U.S.S. Hancock CVA -19

USS Hancock (CV-19, later CVA-19), 1944-1976

Hancock (CV-14) was laid down 1 February 1943 by Newport News Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Va., and renamed Ticonderoga (q.v.)
1 May 1943. 

(CV-19: dp. 27,100; l. 888'; b. 93'; ew. 147'6"; dr. 28'7"; s. 33 k.; cpl. 3,448; a. 12 5", 44 40mm., 59 20mm., ac. 80 plus; cl. Essex) 

USS Hancock, a 27,100-ton Ticonderoga class aircraft carrier, was built at Quincy, Massachusetts. Commissioned in April
1944, she arrived in the Pacific the following summer and conducted her first combat operations during raids on the Ryukyus,
Formosa and the Philippines in mid-October. Later in the month, Hancock's planes hit Japanese warships during the Battle
of Leyte Gulf. During the remainder of 1944, she continued to attack targets in the Philippines area, despite receiving modest
damage from a suicide plane on 25 November and from a typhoon in mid-December.

In January 1945, Hancock helped prepare for landings on Luzon and took part in Task Force 38's raid into the South China sea. A tragic aircraft accident on
her flight deck killed 50 of her men and injured many more on 21 January, but did not prevent her from sending planes to attack Okinawa on the following day.
The carrier hit targets in the Japanese home islands in February and March, plus lending aerial assistance to the invasions of Iwo Jima and Okinawa. On 20
March, Hancock was lightly damaged when a "Kamikaze" crashed nearby. She was much more seriously hurt by a suicide plane on 7 April, while supporting
the Okinawa operation, suffering the loss of 62 crewmen killed and requiring shipyard repairs in the United States. Returning to the western Pacific in July and
attacking Wake Island while en route, Hancock struck targets in Japan during the final weeks of World War II. After Japan's August 1945 capitulation, she
supported initial occupation efforts, then went back to the U.S. in October. The rest of 1945 and the first four months of 1946 were mainly spent transportating
men and aircraft.

Hancock was inactive from April 1946 until February 1954, when she recommissioned after receiving an SCB-27C modernization that fitted her to operate
heavier, higher-performance aircraft. Among her new equipment was a pair of steam catapults, the first installed on a U.S. Navy carrier. Reclassified CVA-19,
she deployed to the Far East in 1955-56, then was further modernized with an angled flight deck and enclosed bow. Back in service in late 1956, Hancock
began nearly two decades of continuous Pacific Fleet operations, including frequent western Pacific cruises with the Seventh Fleet. From 1965 through 1972,
she was a regular Vietnam War participant, making seven combat deployments. In April and May 1975, while on her final WestPac tour, she was one of the
ships that conducted the evacuation of South Vietnam when that long-suffering country was overrun by North Vietnamese forces. Redesignated CV-19 in June
1975, Hancock decommissioned in late January 1976. She was sold for scrapping in August of that year.

21 October 1964  -  29 May 1965 - CVW -21

 VA-212 (A-4E)         VA-215( A-lJ & A-lH )        VA-216( A-4C)         VF-24 (F-8C)    

   VF-211( F-8E)         VAW-ll Det L (E-lB)         VFP-63 Det L( RF-8A)         VAH-4 Det L( A-3B)

 HU-l Det L (UH-2A)         *VAP-61 Det( RA-3B)         VQ-l Det( EA-3B)

10 November 1965  - 1 August 1966 - CVW -21

 VA-212( A-4E)         VA-215 (A-lJ & A-lH )        VA-216 (A-4C )        VAW-ll Det L( E-lB )

VFP-63 Det 1 (RF-8A)         VF-211( F-8E )        VF-24( F-8C )        HC-l Dl Unit L (UH-2A & UH-2B)

 VQ-l Det( EA-3B)         VAP-61 Det (RA-3B)

5 January 1967  -  22 July 1967 - CVW -5

 VF-51( F-8E )        VF-53 (F-8E)         VA-93 (A-4E)         VA-94( A-4C)         VA-115 (A-lH)

 VAH-4 Det B( A-3B)         VFP-63 Det B( RF-8G )        HC-l Det B (UH-2A & UH-2B )

VAW-ll Det 31 (E-lB)

18 July 1968  -  3 March 1969 - CVW -21

VA-55 (A-4F)         VA-163 (A-4E)         VA-164 (A-4E)         VF-24 (F-8H)         VF-211( F-8H )

VFP-63 Det 19 (RF-8G)         VAW-lll Det 19 (E-lB )        HC-l Det 19 (UH-2C)

 VAW-13 Det 19 (EKA-3B)

2 August 1969  - 15 Apr 1970 - CVW -21

VF-24( F-8H)         VF-211 (F-8J)         VA-55( A-4F )        VA-164 (A-4F)         VA-212 (A-4F)

 VAH-10 Det 19( KA-3B)         VAW-111 Det 19 (E-1B)         VFP-63 Det 19( RF-8G)

 HC-1 Det 19 (SH-3A)

(22 October 1970  - 3 June 1971 - CVW -21

 VF-24( F-8J )        VF-211( F-8J)         VA-55 (A-4F )        VA-164 (A-4F )   

VAQ-129 Det 62( EKA-3B)         VAW-lll Det 19( E-lB )        VFP-63 Det 19 (RF-8G)

 VA-212 (A-4F )        HC-l Det 7 (UH-2C)         HC-5 Det 103( UH-2C)

7 January 1972  -  3 October 1972 - CVW -21

 VA-55 (A-4F)         VA-164 (A-4F/TA-4F)         VA-212( A-4F )        VF-24 (F-8J )        VF-211 (F-8J)

 VFP-63 Det 1 (RF-8G)         VAQ-135 Det 5 (EKA-3B )        VAW-lll Det 2( E-lB)   

 HC-l Det 7 (SH-3G)

8 May 1973  -  8 January 1974 - CVW -21

VF-24 (F-8J )        VF-211 (F-8J)         VA-55( A-4F)         VA-164 (A-4F & TA-4F)

 VA-212 (A-4F)         VFP-63 Det 1( RF-8G)        VAQ-135 Det 5 (EKA-3B )      

 VAW-lll Det 2( E-lB)         HC-l Det 3( SH-3G)         HC-7 Det 110( HH-3A)

18 March 1975  -  20 October 1975 - CVW -21

VA-55 (A-4F )        VA-164 (A-4F & TA-4F)         VA-212( A-4F )        VF-24( F-8J )

VF-211 (F-8J )        RVAW-ll0 Det 6( E-lB )        HC-l Det 1 (SH-3G )        VFP-63 Det 1( RF-8G)