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USS Hancock CV-19 (WWII)

The USS Hancock CV-19 was launched in January 1944. When it was originally set to be built, it was called the Ticonderoga, but the name was changed to Hancock in May of 1943. It was the fourth ship to be called Hancock and was named after John Hancock, the first person to sign the Declaration of Independence and the first governor of Massachusetts. She was constructed by the Bethlehem Steel Company in Quincy, Massachusetts.

An Essex class aircraft carrier, it measured 888.5 feet in length. The flight deck measured 191.9 feet across. She was propelled by eight boilers and four propellers and could reach speeds of around 33 knots. Her payload could include up to 100 planes and there were three aircraft elevators to move the planes from lower births up to the flight deck. The carrier also boasted two catapults used to get the airplanes up to speed for launch. She was crewed by 3,448 sailors and her displacement measured 44,700 tons with a full load. When the ship launched in 1944, her armaments included a dozen five inch 38 caliber guns, 72 40mm guns and 59 20mm guns.

After a brief training mission, she returned to the Boston Navy Yard for a few alterations and, at the end of July, 1944, headed to Pearl Harbor. From there, she got underway and eventually joined Vice Admiral Mitscher's Fast Carrier Task Force 38. The task force was set to attack Japanese air and sea bases the Ryukyus, Formosa, and the Philippines. Their job was to keep as many of the Japanese air forces tied up while General MacArthur invaded Leyte.

Her first attacks were against Japanese airfields on the island of Okinawa. The first day, her planes managed to destroy seven of the enemy's airplanes that were still on the ground. The carrier also assisted with the destruction of a submarine tender, two midget submarines, four cargo ships, twelve torpedo boats and several sampans (small, flat bottom boats). The next targets for the carrier group were on the island of Formosa. There, they managed to shoot six enemy planes out of the air, destroy nine enemy planes still on the ground, sink several cargo ships and, most likely, damage several other ships.

That evening, the twelfth of October, she was attacked by a Japanese air raid. Her gunners shot one plane out of the sky and managed to drive off several others. The next day, the ship's planes resumed their attack and destroyed several industrial plants, hangars, ammunition dumps, and barracks. There was another enemy attack and another enemy plane was brought down. The next morning, as the task force set sail for a new target, there was one last attack. There were a couple of close calls, but the Hancock was able to sail away without any significant damage.

The rest of the Hancock's illustrious World War II career was much the same. The carrier met with success after success in its missions. In November of 1944, she became the flagship for Fast Carrier Task Force 38 and became home to Vice Admiral John S. McCain, Sr. All told, her World War II scorecard, including the units mentioned above, totaled 733 enemy planes destroyed (both on the ground and in the air), seventeen warships sunk, 31 merchant ships sunk and many other unconfirmed enemy units either destroyed or damaged. Over the course of the war, she also lost 221 of her brave sailors who were either killed or went missing in action.

There were several near misses that the Hancock survived. The first, which occurred off the Philippine islands in November of 1944, involved a kamikaze airplane that was finally destroyed just 300 feet off the deck. A section of the plane landed on the deck and burst into flames. The crew was able to extinguish the fire and get back to the mission. In January of 1945, off Formosa, one of its own planes was returning from a mission. It landed safely and then disintegrated in a ball of fire. This accident killed fifty men and injured another 75, but, once again, the crew was able to quickly clear the deck and allow the other planes, which were still aloft, to land safely. Finally, in April of 1945, a suicide bomber hit the deck and his bomb hit a catapult. This incident killed 62 men and wounded another 71, but the crew was once again able to get the ship back into action in less than one hour.

In April of 1946, after the end of the war, she was decommissioned and added to the reserve fleet at Bremerton, Washington. In 1951, the Hancock received some conversions and updates and then, in 1952, was reclassified CVA-19. She was one of the first carriers in the United States Navy to have steam catapults that were able to launch high performance jets. The ship went on to fight in the Vietnam War and was finally decommissioned in 1976. She was soon after broken up for scrap.

During her years at war, there was one product used when the ship had been constructed that affected the health of the sailors manning her. Asbestos was very popular in both ship building and steam engine construction. The two primary results of exposure to asbestos dust are asbestosis and mesothelioma. If you were exposed to asbestos while serving on the USS Hancock CV-19 (WWII), or have been diagnosed with mesothelioma, Asbestos.com offers a free packet with more information. Enter your contact information in the form in the right column and we'll send a copy immediately.

Aircraft Carriers Index

USS America USS Antietam CV 36 K USS Antietam CV 36 USS Badoeng Strait CVE 116 USS Bairoko CVE 115 USS Bairoko CVE 115 USS Belleau wood CVL 24 USS Bennington CV 20 USS Bon Homme Richard CVa USS Boxer CV USS Bunker CV USS Cabot CVL 28 USS Constellation CV USS Coral Sea CV USS Corregidor CVE 58 USS Sable ix USS San jacinto CVL USS Saratoga CV USS Saratoga CV3 USS Shangri La

USS Cowpens CVL 25 USS Enterprise CV 6 USS Enterprise CVN USS Essex CV 9 USS Forrestal CV USS Franklin CV 13 USS Hancock CV 19 USS Hornet CV 12 USS Hornet CV 8 USS Independence C1 USS Independence CVL 22 USS Intrepid CV 11 USS Kearsage CV 33 USS Kearsage CV USS Kitty Hawk USS Sicily CVe USS Sitkoh bay USS Tarawa CV USS Ticonderoga CV USS Valley forge CV

USS Lake Champlain CV 39 USS Langley CV 1 USS Langley CVL 27 USS Lexington CV 16 USS Lexington CV 2 USS Leyte CV 32 USS Midway CV USS Oriskany CV USS Phillipine Sea CV USS Point cruz CVE USS Princeton CV USS Princeton CVL USS Randolph CV USS Ranger CV USS Rendova USS Wasp CV 18 USS Wasp CV 7 USS Wolverine IX 64 USS Yorktown CV 10 USS Yorktown CV 5

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