USS Leyte, 1950–52
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History | |
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United States | |
Name: | USS Leyte |
Namesake: | Battle of Leyte Gulf, 1944 |
Builder: | Newport News Shipbuilding |
Laid down: | 21 February 1944 |
Launched: | 23 August 1945 |
Commissioned: | 11 April 1946 |
Decommissioned: | 15 May 1959 |
Renamed: | Crown Point to Leyte |
Reclassified: |
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Fate: | Scrapped in 1970 |
General characteristics | |
Class and type: | Essex-class aircraft carrier |
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Speed: | 33 knots (61 km/h) |
Complement: | 3448 officers and enlisted |
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USS Leyte (CV/CVA/CVS-32, AVT-10) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the first US Navy ship to bear the name. Leyte was commissioned in April 1946, too late to serve in World War II. She spent most of her career in the Atlantic, Caribbean, and Mediterranean, but also saw service in the Korean War, in which she earned two battle stars. She was reclassified in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), then as an Antisubmarine Aircraft Carrier (CVS), and finally (after inactivation) as an aircraft transport (AVT).
Unlike most of her sister ships, Leyte received no major modernizations, and thus throughout her career retained the classic appearance of a World War II Essex-class ship. She was decommissioned in 1959 and sold for scrap in 1970.
Leyte was one of the "long-hull" Essex-class ships. She was laid down as Crown Point on 21 February 1944 at the Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia, and renamed Leyte on 8 May 1945 to commemorate the recent Battle of Leyte Gulf. She was launched on 23 August, sponsored by Mrs. James M. Mead, and commissioned on 11 April 1946, with Captain Henry F. MacComsey in command.