrying Curtiss SO3C "Seamew" floatplanes. US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 4:  Carrier raids on western New Guinea, April 1944. A USS Boston (CA-69) OS2U "Kingfisher" floatplane returns to the cruiser after rescuing a crewman of a downed TBF bomber during raids on Japanese targets in the Hollandia area, 21 April 1944. ARM2c W.R. Kesey is on the wing. AOM3c B.A. Kanitcer is in the rear cockpit. The OS2U's pilot is not identified. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.  

 

 

Figure 5:  USS Boston (CA-69) in Sagami Wan, outside of Tokyo Bay, Japan, circa late August 1945, at the time Third Fleet ships initially entered Japanese waters. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.  

 

Figure 6:  USS Boston (CAG-1) underway at sea, March 1956.This picture was taken after the ship was converted into the US Navy’s first guided missile cruiser. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 7:  USS Boston (CAG-1) fires a "Terrier" guided missile from her after launcher during a training cruise in August 1956. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

 

 

Figure 8:  USS Boston (CAG-1) steaming off Beirut, Lebanon, while serving with the Sixth Fleet, 18 July 1958. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

 

Figure 9:  View of the USS Boston’s (CAG-1) after portion, as she prepares for underway refueling, 15 July 1959. The photograph shows both of her launchers for "Terrier" guided missiles, with a pair of Mark 25 Mod 7 guidance radars just ahead of them. An antenna for an SPS-12 radar is atop the pedestal at the right side of the image, with Boston's after starboard 5-inch twin gun mount below. Note the refueling boom rigged alongside the forward missile launcher, and the destroyer USS Blandy in the left center background. This print features the large "NAVY" block frequently used in official public release photographs during the later 1950s. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 10:  USS Boston (CAG-1) underway off the Boston Navy Yard, Charlestown, Massachusetts, after overhaul, 26 July 1960. Note the new electronics antennas received during this overhaul, among them a Tactical Air Navigation (TACAN) "pot" atop the mainmast, antenna for SPS-29 air search radar (replacing a SPS-12) atop the pedestal aft of the mainmast, and two SPQ-5 guided-missile guidance radars (replacing the ship's original pair of Mark 25 Mod 7 types) just forward of the "Terrier" missile launchers. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.   

Figure 11:  USS Boston (CAG-1) moored at Genoa, Italy, 27 January 1962. Note the large antenna for a SPS-37A air search radar (replacing the SPS-29 first fitted in 1960), located atop the pedestal just aft of her mainmast. This antenna was later moved to a new location, atop Boston's mainmast. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 12:  USS Boston (CAG-1) at anchor in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 10 September 1963. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 13: USS Boston’s (CAG-1) after port 5-inch gun mount firing during gunnery practice, 21 November 1964. Photographed by PHCS G.R. Phelps. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 14:  USS Boston (CAG-1) underway, circa 1965. This photograph was received from Commander Cruiser-Destroyer Force, Atlantic Fleet, in June 1965. Note that the large antenna for a SPS-37A (or SPS-43A) air search radar is now located atop Boston's mainmast, replaced on the pedestal aft of that mast by a SPS-30 height finding radar. Her TACAN (Tactical Air Navigation) "pot" has been moved from the mainmast to the foremast. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.  

Figure 15:  USS Boston (CAG-1) underway in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 10 January 1967. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 16:  USS Boston (CAG-1) underway in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, 10 January 1967. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 17: The right and left guns of USS Boston’s (CA-69) forward 8-inch triple gun turret fire on North Vietnamese targets, during an Operation "Sea Dragon" bombardment in September 1968. Photographed by PHC Al Smith. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 18:  USS Boston’s (CA-69) forward 8-inch triple turrets fire a six-gun salvo at enemy positions below the Demilitarized Zone in the Republic of Vietnam during her 1969 deployment to the western Pacific. This photograph was received by All Hands magazine on 12 November 1969. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.  

Figure 19: USS Boston (CA-69) fires a salvo of 8-inch shells at enemy positions while operating off the coast of the Republic of Vietnam during her 1969 deployment to the western Pacific. Photographed from a helicopter flying nearby. This photograph was received by All Hands magazine on 12 November 1969. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 20:  "The heavy cruiser Boston steaming home after spending six months deployed to Southeast Asia," 1969. Quoted information is from the original caption, received with this photograph on 12 November 1969. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.  Click on photograph for larger image.

 

Named after the capital of Massachusetts, the 13,600-ton USS Boston (CA-69) was a Baltimore class heavy cruiser that was built by the Bethlehem Steel Company at Fore River, Massachusetts, and was commissioned on 30 June 1943. The ship was approximately 673 feet long and 70 feet wide, had a top speed of 33 knots, and had a crew of 1,142 officers and men. Boston was initially armed with nine 8-inch guns, 12 5-inch guns, 48 40-mm guns, and 24 20-mm guns, but this armament changed dramatically during the ship’s career. As built, Boston also carried four floatplanes.

After completing her shakedown cruise, Boston transited the Panama Canal and joined the US Pacific Fleet. The ship arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, late in 1943 and in January and February 1944 participated in the campaign to seize the Marshall Islands. Although primarily assigned to escort aircraft carriers, as she generally was throughout the rest of the war, Boston also used her 8-inch guns in the Eniwetok Island pre-invasion bombardment. Over the next several months, Boston took part in raids throughout the central Pacific and supported amphibious landings in northwestern New Guinea.  

Boston continued escorting aircraft carriers during the last half of 1944 and into 1945. As the Pacific war moved westward, Boston was part of the American assault on the Marianas and Palau Islands, as well as the battle to re-take the Philippines. The heavy cruiser also used her guns to bombard enemy targets on the Ryukyus Islands and Formosa, and on the Japanese home islands. Boston participated in the two major naval battles which took place in 1944, the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October. Also in October, as a member of Task Force 38, Boston was part of the major naval raid on Formosa and she assisted in towing the crippled light cruiser USS Houston (CL-81) after that ship was torpedoed during the battle. 

After completing an overhaul in California during the spring of 1945, Boston returned to the fighting in the Pacific just in time to take part in the final attacks on the Japanese home islands. In addition to her usual duty of escorting aircraft carriers, on 9 August 1945 Boston shelled Kaimaishi on the Japanese main island of Honshu. After Japan surrendered, Boston remained in the western Pacific, supporting Allied occupation efforts until late February 1946. The ship was made inactive after her return to the United States, formally decommissioning at Bremerton, Washington, in late October 1946. Early in January 1952, following more than five years in the Pacific Reserve Fleet, Boston was re-classified as a guided-missile heavy cruiser, receiving the new designation CAG-1. In February, Boston began a long tow from America’s west coast to Camden, New Jersey, on America’s east coast, where she underwent more than three years of modernization work.

Once her modernization was completed, Boston became the first guided-missile cruiser in the US Navy. The major changes to the ship included removing her after triple 8-inch gun turret and its support structure, extensive modifications to her superstructure, and installation of two twin launchers for “Terrier” anti-aircraft guided missiles and their associated radars and electronic equipment. Boston was re-commissioned at the beginning of November 1955 and during the rest of that year and most of 1956 the ship operated in the western Atlantic and the Caribbean, testing her new weapons and training for their use.

Boston was assigned to the Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea in November 1956, returning to the United States in March 1957. After completing a midshipmen’s cruise to South America, taking part in NATO exercises in the north Atlantic, and receiving an overhaul, Boston embarked on her second Sixth Fleet tour of duty, which lasted from June to September 1958. While operating with the Sixth Fleet, Boston participated in the tense Lebanon crisis which took place in July of that same year. During the next eight years, Boston frequently operated in the Mediterranean, often in the role of flagship, and also participated in exercises off northern Europe, in the Caribbean, and off the east coast of the United States.

In April 1967, Boston returned to the Pacific for the first time in fifteen years, transiting the Panama Canal to begin a tour of combat service with the US Seventh Fleet. Primarily stationed off the coast of Vietnam during this time, the heavy cruiser fired thousands of rounds of 8- and 5-inch shells against communist targets in North and South Vietnam. Although she was technically based on America’s east coast, Boston made two more Vietnam War deployments, one from April to October 1968, and the other from May to November 1969.

In May 1968, soon after beginning her second deployment to Vietnam, Boston was re-classified from guided-missile heavy cruiser to heavy cruiser, reverting back to her original hull number of CA-69. Although she retained her “Terrier” missiles, the rapid advance of technology made these pioneering weapons obsolete a little more than twelve years after they entered service. Boston’s main armament was, once again, her 8-inch guns, of which six remained in her forward turrets. USS Boston was de-activated soon after completing her final tour of duty off the coast of Vietnam. Decommissioned at Boston, Massachusetts, in May 1970, the ship was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in January 1975 and was sold for scrapping in late March of that same year.

USS Marshall (DD-676)

Figure 1:  USS Marshall (DD-676) photographed circa late 1943, at about the time of her delivery to the Navy. This image has been retouched by wartime censors to remove the radar antenna atop the ship's Mark 37 gun director. However, the radar antennas on her foremast remain visible. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 2:  USS Marshall (DD-676) underway at sea, circa 1951-1953, while she was still fitted with a pole foremast and World War II-era search radars. Note the escort aircraft carrier (CVE) in the center distance. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 3:  USS Marshall (DD-676) photographed circa the mid-1950s, after installation of her new tripod foremast and SPS-6 air search radar. Note that the ship still retains her World War II-era fire control radars, mounted atop her Mark 37 gun director. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 4:  USS Marshall (DD-676) at sea, 21 October 1962. Photographed by PH3 W.C. Maxwell from USS Ranger (CVA-61). Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 5:  USS Marshall (DD-676) pulling alongside USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), during refueling exercises off the California coast, 7 March 1963. Photographed by AN D. Peters. Official US Navy Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 6:  USS Marshall (DD-676) underway on 19 February 1964. Official US Navy Photograph, from the Collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.      

 

Named after Lieutenant Commander Thomas W. Marshall Jr. (1906-1942), who was killed in action during the sinking of USS Jacob Jones (DD-130) in February 1942, the 2,050-ton USS Marshall (DD-676) was a Fletcher class destroyer that was built by the Federal Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company at Kearney, NJ, and was commissioned on 16 October 1943. The ship was approximately 375 feet long and 39 feet wide, had a top speed of 37 knots, and had a crew of 319 officers and men. Marshall was armed with five 5-inch guns, ten 40-mm guns, seven 20-mm guns, ten 21-inch torpedo tubes, and depth charges.

After being commissioned, Marshall completed her shakedown cruise in the Atlantic and then assisted in escorting President Franklin D. Roosevelt on the last part of his trip home from the Tehran Conference in Tehran, Iran. In January 1944, Marshall steamed through the Panama Canal and joined the US Navy’s Pacific Fleet. The ship was assigned to Task Force 58, the Navy’s main striking force, and participated in attacks throughout the central Pacific from March to May 1944. Marshall participated in the Marianas Campaign and the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June and July. During September and October, while still serving as an escort to aircraft carriers, Marshall took part in the amphibious assault on the Palau Islands and in raids on Japanese bases in the western Pacific and the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

Marshall's task force continued its operations in the Philippines area for the rest of 1944 and the first weeks of the New Year. In February 1945, the destroyer hit targets in the Japanese home islands and supported the struggle to seize Iwo Jima. More strikes on Japan came in March, followed by the hard battle for Okinawa. Marshall left combat area in May and steamed back to the United States for an overhaul. The war was over before this work was finished, and she was decommissioned in December 1945.

Re-commissioned in April 1951, Marshall made two Korean War tours from 1951 to 1952 and from 1952 to 1953, and was assigned to carrier escort, shore bombardment and blockade duties, as well as patrolling off the island of Formosa. During the post-Korean War decade, Marshall frequently operated with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East. She became a Naval Reserve training ship in September 1964, based at Tacoma, Washington. USS Marshall was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in July 1969 and sold for scrapping in 1970.

USS Bataan (CVL-29, AVT-4)

Figure 1:  USS Bataan (CVL-29) off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 2 March 1944. She is painted in Measure 32 Design 8A camouflage pattern. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 2:   USS Bataan (CVL-29) off the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania, 2 March 1944. Aircraft parked on her flight deck, forward, are TBM "Avenger" torpedo planes. Official US Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 3:  Carrier strikes on Japan, March 1945. A Japanese Navy "Judy" (Yokosuka D4Y3) bomber passes near USS Bataan (CVL-29) during an unsuccessful dive bombing run on Task Force 58, while the US ships were operating off Japan on 20 March 1945. The Japanese plane was soon brought down by anti-aircraft fire. Photographed from USS Hancock (CV-19). Bataan is the ship in the center of the view. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 4:  USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) on fire after being hit by two "kamikaze" suicide planes off Okinawa, 11 May 1945. Photographed from USS Bataan (CVL-29), which was sailing in the same task force as Bunker Hill. This photograph shows how deadly kamikazes were during the battle for Okinawa. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 5:  Enemy mine layers are attacked with napalm in a Korean port, during strikes by First Marine Air Wing F4U "Corsair" aircraft flying from USS Bataan (CVL-29). Photo is dated 16 April 1951. Note other small craft hauled out on marine railways nearby. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 6:  USS Bataan (CVL-29) arrives at San Diego, California, with her crew paraded on deck, as she returns from seven months in Korean waters. Photograph is dated 25 June 1951. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 7:  USS Bataan (CVL-29) underway in January 1952 with F4U-4B "Corsair" fighter-bombers of VMF-314 on board. Photo was taken as she was working up in preparation for her second Korean War deployment. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 8:  HMS Belfast coming alongside USS Bataan (CVL-29) while operating off the coast of Korea on 27 May 1952. One of Bataan's 40mm twin-gun mounts is in the left foreground. Official US Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Click on photograph for larger image.

Figure 9:  USS Bataan (CVL-29) photographed on 22 May 1953, as she was en route to Naval Air Station San Diego, California, following a deployment to Korean waters. Note crew is on the flight deck spelling out the word "HOME" and an arrow pointing over her bow. Aircraft on deck include 19 Grumman AF "Guardian" anti-submarine planes and a solitary Vought F4U "Corsair" fighter (parked amidships on the starboard side). US Naval Historical Center Photograph. Click on photograph for larger image.

Named after the famous peninsula on the island of Luzon in the Philippines, the 11,000-ton light aircraft carrier USS Bataan (CVL-29) was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation at Camden, New Jersey, and was commissioned on 17 November 1943. The ship was originally going to be built as the Cleveland class light cruiser USS Buffalo (CL-99), but the urgent wartime need for aircraft carriers necessitated that the warship be converted into an Independence class light aircraft carrier. Bataan was approximately 622 feet long and 71 feet wide, had a top speed of 31 knots, and had a crew of 1,569 officers and men. The ship was armed with 26 40-mm guns and 10 20-mm guns, and could carry roughly 45 aircraft, depending on their size.

After being commissioned, Bataan was assigned to combat operations in the Pacific. From April to June 1944, Bataan participated in attacks on Japanese positions in New Guinea; the Caroline, Mariana, and Bonin Islands; and in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. Bataan’s aircraft attacked and destroyed numerous land targets, shot down a considerable number of Japanese aircraft, and even sank a large enemy merchant ship.

Following an overhaul in the United States in early 1945, Bataan and her aircraft took part in assaults on targets in the western Pacific, including the Okinawa Campaign. Bataan’s air group broke up numerous attacks by Japanese kamikaze aircraft that were attempting to hit American warships off Okinawa. Bataan’s gunners managed to shoot down several of the oncoming suicide planes as well. On 7 April 1945, Bataan’s planes participated in the Battle of the East China Sea, when American aircraft spotted a Japanese task force built around the huge Japanese battleship Yamato. Dozens of American carrier aircraft attacked the Japanese task force as it steamed south in a desperate effort to disrupt the American invasion of Okinawa. Bataan’s pilots claimed four torpedo hits on the giant battleship, as well as hits on a cruiser and two destroyers. On 18 April, Bataan launched an antisubmarine patrol that assisted in the sinking of Japanese submarine I-56. The Japanese then launched massive counterattacks by aircraft against the ships off Okinawa. The heaviest of these attacks occurred on 14 May, which resulted in a huge barrage of anti-aircraft fire from the American warships, creating a veritable “rain” of shrapnel over Bataan which killed eight crewmen and wounded 26 others. During operations in April and May 1945, Bataan’s gunners and pilots claimed a share in dozens of Japanese aircraft “kills,” at a cost of nine planes lost and four air crewmen killed. On 29 May, Bataan steamed south to the Philippines and arrived at San Pedro Bay on 1 June for some minor repairs and to re-arm and re-fuel the ship.

After roughly a month of minor repairs and making the ship ready for sea again, Bataan returned to the fighting. The ship participated in the final attacks on the Japanese home islands and her aircraft hit airfields in the Tokyo Bay area on 10 July 1945. Her aircraft also attacked shore installations on northern Honshu and Hokkaido on 14 and 15 July, and damaged the battleship Nagato in Yokosuka harbor on 18 July. Bataan’s aircraft then struck the Japanese naval base at Kure on 24 July, assisting in the destruction of the battleship Hyuga and 15 small ships that were in the harbor. Bataan’s aircraft continued attacking ground targets on the Japanese home islands until 15 August, when all further strikes were canceled following news that the Japanese intended to surrender. The Japanese formally surrendered on 2 September 1945.

In October 1945, Bataan returned to the United States and subsequently helped transport servicemen home from overseas. The ship was inactive after January 1946 and was decommissioned in February 1947. Because of rising tensions between the United States and the communist nations of China and the Soviet Union, Bataan was re-commissioned in May 1950 and was sent to the Far East after the start of the Korean War. On 14 December 1950, Bataan joined Task Force (TF) 77 off Korea’s northeastern coast. On 22 December, Vought F4U-4 “Corsair” fighter-bombers began operations off Bataan and provided air cover for United Nations infantry forces on land. Bataan’s aircraft then flew armed reconnaissance and close air support missions over the central mountains along Korea’s 38^th parallel. On 31 December, after a major communist offensive pushed south toward Seoul and Hanchon, Bataan was re-assigned to Task Group (TG) 96.9 off Korea’s west coast. After arriving there, Bataan’s aircraft attacked enemy troop concentrations below Seoul, helping to stall the communist’s southern advance.

After a brief replenishment period at Sasebo, Japan, from 9 to 15 January 1951, Bataan relieved the British carrier HMS Theseus in the Yellow Sea on 16 January. Bataan’s mission was to assist other Allied aircraft carriers in the blockade of the west coast of Korea. Bataan’s air wing flew roughly 40 sorties a day: eight defensive combat air patrols (CAPs), with the remainder divided between close air support (CAS), armed reconnaissance (AR), and interdiction missions. During CAS missions, Bataan’s aircraft attacked enemy positions on land using bombs, rockets, and napalm. Daylight AR missions concentrated on halting enemy road traffic and bombing rail yards and bridges. This was very dangerous work for the carrier’s pilots and between 16 and 26 January 1951 Bataan lost three Corsairs and two pilots to enemy anti-aircraft fire.

Over the next two months, Bataan conducted three more Yellow Sea patrols. In February and March 1951, Bataan supported the UN counterattack toward Inchon and Seoul, concentrating her air attacks on the Chinnampo area. These flights also included air spotting missions when the cruisers USS St. Paul (CA-73) and HMS Belfast fired on targets ahead of advancing UN troops. Of the three Corsairs shot down by communist forces during these missions, two pilots were safely recued by search and rescue (SAR) helicopters, a relatively new development in naval warfare.

On 8 April 1951, after the bigger fast carriers of TF 77 were sent south to Formosa (because intelligence reports suggested the Chinese communists might attack there), Bataan and HMS Theseus were sent to replace the larger carriers in the Sea of Japan. Bataan and Theseus were escorted by two American destroyers and four British Commonwealth warships. Together they maintained a naval blockade off Korea’s west coast and their fighters bombed and strafed communist supply routes near Wonsan, Hamhung, and Songjin. Five aircraft were lost to communist antiaircraft defenses, but only one pilot was killed while the other four were rescued.

After a brief return to Sasebo for supplies and ammunition from 16 to 20 April 1951, Bataan resumed her patrols with HMS Theseus off the west coast of Korea.  On 21 April, a rare incident took place when two Corsairs from Bataan were attacked by four Yakovlev Type 3U fighters (known as “Yaks”) near Chinnampo, Korea. Marine Corps Captain Philip C. DeLong shot down two of the Russian-made planes and heavily damaged a third, while First Lieutenant Harold D. Daigh, USMCR, shot down the fourth. It was a rare air-to-air confrontation between propeller-driven aircraft in a war that was known for its jet versus jet dogfights.

On 22 April 1951, communist troops began another heavy attack toward Seoul, and Bataan’s aircraft flew 136 close air support sorties against them over the next four days. After a brief period of replenishment and upkeep at Sasebo between 27 and 30 April, Bataan returned to the Yellow Sea on 1 May.  Sailing with HMS Glory, Bataan launched 244 offensive sorties against enemy troop concentrations, helping to stall and then reverse the communist offensive by 10 May. Later in the month, Bataan’s Corsairs concentrated on the destruction of junks and sampans in the Taedong Gang estuary until bad weather canceled flight operations. During these air strikes, Bataan lost one plane and its pilot to enemy ground fire.

Bataan was relieved on 3 June 1951 by a British carrier and returned to Japan. After that, Bataan began her journey back to the United States, arriving at San Diego, California, on 25 June. Following two weeks of rest and recreation for the crew, Bataan steamed to Bremerton, Washington, on 9 July for an extensive overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. After those repairs were completed, Bataan returned to San Diego on 7 November for refresher training exercises. Over the next 10 weeks, the carrier conducted landing qualifications and ASW exercises in preparation for a second deployment to the Far East.

Bataan left for Yokosuka, Japan, on 27 January 1952 and arrived in Tokyo Bay on 11 February after weathering a severe winter storm. After arriving in Japan, Bataan embarked a new squadron of aircraft and then underwent several weeks of anti-submarine warfare (ASW) training off the coast of Okinawa from 24 February to 12 April. After returning to Yokosuka and Sasebo for refueling and replenishment, Bataan left Japan and returned to Korea, resuming combat operations on 30 April. Ever since June 1951, the war in Korea had been bogged down in a military stalemate, with both sides heavily dug in along the 38^th parallel. Given the task of interdicting communist supply routes between Hanchon and Yonan, Bataan’s aircraft flew 30 offensive sorties per day, bombing enemy supply dumps, railway tracks, bridges, and road traffic. Bataan continued providing air support for UN ground forces in Korea until 4 August, when she returned to Japan and then was ordered back to San Diego, arriving there on 26 August.

After completing another overhaul, this time at the Long Beach Naval Shipyard at Long Beach, California, Bataan returned to the Far East for her final major tour of duty, which lasted from October 1952 to May 1953. After completing weeks of ASW exercises off the coast of Japan, Bataan steamed to Korea and conducted combat operations which took place between 7 March and 5 May 1953. Despite bad weather, aircraft from Bataan continued attacking enemy troop concentrations, supply dumps, roads, railways, and bridges. On 10 May, Bataan was ordered to return to the United States and, after making a brief stop at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, arrived at San Diego on 26 May.

Following a final brief deployment to Japan from July to August 1953, Bataan was decommissioned on 9 April 1954. The ship was reclassified as an aircraft transport (AVT-4) on 15 May 1959, but was stricken from the Navy List on 1 September 1959. USS Bataan was ultimately sold for scrapping on 19 June 1961. She received six battle stars for her service during World War II and three battle stars for her service during the Korean War.