USS Bunker Hill CV-17
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A near miss on the carrier USS Bunker Hill during an attack by Japanese aircraft off the Mariana Islands on 19 June 1944
Burning aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill CV-17 Okinawa 1945
Burning USS Bunker Hill - 11 May 1945
Damaged flight deck of USS Bunker Hill 1
Damaged flight deck of USS Bunker Hill 2
Damaged flight deck of USS Bunker Hill 3
Deck of the aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill covered with wreckage of destroyed planes
destoyed hanger deck of USS Bunker Hill CV-17 Okinawa May 1945
destoyed Helldivers on flight deck of USS Bunker Hill CV-17 Okinawa
Essex class aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill CV-17
fighting fire on USS Bunker Hill CV -17 May 11, 1945 Okinawa
Fire onboard USS Bunker Hill, 11 May 1945
Hole in Flight Deck of USS Bunker Hill CV-17 after Hit off Okinawa
Kamikaze aircraft slammed into the carrier USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) while she operated off Okinawa, USS Pasadena (CL-65) at the right
Sailors eat on deck of the USS Bunker Hill
The damage to USS Bunker Hill caused by a kamikaze
The remains of the nose of a SB2C
Transfer of wounded from USS Bunker Hill (CV-17)
USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) with crew members lining the flight deck passes through the Panama Canal en route to the PTO - 17 September 1943
USS Bunker Hill 3
USS Bunker Hill CV-17 burns after being hit by two kamikaze - 11 May 1945
USS Bunker Hill CV-17 carrier on fire
USS Bunker Hill CV-17 in camouflage
USS Bunker Hill CV-17 No 2 elevator destroyed after kamikaze attack
USS Bunker Hill CV-17 on fire May 11, 1945 Okinawa
USS Bunker Hill elevator
USS Bunker Hill elevator destroyed after attack
USS Bunker Hill internal damage
USS Bunker Hill stern view
USS Wilkes Barre helps aircraft carrier USS Bunker Hill May 11, 1945 Okinawa
View over the damaged flight deck of USS Bunker Hill
Wounded line deck of USS Bunker Hill after Kamikaze Attack 11 May 1945
Wounded sailors are treated on the flight deck of the USS Bunker Hill
USS Bunker Hill was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers (short-hull) built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the second US Navy ship to bear the name, was named for the Battle of Bunker Hill. Bunker Hill was commissioned in May 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning eleven battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. She was badly damaged in May 1945 by Japanese kamikaze attacks, with the loss of hundreds of her crew, becoming one of the most heavily damaged carriers to survive the war. Bunker Hill was laid down on 15 September 1941 at the Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts, and launched on 7 December 1942, sponsored by Mrs. Donald Boynton. She was commissioned on 24 May 1943, with Captain J. J. Ballentine in command. Fate: scrapped in 1973
Bibliography:
- US Carrier War: Design, Development and Operations – Kev Darling 2011
- US Carrier Aircraft of World War 2 – Aeroplane Aviation Archive
- Aircraft Carriers of the United States Navy: Rare Photographs from Wartime Archives – Michael Green, 2015
- The US Navy in World War II – Mark Henry, Osprey 2002
- Flight Deck: US Navy Carrier Operation 1940-1945 – Al Adcock, Squadron/Signal Publications Inc. 2002
- Air Power at Sea – A Century of U.S. Naval Aviation 1911-2011
- Flat Tops and Fledglings: A History of American Aircraft Carriers – Castle Books 1971
- Essex Class Carriers in action – Michael C. Smith, Squadron/Signal Publications Warships Number 10
- Essex Class Aircraft Carriers of the Second World War – Steve Backer, Shipcraft 12
- US Navy Aircraft Carriers, 1942-45: WWII-built ships – Osprey New Vanguard 130