USS Leyte (CV-32)

USS ''Leyte'' (CV/CVA/CVS-32, AVT-10) was one of 24 s built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the third 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.

Construction and commissioning

''Leyte'' was one of the "long-hull" 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 Alice Dillon Mead, wife of U.S. Senator James M. Mead, and commissioned on 11 April 1946, with Captain Henry F. MacComsey in command.

Service history

''Leyte'' joined battleship on a good will cruise along the western seaboard of South America in the fall of 1946 before returning to the Caribbean on 18 November to resume shakedown operations. In 1948, the carrier was equipped with its first helicopter detachment of HO3S-1 utility helicopters, and participated in a fleet exercise, ''Operation Frigid'', in the North Atlantic.

In the years preceding the Korean War, the Leyte participated in numerous other fleet exercises in the Atlantic and Caribbean, trained naval reservists, and deployed four times to the Mediterranean: April–June 1947, July–November 1947, September 1949 – January 1950, and May–August 1950.

Beginning in September 1948, while in Guantanamo Bay, ''Leyte'' hosted a number of Air Force pilots for a month, cross-training for carrier-based operations. Notable pilots participating in those exercises included Kenneth O. Chilstrom and George I. Ruddell.

The deployment of ''Leyte'' to the Mediterranean in mid-1950 included a demonstration of airpower over Beirut, Lebanon, on 14 August, supporting the Middle East against communist pressure. ''Leyte'' returned to Norfolk on 24 August, and after two weeks of preparation, departed on 6 September to join Task Force 77 (TF 77) in the Far East to support United Nations Forces in Korea.

''Leyte'' arrived at the Sasebo base for U.S. Fleet Activities in Sasebo, Japan, on 8 October 1950 and made final preparations for combat operations. From 9 October – 19 January 1951, the ship and her aircraft spent 92 days at sea and flew 3,933 sorties against North Korean forces. Her pilots accumulated 11,000 hours in the air while inflicting massive damage upon enemy positions, supplies, transportation, and communications. Among the squadrons based on ''Leyte'' were the VF-32 Swordsmen, flying the F4U Corsair.

''Leyte'' returned to Norfolk for overhaul on 25 February 1951. After fleet training exercises in the Caribbean terminated on 21 August, the carrier departed for her fifth tour of duty with the United States Sixth Fleet on 3 September. She returned to Norfolk on 21 December for operations out of Hampton Roads, and again steamed for the Mediterranean on 29 August 1952. Reclassified CVA-32 on 1 October, she returned to Boston on 16 February 1953 for deactivation. On 8 August, however, she was ordered to be retained in the active fleet, and, redesignated CVS-32 on the same day, work was begun converting her to an ASW carrier.

Conversion completed on 4 January 1954, ''Leyte'' departed Boston for Quonset Point, Rhode Island, as flagship of Carrier Division 18 (CarDiv 18). She remained there for the next five years conducting ASW tactical operations along the eastern seaboard and in the Caribbean.

''Leyte'' departed Quonset Point in January 1959 for the New York Navy Yard where she commenced preinactivation overhaul. She was redesignated AVT-10 and decommissioned both on 15 May 1959, and was assigned to the Philadelphia group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, where she remained until sold for scrap in September 1970 and completed in Chesapeake, Virginia.

Incidents

On 4 December 1950, the first African-American to complete the Navy's basic flight training program, Ensign Jesse L. Brown, who was assigned to Fighter Squadron 32 (VF-32) aboard ''Leyte'', was killed in action while supporting ground troops at the Battle of Chosin Reservoir. Brown's wingman, Thomas J. Hudner Jr., was awarded the Medal of Honor for attempting to save Brown's life.

At 15:15 on 16 October 1953, while at the South Boston Naval Annex and still under conversion to an antisubmarine carrier, ''Leyte'' suffered an explosion in her port catapult machinery room. Within minutes, naval base and city fire trucks were on the scene. After a hard and gallant fight, the fire was extinguished at 19:57. As a result of the fire, 37 men (including five civilians) died and 28 were injured. It remains the largest loss of life on the Boston waterfront.

On 26 February 1955, Hans Anton Michelberger, a fireman apprentice from Old Bridge, New Jersey, was swept overboard and lost at sea; his body was not recovered.

Awards

Memorials

The builder's plaque from ''Leyte'' is in the collection of the Naval History and Heritage Command.

A historical marker honoring ''Leyte'' is located in Charlestown, Boston, near the USS ''Constitution''. The inscription reads, in part: "In memory of our shipmates and civilians lost in the disastrous explosion aboard the USS Leyte on October 16, 1953 while in the Boston Naval Shipyard."

Gallery

File:USS Leyte (CV-32) at anchor at Guantanmo Bay in 1946.jpg, ''Leyte'' anchored in Guantanmo Bay in 1946
File:TBM-3E Avengers of VT-18 aboard USS Leyte (CV-32) in 1946.jpg, TBM-3E Avengers onboard ''Leyte'' in 1946
File:USS Leyte (CV-32) Yokosuka Dec 1950.jpg, ''Leyte'' off Sasebo in December 1950
File:USS Leyte (CV-32), Yokosuka, Japan, 1951.jpg, ''Leyte'' in Yokosuka in January 1951
File:USS Leyte (CVS-32) off Vieques Island in 1957.jpg, ''Leyte'' off Vieques Island with Sikorsky HUS-1 and Sikorsky HRS in 1957
File:USS Leyte (CV-32) at Yokosuka, Japan, in 1950-1951.jpg, ''Leyte'' in Yokosuka in 1950–51
File:USS Leyte (CV-32) at Yokosuka, Japan, in October 1950.jpg, ''Leyte'' in Yokosuka, taken from

See also

*List of disasters in Massachusetts by death toll

References

*

External links

History of ''Leyte'' (CV-32)
via history.navy.mil

via NavSource Online
Photos of ''Leyte'' 1953 fire
from Boston Public Library via Flickr
U.S.S. ''Leyte'' CV-32 Association
via Wayback Machine

{{DEFAULTSORT:Leyte (CV-32)
Essex-class aircraft carriers
Ships built in Newport News, Virginia
1945 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
Ship fires
Maritime incidents in 1953