Originally laid down as the light cruiser
Newark (CL-100), on 26 October 1942 by the New York Shipbuilding Co.,
Camden, New Jersey; redesignated CV-30 and renamed
Reprisal on 2 June 1942; renamed
San Jacinto on 30 January 1943, converted, while building, to a light aircraft carrier and reclassified as CVL-30; launched on 26 September 1943; sponsored by Mary Gibbs Jones (wife of U.S. Commerce Secretary
Jesse H. Jones); and commissioned on 15 November 1943, Capt. Harold M. Martin, in command. After
shakedown in the
Caribbean,
San Jacinto sailed, via the
Panama Canal,
San Diego, and
Pearl Harbor, for the
Pacific war zone. Arriving at Majuro,
Marshall Islands, she joined Vice Admiral
Marc Mitscher's
Task Force 58/38, the fast carrier striking force of the Pacific Fleet. There,
San Jacinto embarked Air Group 51, whose fighters and
torpedo planes would be the ship's chief weapons in battle.
Marianas actions After providing search patrols to protect other carriers striking at
Marcus Island,
San Jacinto rejoined the
Fast Carrier Task Force, Task Force 58, on 21 May 1944 and was part of effective strikes against a weakened Japanese-held
Wake Island on 23 May (there were no US troop landings in this action, Wake remained in Japanese hands until their surrender); Wake Island had previously been attacked by Task Force 14 on 5–6 October 1943. These were
San Jacintos first offensive missions, and no combat casualties were incurred, but one TBF Avenger was lost and its aircrew listed as missing when it failed to return from an anti-submarine patrol. in his Grumman TBM Avenger aboard USS
San Jacinto in 1944 By 5 June 1944,
San Jacinto was ready to participate in the largest fleet action since the
Battle of Midway, almost exactly two years before. On that day, Task Force 58 sortied from Majuro and headed toward the
Marianas to conduct air strikes preparatory to American seizure of
Saipan and to protect the invasion forces from enemy air and naval attack. This American thrust triggered a strong Japanese reaction; on 19 June, the Japanese Fleet launched more than 400 planes against the invasion fleet and the covering carrier force. In the ensuing air battle, known to American pilots as the
"Marianas Turkey Shoot," more than 300 enemy planes were shot down. While
San Jacintos planes were achieving their most one-sided victory of the war, her gunners helped to shoot down the few attackers able to get near the American ships. Then, at dusk, Admiral Mitscher dispatched an all-carrier attack after the retreating enemy fleet. The night recovery of the returning planes was accomplished amid considerable confusion. Reportedly, a Japanese carrier plane attempted a landing approach on
San Jacinto, only to be waved off by the landing signal officer because its hook was not down.
San Jacinto then participated in strikes against
Rota and
Guam and furnished combat air patrol (CAP) and antisubmarine patrol (ASP) for her task group. During these raids, a
San Jacinto fighter pilot was shot down over Guam and spent 17 days in a life raft trying to attract attention and 16 nights hiding on the island. After a refueling and replenishment stop at
Eniwetok Atoll,
San Jacinto joined in carrier strikes against the
Palaus on 15 July. On 5 August, her targets were
Chichi,
Haha and
Iwo Jima. A brief stop at Eniwetok preceded dawn-to-dusk CAP and ASP duty while other carriers struck at Yap, Ulithi, Anguar and Babelthuap, pinning down Japanese air forces while the Palaus were being assaulted on 15 September. On 2 September, while piloting a
TBM-1C Avenger #46214 from VT-51, future-President
George H. W. Bush was shot down by anti-aircraft fire while attacking Japanese installations on the island of Chichijima. Bush for a time was considered the youngest navy pilot in history, and is known as the youngest pilot in WWII history to join an American torpedo bomber squadron. Bush completed his bombing run, then guided his crippled plane out to sea. The two other crew members were lost, but Lieutenant (J.G.) Bush parachuted into the sea and was rescued by the submarine from capture by
cannibalistic Japanese Officers stationed on Chichijima. For his actions in the successful attack, 20-year-old Bush received the
Distinguished Flying Cross. Following a replenishment stop at Manus,
Admiralty Islands,
San Jacinto joined in strikes against
Okinawa and furnished photographic planes to get information necessary for future invasion plans. After refueling at sea, she once again supplied dawn-to-dusk air protection as other carriers sent strikes against
Formosa, northern
Luzon, and the
Manila Bay area from 12 to 19 October. During operations on 17 October, a fighter plane made a very hard landing and inadvertently fired its machine guns into the ship's island structure, killing two men and wounding 24, including her commanding officer, and causing considerable damage to radar. Despite this accident,
San Jacinto remained battle-worthy.
Philippines on 25 October 1944 As American troops landed on
Leyte in the central
Philippines on 20 October,
San Jacinto provided close air support. On 24 October, this mission was interrupted by news of the three-pronged approach of the Japanese fleet which precipitated the
Battle of Leyte Gulf, which was the largest fleet battle in naval history.
San Jacinto sent planes against the central force in the
Sibuyan Sea, then raced north to launch strikes against the northern force, resulting in heavy damage to the Japanese carriers and surface combatants off
Cape Engaño. On 30 October, her fighters furnished air protection over Leyte while her guns shot down two planes attempting suicide attacks on the ship. After a pause at
Ulithi, the carrier joined in attacks on the Manila Bay area; then took a side trip to Guam to exchange air groups, receiving Air Group 45. She received slight damage during a
typhoon in December 1944. After completing repairs at Ulithi,
San Jacinto and the rest of her fast carrier force
entered the South China Sea and launched massive air attacks on the airfields of Formosa and against shipping at
Cam Ranh Bay,
French Indochina, and at
Hong Kong. By refueling and replenishing at sea, Task Force 38 was able to continue its pressure on the enemy and strategic support for the American invasion of Luzon by strikes against the
Ryukyu Islands.
Attacks over Japan Next,
San Jacinto joined in the first carrier strikes against the home islands of
Japan. During the raids on 16 and 17 February 1945, carrier-based aircraft shot down many enemy planes during fierce dogfights over airfields in the
Tokyo area. These operations were designed to cover the imminent invasion of Iwo Jima. Next came air support for the landing Marines, followed by further strikes against Tokyo and Okinawa before
San Jacinto returned to Ulithi. While conducting operations off
Kyūshū, Japan, she witnessed the conflagration on the carrier ; and, on 19 March 1945, escaped destruction when a
kamikaze narrowly missed her. More massive enemy attacks came with Operation "Iceberg" as the carrier force furnished air support for the invasion of Okinawa. On 5 April, more than 500 planes, primarily kamikazes, attacked. Fighter planes and anti-aircraft guns shot down about 300, but many got through.
San Jacintos gunners shot the wing off a would-be suicide plane, deflecting its dive; it splashed down only 50 feet off her port bow. Her mission of covering the Okinawa invasion entailed heavy air activity and kept the ship almost constantly at general quarters while supporting ground forces and repelling frequent attacks by suicide planes. On 7 April, ''San Jacinto's
s bombers torpedoed the Japanese destroyers and , part of a naval suicide attack in which the super battleship was also sunk. San Jacinto'' then returned to the dangerous job of defending against the suicide plane attacks, striking at the kamikaze airfields on Kyūshū, and providing close air support for ground forces fighting on Okinawa. On 5 June, she successfully rode out another typhoon, and after replenishing at Leyte sortied for her final raids as part of Task Force 58. Her aircraft struck at
Hokkaidō and
Honshū, Japan, on 9 July and continued to operate off the coast of Japan until the end of hostilities on 15 August 1945. After the ceasefire preceding Japan's formal surrender, her air missions over Japan became mercy flights over Allied prisoner-of war camps, dropping food and medicine until the men could be rescued. She was present at Tokyo Bay for the Japanese surrender on 2 September 1945. Her wartime mission completed,
San Jacinto returned home and tied up at
NAS Alameda, California, on 14 September 1945. == Fate ==