USS Tarawa (CV-40)

USS Tarawa underway in December 1952
History
United States
Name	Tarawa
Namesake	Battle of Tarawa
Builder	Norfolk Naval Shipyard
Laid down	1 March 1944
Launched	12 May 1945
Commissioned	8 December 1945
Decommissioned	30 June 1949
Recommissioned	3 February 1951
Decommissioned	13 May 1960
Reclassified	CVA-40, 1 October 1952 CVS-40, 10 January 1955 AVT-12, May 1961
Stricken	1 June 1967
Fate	Scrapped, 3 October 1968
General characteristics
Class and type	Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	27,100 long tons (27,500 t) standard
Length	888 feet (271 m) overall
Beam	93 feet (28 m)
Draft	28 feet 7 inches (8.71 m)
Installed power	8 × boilers 150,000 shp (110 MW)
Propulsion	4 × geared steam turbines 4 × shafts
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement	3448 officers and enlisted
Armament	12 × 5 inch (127 mm)/38 caliber guns 32 × Bofors 40 mm guns 46 × Oerlikon 20 mm cannons
Armor	Belt: 4 in (102 mm) Hangar deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Conning tower: 1.5 inch
Aircraft carried	90–100 aircraft

USS Tarawa (CV/CVA/CVS-40, AVT-12) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during and shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the first US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for the bloody 1943 Battle of Tarawa. Tarawa was commissioned in December 1945, too late to serve in World War II. After serving a short time in the Far East, she was decommissioned in 1949. She was soon recommissioned after the Korean War began, serving in the Atlantic as a replacement for carriers sent to Korea. In the early 1950s, she was redesignated an attack carrier (CVA) and then an antisubmarine warfare carrier (CVS). Except for one tour in the Far East, she spent her entire second career operating in the Atlantic and Caribbean. Consequently, Tarawa was the only ship of her class to never see combat action.

Unlike many of her sisters, Tarawa 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 1960, and while in reserve was redesignated an aircraft transport (AVT). She was sold for scrap in 1968.