USS Bunker Hill (CV-17)

USS Bunker Hill (CV/CVA/CVS-17, AVT-9) was one of 24 Essex Aircraft Carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was named for the Battle of Bunker Hill in the American Revolutionary War and was commissioned in May 1943.

USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) at sea in 1945
History
United States
Name: Bunker Hill
Namesake: Battle of Bunker Hill
Builder: Fore River Shipyard
Laid down: 15 September 1941
Launched: 7 December 1942
Commissioned: 25 May 1943
Decommissioned: 9 January 1947
Reclassified:
  • CV to CVA 1 October 1952
  • CVA to CVS 8 August 1953
  • CVS to AVT May 1959
Struck: 2 November 1966
Motto: Never Surrender, Never Sink
Nickname(s): Holiday Express
Honors and
awards:
  • Presidential Unit Citation
  • American Campaign Medal
  • Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal (11 stars)
  • World War II Victory Medal
  • Philippine Presidential Unit Citation
  • Philippine Liberation Medal
Fate: Sold for scrap in 1973
General characteristics
Class and type: Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement:
  • 27,100 tons standard
  • 36,380 tons full load
Length:
  • 820' (250m) waterline
  • 147'6" (45m) overall
Beam:
  • 93' (28m) waterline
  • 147'5"(45m) flight deck
Draft:
  • 28'5" (8.66m)light
  • 34'2" (10.41m) full load
Installed power:
  • 8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers
  • 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Propulsion: 4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines
Speed: 33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range: 14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement: 2,600
Armament:
  • 4 × twin 5 in (130 mm)/38 caliber guns
  • 4 × single 5 inch (127 mm) 38 caliber guns
  • 8 × quadruple 40 mm 56 caliber guns
  • 46 × single 20 mm 78 caliber guns
Armor:
  • 2.5 to 4 inch (60 to 100 mm) belt
  • 1.5 inch (40 mm) hangar and protectice decks
  • 4 inch (100 mm) bulkheads
  • 1.5 inch (40 mm) STS top and sides of pilot house
  • 2.5 inch (60 mm) atop steering gear
Aircraft carried: 90–100

While covering the invasion of Okinawa, Bunker Hill was struck by two kamikazes in quick succession, setting the vessel on fire. Casualties exceeded 600, including 346 confirmed dead and an additional 43 missing,[1]

References
  1. President on Tour, 1945/06/25. Universal Newsreels. 1945. Retrieved 20 February 2012.
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