This is not his first experience at the commissioning of an aircraft carrier. He was also at the one for the light aircraft carrier he served on during World War II, the USS San Jacinto, CVL-30. (L for Light)
Only, it was quite a bit smallerat 622.5 feet, beam 71.5 at waterline, 109.2 feet overall, 1549 officers and men, and 45 aircraft.
It was one of the Independence-class of light aircraft carriers. Besides the Independence, there was also the Princeton, Belleau Wood, Cowpens, Monterey, Langley, Cabot, and Bataan. It was laid down 26 Oct. 1942 and commissioned 15 Nov. 1943, a little over a year. Decommissioned in 1947, and reactivated in 1959 as an auxilliary aircraft carrier. It was struck from the Navy List in 1970 and scrapped.
In 1944, he crashed into the Pacific Ocean after being hit by Japanese anti-aircraft fire. He parachuted into the sea and was picked up by the USS Finback, SS-230, a Gato-class submarine. He returned to combat until the end of the war. President Bush received a Distinguished Flying Cross and three air medals.
He was flying a TBF Grumman Avenger and the other two crew members were killed. Because he released his payload before bailing out, Bush was awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross.
A Remarkable Person Just from This, But Then on to the Presidency. --Cooter
No comments:
Post a Comment