USS ''Bon Homme Richard'' (CV/CVA-31) was the 14th of the 24 s completed during or shortly after

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

for the

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

. She was the second US Navy ship to bear the name, the first one being named for

John Paul Jones John Paul Jones (born John Paul; July 6, 1747 – July 18, 1792) was a Scottish-born naval officer who served in the Continental Navy during the American Revolutionary War. Often referred to as the "Father of the American Navy", Jones is regard ...

's famous Revolutionary War

frigate A frigate () is a type of warship. In different eras, the roles and capabilities of ships classified as frigates have varied. The name frigate in the 17th to early 18th centuries was given to any full-rigged ship built for speed and maneuvera ...

by the same name. Jones had named that ship, usually rendered in more correct French as ''Bonhomme Richard'', to honor Founding Father

Benjamin Franklin Benjamin Franklin (April 17, 1790) was an American polymath: a writer, scientist, inventor, statesman, diplomat, printer, publisher and Political philosophy, political philosopher.#britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Wood, 2021 Among the m ...

, the American Commissioner at Paris, whose '' Poor Richard's Almanack'' had been published in France under the title ''Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard''. ''Bon Homme Richard'' was commissioned in November 1944, the last of the ''Essex'' class completed in time to serve in what would be the final campaigns of the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning one battle star. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was recommissioned in 1951 for the Korean War. In her second career she operated exclusively in the Pacific, playing a prominent role in the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

, for which she earned five battle stars, and the

Vietnam War The Vietnam War (1 November 1955 – 30 April 1975) was an armed conflict in Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia fought between North Vietnam (Democratic Republic of Vietnam) and South Vietnam (Republic of Vietnam) and their allies. North Vietnam w ...

. She was modernized and recommissioned in 1955. She was decommissioned in 1971, and scrapped in 1992.

Construction and commissioning

''Bon Homme Richard'' (CV-31) was laid down on 1 February 1943 at the New York Navy Yard, being the first ''Essex''-class carrier to be built at the New York Navy Yard.Gardiner and Chesneau 1980, p. 104. She was launched 29 April 1944 by Mrs. John S. McCain, wife of

Vice Admiral Vice admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, usually equivalent to lieutenant general and air marshal. A vice admiral is typically senior to a rear admiral and junior to an admiral. Australia In the Royal Australian Navy, the rank of Vice ...

John S. McCain Sr. The ship was commissioned 26 November 1944, with Captain A. O. Rule Jr. as her first commander."Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) ii"
''

Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships The ''Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships'' (''DANFS'') is the official reference work for the basic facts about ships used by the United States Navy. When the writing project was developed the parameters for this series were designed to ...

''. Washington DC: Naval Historical Center. 17 December 2014. Retrieved 17 January 2015.

Service history

World War II

''Bon Homme Richard'' departed

Norfolk, Virginia Norfolk ( ) is an independent city (United States), independent city in the U.S. state of Virginia. It had a population of 238,005 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of cities in Virginia, third-most populous city ...

, on 19 March 1945 to join the Pacific Fleet and arrived at

Pearl Harbor Pearl Harbor is an American lagoon harbor on the island of Oahu, Hawaii, west of Honolulu. It was often visited by the naval fleet of the United States, before it was acquired from the Hawaiian Kingdom by the U.S. with the signing of the Reci ...

on 5 April 1945. Following additional training in Hawaiian waters, the carrier joined TF 38 off Okinawa on 6 June 1945 with Carrier Air Group 91 (CVG-91) aboard. During 7–10 June she joined in the attacks on

Okidaitōjima , also spelled as Oki Daitō Island or Oki-Daitō or Oki-no-Daitō, previously known as , is an abandoned island in the Daitō Islands group southeast of Okinawa Island, Okinawa, Japan. It is administered as part of the village of Kitadaitō, ...

and then served with the 3rd Fleet during the air strikes against

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

from 2 July to 15 August. She remained off Japan until 16 September 1945 and after a short training period off

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, proceeded to

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, arriving 20 October. She left San Francisco 29 October and steamed to Pearl Harbor to undergo conversion for troop transport duty. From 8 November 1945 to 16 January 1946 she made trans-Pacific voyages, returning servicemen to the United States. She was thereafter generally inactive until decommissioning on 9 January 1947. She was mothballed at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard,

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Korean War

The outbreak of the

on 25 June 1950 called ''Bon Homme Richard'' back to active duty. She recommissioned on 15 January 1951 in an unmodernized state and joined TF 77 off Korea on 29 May and launched the first air strikes of CVG-102 on 31 May. ''Bon Homme Richard'' continued operations with TF 77 until 20 November 1951. The carrier reached San Diego in mid-December and on 20 May 1952 was off again to the Far East, this time with CVG-7. She joined TF 77 once more on 23 June and took part in the heavy strikes against the Sui-ho Dam on 24–25 June and the amphibious feint at Kojo from 12 to 16 October. She continued operations against North Korean targets until 18 December 1952 and then steamed to San Francisco where she arrived 8 January 1953. Her classification was changed from CV-31 to CVA-31 on 1 October 1952.

Modernization

''Bon Homme Richard'' then went out of commission on 15 May 1953 preparatory to modernization at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard. She was one of three ''Essex''-class carriers to receive the SCB-27C and SCB-125 modernizations on one refit. ''Bon Homme Richard'' emerged from the shipyard with an angled and strengthened flight deck, enclosed "hurricane" bow, steam catapults, a new island, wider beam and many other improvements. She completed her conversion period 31 October 1955 and commenced sea trials in the Alameda-San Diego area. She was recommissioned on 6 September 1955 and began the first of a long series of 7th Fleet deployments on 16 August 1956 with CVG-21 embarked. CVG-5 reported aboard for the 1957 deployment, before CVG-19 reported aboard for the next six deployments in 1958–1959, 1959–1960, 1961, 1962–1963, 1964, and 1965–66. The 1964 cruise included a voyage into the

Indian Ocean The Indian Ocean is the third-largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, covering or approximately 20% of the water area of Earth#Surface, Earth's surface. It is bounded by Asia to the north, Africa to the west and Australia (continent), ...

. ''Bon Homme Richard'' also had been in the Indian Ocean for a goodwill trip to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

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, at the direction of President Eisenhower during the 1959-1960 Pacific cruise.

Vietnam War

Admiral Admiral is one of the highest ranks in many navies. In the Commonwealth nations and the United States, a "full" admiral is equivalent to a "full" general in the army or the air force. Admiral is ranked above vice admiral and below admiral of ...

George Stephen Morrison, father of

The Doors The Doors were an American rock band formed in Los Angeles in 1965, comprising vocalist Jim Morrison, keyboardist Ray Manzarek, guitarist Robby Krieger and drummer John Densmore. They were among the most influential and controversial rock acts ...

lead singer Jim Morrison, flew his flag on ''Bon Homme Richard''. Popular myth has it that he had some involvement in the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August 1964, as he was the commander of the US naval forces present. Actually, the aircraft carrier involved in the incident was the . The

escalation in early 1965 brought ''Bon Homme Richard'' into a third armed conflict, and she deployed on five Southeast Asia combat tours over the next six years. Her aircraft battled

North Vietnam North Vietnam, officially the Democratic Republic of Vietnam (DRV; ; VNDCCH), was a country in Southeast Asia from 1945 to 1976, with sovereignty fully recognized in 1954 Geneva Conference, 1954. A member of the communist Eastern Bloc, it o ...

ese MiGs on many occasions, downing several, as well as striking transportation and infrastructure targets. Occasional excursions to other Asian areas provided some variety to her operations. Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21) joined the ''Bon Homme Richard'' for the 1967 deployment to Vietnam. CVW-5 was aboard again for the last three deployments in 1968, 1969, and 1970. ''Bon Homme Richard'' was ordered inactivated at the end of her 1970 deployment. She was decommissioned on 2 July 1971, becoming part of the Reserve Fleet at Bremerton. Adm. Morrison was the keynote speaker at the Decommissioning Ceremony on 2 July 1971 which was one day before his estranged son, Jim, died in Paris, France. Following 20 years in mothballs, she was sold for scrap 4 February 1992. She was scrapped at Southwest Marine's yard in San Pedro, California.

Awards

''Bon Homme Richard'' received one battle star for her World War II service, and five for the Korean War. The ''Bon Homme Richard'' received three Navy Unit Citations (NUC): One NUC for actions during the Korean War; one NUC for actions during the Vietnam War in 1967 and a third NUC for actions during the Vietnam War in 1968. In 1972, however, the 1967 NUC was replaced with a Presidential Unit Citation (PUC) from President Richard M. Nixon. Therefore, the warship received a total of two NUC's and one PUC. * Presidential Unit Citation * Navy Unit Commendation (twice) * Meritorious Unit Commendation (twice) * American Campaign Medal * Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (1 battle star) * World War II Victory Medal * Navy Occupation Service Medal (with Asia clasp) * National Defense Service Medal (twice) * Korean Service Medal (5 battle stars) * Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (twice) *

Vietnam Service Medal The Vietnam Service Medal was a military award of the United States Armed Forces established on 8 July 1965 by order of President Lyndon B. Johnson. The medal is awarded to recognize service during the Vietnam War by all members of the U.S. ...

(10 battle stars) * Republic of Vietnam Gallantry Cross Unit Citation * United Nations Korean Medal * Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal * Republic of Korea War Service Medal (retroactive)

Gallery

File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) underway at sea on 20 October 1945.jpg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' underway at sea on 20 October 1945 File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) after recommissioning in 1951.jpg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' after recommissioning in 1951 File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) stern view 1952.jpg, ''Bon Homme Richard'''s stern view 1952 File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) underway c1956.jpg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' underway in 1956 File:Aft view of flight deck of USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) 1957.jpg, Aft view of flight deck of ''Bon Homme Richard'' in 1957 File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) underway in the Gulf of Tonkin on 2 November 1964.jpg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' underway in the Gulf of Tonkin on 2 November 1964 File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) underway in mid-1960s.jpeg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' underway in mid-1960s File:USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) off Point Loma 1968.jpeg, ''Bon Homme Richard'' off Point Loma 1968

Footnotes

Notes

Citations

References

* * * Anon. Second Hitch: U.S.S. Bon Homme Richard CV 31. Seattle: Naval Publishing, c. 1952. Covers the carrier's Korean War Service.

External links

USS ''BonHomme Richard''

USS ''Bon Homme Richard'' CV/CVA 31
{{DEFAULTSORT:Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) Essex-class aircraft carriers Ships built in Brooklyn 1944 ships World War II aircraft carriers of the United States Cold War aircraft carriers of the United States Korean War aircraft carriers of the United States Vietnam War aircraft carriers of the United States