World War II Monterey was reclassified
CVL-26 on 15 July 1943, shortly before commissioning, and after shakedown, departed
Philadelphia for the western Pacific. She reached the
Gilbert Islands on 19 November 1943, in time to help secure
Makin Island. She took part in strikes on
Kavieng,
New Ireland, on 25 December, as part of Task Group 37.2, and supported the landings at
Kwajalein and
Eniwetok until 8 February 1944. The light carrier then operated with
Task Force 58 (TF 58) during raids in the
Caroline Islands,
Mariana Islands, northern
New Guinea, and the
Bonin Islands from February–July 1944. During this time, she was also involved in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea on 19–20 June.
Monterey then sailed to
Pearl Harbor for overhaul, departing once again on 29 August. She launched strikes against
Wake Island on 3 September, then joined TF 38 and participated in strikes in the southern Philippines and the
Ryukyus. October through December 1944 were spent in the Philippines, supporting first the
Leyte, and then the
Mindoro landings. is second from the right, in the front row. Though enemy planes had been unable to damage
Monterey, she did not complete her first full year of service unscathed. In December, she steamed into the path of
Typhoon Cobra, with winds over . At the height of the storm, which lasted two days, several planes tore loose from their cables, causing several fires on the hangar deck. During the storm, future
US President Gerald Ford, who served on board the ship, was almost swept overboard. Ford, serving as general quarters officer of the deck, was ordered to go below to assess the raging fire. He did so safely, and reported his findings back to the ship's commanding officer, Captain
Stuart Ingersoll. The ship's crew was able to contain the fire, and the ship got underway again.
Monterey arrived
Bremerton, Washington, for overhaul in January 1945. She rejoined TF 58 and supported
Okinawa operations by launching strikes against
Nansei Shoto and
Kyūshū from 9 May to 1 June. She rejoined TF 38 for the final strike against
Honshū and
Hokkaidō from 1 July to 15 August.
After the war Monterey departed Japanese waters on 7 September, having embarked troops at Tokyo, and steamed home, arriving in New York City on 17 October.
Monterey left behind an impressive and enviable war record. Her planes sank five enemy warships and damaged others. She was responsible for the destruction of thousands of tons of Japanese shipping, hundreds of planes, and vital industrial complexes. She was assigned "
Magic Carpet" demobilization duty, and made several voyages between
Naples and Norfolk. She was decommissioned on 11 February 1947, and was assigned to the
Atlantic Reserve Fleet, Philadelphia Group.
Korea With the outbreak of hostilities in the
Korean War,
Monterey was recommissioned on 15 September 1950. She departed Norfolk on 3 January 1951, and proceeded to
Pensacola, Florida, where she operated for the next four years under Naval Training Command, training thousands of naval aviation cadets, student pilots, and helicopter trainees.
Monterey was relieved as a training carrier by , which had previously served at Pensacola as a training carrier in 1946 and 1947. From 1 to 11 October 1954, she took part in a flood rescue mission in
Honduras. She departed Pensacola on 9 June 1955 and steamed to rejoin the reserve fleet. She was decommissioned on 16 January 1956. Reclassified AVT-2 on 15 May 1959, she remained berthed at Philadelphia until she was sold for scrapping in May 1971. ==Awards==