WLA113 USS HANCOCK (CV-19)

USS Hancock (CV-19) was an American aircraft carrier laid down in January 1943, launched in January 1944, and commissioned with the US Navy in April 1944. The length of the ship - at the time of launching - was 271 m, breadth at the waterline 28 m, and full displacement - 41,700 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Hancock aircraft carrier was up to 33 knots, and its main armament comprised from 90 to 100 airplanes. USS Hancock was the fourteenth Essex-class aircraft carrier and the third of the Ticonderoga sub-type. Ships of this type were the main American aircraft carriers during the Pacific War of 1943-1945. The Ticonderoga sub-type differed from the other Essex-class ships primarily in terms of an elongated hull and even stronger anti-aircraft armament. The genus Essex and the subtype Ticonderoga included as many as 24 aircraft carriers that entered the line until the Japanese capitulation in September 1945! Their construction was based on the experience gained from the operation of Lexington and Yorktown units, as well as not having to comply with any tonnage restrictions. The emphasis was primarily on the number of planes taken and the maximum speed at the expense of the armor of the landing deck. Interestingly, the Essex-class aircraft carriers were built in such a way that the hangar was not an integral part of the fuselage, but a structure suspended under the flight deck. Such a solution made the ships of this type relatively easy to damage, but much more difficult to sink as a result of an air attack. The USS Hancock (CV-19) aircraft carrier underwent its baptism of fire during World War II in October 1944, when its on-board planes carried out diversionary raids on airports in Okinawa and Taiwan. In the period November-December 1944, the ship operated in the Philippines, supporting, among others, US ground operations on these islands. In February 1945, the carrier supported an operation in the Iwo-Jima Island area, and in March of the same year, its on-board planes attacked targets in the Japanese Islands. Aircraft from the USS Hancock took part in the signing ceremony of Japan's surrender, which took place on September 2, 1945 in Tokyo Bay. After the end of World War II, USS Hancock was put into reserve, but quickly underwent a deep modernization consisting in the reconstruction of the starting deck, superstructure and replacement of virtually all electronics. In 1954 he returned to service. The aircraft carrier took part in the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975). The ship was decommissioned in 1976 and was sold for scrap in the same year.