USS Cowpens (CVL-25)
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USS Cowpens underway
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| History | |
|---|---|
 United States
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| Builder: | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down: |
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| Launched: | 17 January 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 28 May 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 13 January 1947 |
| Reclassified: | 15 May 1959 (as AVT-1, while in reserve) |
| Nickname(s): | The Mighty Moo |
| Honors and awards: |
Navy Unit Commendation, 12 Battle Stars |
| Fate: | 1 November 1959 Stricken from Navy List. Sold for scrap in 1960. |
| Notes: |
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| General characteristics | |
| Displacement: | 11,000 tons |
| Length: | 622.5 ft (189.7 m) |
| Beam: | 71.5 ft (21.8 m) (waterline), 109 ft 2 in (33.3 m) (overall) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Speed: | 32 knots |
| Complement: | 1,569 officers and men |
| Armament: | 26 × Bofors 40 mm guns |
| Armor: | 1.5 in-5 in belt, 3 in main deck, 0.38 in bridge |
| Aircraft carried: | Grumman F6F Hellcat |
USS Cowpens (CV-25/CVL-25/AVT-1), nicknamed The Mighty Moo, was an 11,000-ton Independence class light aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.
Cowpens, named for the Battle of Cowpens of the Revolutionary War, was launched on 17 January 1943 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, in Camden, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. M. H. Spruance (daughter of Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey, Jr.) and commissioned on 28 May 1943 by Captain R. P. McConnell. She was reclassified CVL-25 on 15 July 1943. Cowpens completed her active service at the end of 1946.
Departing Philadelphia, on 29 August 1943, Cowpens arrived at Pearl Harbor on 19 September to begin the active and distinguished war career which was to earn her a Navy Unit Commendation. She sailed with Task Force 14 for the strike on Wake Island on 5–6 October, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for strikes on the Marshall Islands preliminary to invasion. She sortied from Pearl Harbor 10 November to launch air strikes on Mille and Makin atolls from 19 to 24 November, and Kwajalein and Wotje on 4 December, returning to her base on 9 December.
Joining Task Force 58, Cowpens sailed from Pearl Harbor on 16 January 1944 for the invasion of the Marshalls. Her planes pounded Kwajalein and Eniwetok the last 3 days of the month to prepare for the assault landing on 31 January. Using Majuro as a base, the force struck at Truk on 16–17 February and the Mariana Islands on 21–22 February before putting in to Pearl Harbor on 4 March. Returning to Majuro, Task Force 58 based here for attacks on the western Carolines; Cowpens supplied air and antisubmarine patrols during the raids on Palau, Yap, Ulithi, and Woleai from 30 March to 1 April. After operating off New Guinea during the invasion of Hollandia from 21 to 28 April, Cowpens took part in the strikes on Truk, Satawan and Ponape from 29 April to 1 May, returning to Majuro on 14 May for training.
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