USS Monterey (CVL-26)
_in_Gulf_of_Mexico.jpg)
USS Monterey underway in the Gulf of Mexico
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| History | |
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 United States
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| Name: | Monterey |
| Namesake: | Battle of Monterey |
| Builder: | New York Shipbuilding Corporation |
| Laid down: | 29 December 1941 |
| Launched: | 28 February 1943 |
| Commissioned: | 17 June 1943 |
| Decommissioned: | 11 February 1947 |
| Recommissioned: | 15 September 1950 |
| Decommissioned: | 16 January 1956 |
| Fate: | Sold for scrap May 1971 |
| General characteristics | |
| Class and type: | Independence-class aircraft carrier |
| Displacement: | 11,000 tons |
| Length: | 622.5 ft (189.7 m) |
| Beam: | 71.5 ft (21.8 m) (waterline), 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) (overall) |
| Draft: | 26 ft (7.9 m) |
| Speed: | 31.6 knots (58.5 km/h; 36.4 mph) |
| Complement: | 1,569 officers and men |
| Armament: | 26 × Bofors 40 mm guns, 20 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons |
| Aircraft carried: | 45 |
USS Monterey (CVL-26) was an Independence-class light aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, in service during World War II and used in training for several years thereafter.
Originally laid down as light cruiser Dayton (CL-78) on 29 December 1941 by New York Shipbuilding, Camden, New Jersey, the ship was reclassified CV-26 on 27 March 1942 and renamed Monterey four days later, launched on 28 February 1943, sponsored by Mrs. P.N.L. Bellinger, and commissioned on 17 June 1943, Captain Lestor T. Hundt in command. It was the third US Navy vessel to be named after the Battle of Monterey. Former U.S. President Gerald R. Ford served aboard the ship during World War II.
Monterey was reclassified CVL-26 on 15 July 1943, shortly before commissioning, and after shakedown, departed Philadelphia for the western Pacific. She reached the Gilbert Islands on 19 November 1943, in time to help secure Makin Island. She took part in strikes on Kavieng, New Ireland on 25 December, as part of Task Group 37.2 (TG 37.2), and supported the landings at Kwajalein and Eniwetok until 8 February 1944. The light carrier then operated with Task Force 58 (TF 58) during raids in the Caroline Islands, Mariana Islands, northern New Guinea, and the Bonin Islands from February–July 1944. During this time she was also involved in the Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June.
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