USS Philippine Sea (CV-47)

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47)
PH1 D.L. Lash, U.S. Navy · Public domain · source
Ship name	USS Philippine Sea
Ship namesake	Philippine Sea
Ship builder	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Ship laid down	2 July 1944
Ship launched	20 May 1945
Ship commissioned	11 November 1946
Ship decommissioned	30 September 1958
Ship struck	1 June 1970
Ship fate	Sold for scrap, 1971
Ship class	Suisun Bay-class (partial) / Essex-class aircraft carrier
Ship displacement	27,100 long tons (standard)
Ship length	872 ft (266 m)
Ship beam	93 ft (28 m)
Ship speed	33 knots
Ship complement	~3,400 officers and enlisted
Ship armament	4 × twin 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal, 44 × 40 mm AA, 66 × 20 mm AA (as built)
Ship aircraft	~90

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier commissioned into the United States Navy shortly after World War II. She operated during the early Cold War, conducting deployments to the Mediterranean Sea and the Atlantic Ocean, participating in NATO exercises and supporting operations during crises such as the Suez Crisis and the Lebanese Crisis of 1958. The ship earned recognition for peacetime carrier aviation development and for service with the United States Sixth Fleet and Carrier Division 6.

Design and construction

Laid down at New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden, New Jersey on 2 July 1944 and launched on 20 May 1945, Philippine Sea was one of the later Essex-class carriers built to the wartime United States Navy shipbuilding program initiated after the Attack on Pearl Harbor. Designed following lessons from the Battle of Midway and carrier actions in the Pacific War, the Essex design emphasized armored flight decks, improved CATOBAR handling, and increased aviation fuel and ordnance stowage to support carrier air operations from Task Force 58 and Task Force 38. Her construction incorporated wartime advances developed during the Naval Battle of Guadalcanal and the Battle of the Philippine Sea, with machinery and hull form similar to sister ships such as USS Essex (CV-9), USS Intrepid (CV-11), and USS Lexington (CV-16).

Service history

Commissioned on 11 November 1946 under Captain John F. Shafroth Jr., Philippine Sea entered service during the transition from World War II to the Cold War. After shakedown operations along the United States East Coast and training with Naval Air Station Quonset Point, she joined the United States Sixth Fleet in the Mediterranean Sea for multiple deployments that projected United States foreign policy during crises such as the Suez Crisis of 1956 and the Lebanese Crisis of 1958. Philippine Sea participated in multinational exercises with NATO members, integrating carrier air power with surface units from Royal Navy, French Navy, and Italian Navy forces and taking part in operations alongside USS Midway (CV-41) and USS Coral Sea (CV-43)]. She served as flag platform for carrier divisions including Carrier Division 6 and made port calls at Gibraltar, Naples, Monaco, and Haifa. Philippine Sea conducted sea trials and aviator carrier qualifications supporting pilots destined for Naval Aviation Schools and participated in Caribbean training operations out of Guantanamo Bay Naval Base and Naval Station Norfolk. Her peacetime cruises included cold-weather exercises with units of United States Fleet Forces Command and integration with Fleet Air Wing squadrons.

Aircraft and air group

Throughout her active career, Philippine Sea embarked air groups drawn from the evolving inventory of United States Navy aircraft in the late 1940s and 1950s. Air groups included fighter, attack, bomber, and early anti-submarine warfare components: types such as the Grumman F8F Bearcat, Vought F4U Corsair, McDonnell F2H Banshee, Grumman F9F Panther, Vought F7U Cutlass, Douglas AD Skyraider, Douglas A-1 Skyraider, and jet-powered McDonnell F3H Demon served aboard during transitions from piston to jet aviation. Carrier air groups trained in carrier qualifications and air wing strike tactics refined after Korean War experience and integrated with Air Group doctrine established by Commander, Carrier Air Wing leadership. Squadrons such as VF-xx, VA-xx, and VC-xx rotated through Philippine Sea, conducting surveillance, air defense, and close air support training while operating from the carrier's angled flight deck and catapult gear improvements.

Modifications and modernization

Like many Essex-class carriers, Philippine Sea underwent incremental modernizations to address jet operations and Cold War requirements. Modifications included strengthened flight deck supports, updated catapult and arresting gear systems, augmented hangar and elevator capacity, improved radar and communications suites influenced by technologies developed by Raytheon and Westinghouse Electric Corporation, and enhanced anti-aircraft armament changes replacing many 20 mm and 40 mm mounts with advanced fire-control systems and later missile-capable platforms on sister conversions. Although she did not receive the full SCB-27 or SCB-125 extensive conversions performed on some Essex-class ships to add an angled deck and enclosed hurricane bow in the same scope as USS Hancock (CV-19), Philippine Sea saw selective alterations to support heavier jet aircraft and improved aviation handling procedures established by Naval Air Systems Command.

Decommissioning and fate

Following continued peacetime service and fleet exercises, Philippine Sea was decommissioned on 30 September 1958 and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet at Philadelphia Naval Shipyard. Struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1970, she was sold for scrapping in 1971. Portions of her matériel and memorabilia were dispersed to naval museums and reunions of former crew, and her legacy remains linked to post‑World War II carrier aviation development, Cold War naval deployments to the Mediterranean Sea, and the evolution of the United States Navy carrier force structure.

Category:Essex-class aircraft carriers Category:Ships built by New York Shipbuilding Corporation Category:1945 ships