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Here at LSOZI, we take off every Wednesday for a look at the old steam/diesel navies of the 1833-1954 period and will profile a different ship each week. These ships have a life, a tale all their own, which sometimes takes them to the strangest places.- Christopher Eger

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Warship Wednesday, August 20, 2025: Sortie Queen

Photo believed to have been taken by a Sgt. Nutter, 4 August 1950. 111-SC-345275.

Above we see a Grumman F9F-2B Panther from Fighter Squadron 112 (VF-112), “Fighting One Twelve,” on the flight deck of the Essex-class fleet carrier USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), during operations off Korea, circa August 1950.

Some 75 years ago this month, this oft-forgotten flattop proved herself to the men holding the embattled Pusan Perimeter in America’s most forgotten war.

And she was just getting started.

Meet the Philippine Sea

Originally to be dubbed USS Wright after the aviation pioneer, our ship was instead the first named for the epic “Marianas Turkey Shoot” battle that sprawled across the Philippine Sea in June 1944.

The future CV-47 was laid down by Bethlehem Steel in Quincy, Massachusetts, on 19 August 1944, just two months after the sea clash. She was launched three days after the Japanese surrender ceremony in Tokyo Bay, sponsored by the wife of Kentucky Democratic Senator Albert Benjamin “Happy” Chandler, a man who only narrowly missed becoming FDR’s running mate to some fellow from Missouri earlier that summer.

Launching an Essex-class carrier, the future USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Massachusetts, Wednesday, 5 September 1945. National Archives and Records Administration (NARA), Record Group 181, National Archives Identifier 38330011.

Incomplete and with no need for more hulls to push on Japan, she could have easily been written off and canceled along with other Essex class sisters such as the would-be USS Reprisal (CV-35) and Iwo Jima (CV-46), which had been laid down before and after Philippine Sea but never launched. The fact that CV-47 was afloat and not still on the builder’s ways at the end of the war probably saved her from an early scrapping. FDR had already canceled CV-50 through CV-55 in March 1945, before they were formally ordered.

USS Philippine Sea nonetheless continued her fitting out process, effectively a replacement for the soon-to-be decommissioned USS Saratoga (CV-3), which was consigned to the Atomic tests at Bikini Atoll and stricken in August 1946.

Philippine Sea commissioned 11 May 1946, Capt. (later RADM) Delbert Strother Cornwell (USNA 1922), in command. Cornwell knew flattops, had earned his wings in 1925, and commanded the jeep carriers USS Nassau (CVE-16) and Suwanee (CVE-27) during the war, earning a Legion of Merit to go along with the latter’s Presidential Unit Citation for operations off Okinawa.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) anchored at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, during her 1946 shakedown cruise. National Naval Aviation Museum photo, 1996.488.114.055.

After a month-long shakedown in the Caribbean with the Bearcats, Helldivers, and Avengers of CVG-20 in October 1946, she returned to Boston to join Task Force 68 and prepare the Navy’s big Antarctic Expedition, Operation Highjump.

She would operate aircraft that the designers of CV-9 could never have anticipated.

Amazing High Jump Antics

Cruise Chart used during Operation High Jump, which was the U.S. Navy’s Expedition to the Antarctic during 1946-1947 and was headed by Rear Admiral Richard E. Byrd, USN. Collection of Mr. Gerald E. Foreman

For her part of Highjump– which included Byrd’s command ship USS Mount Olympus (AGC-8), two PBM Mariner carrying seaplane tenders, two destroyers, a submarine, two helicopter-carrying icebreakers, two oilers and two cargo ships– rather than a traditional airwing, Philippine Sea carried six huge Douglas R4D-5L Skytrain (Douglas DC-3/C-47) transports on deck along with 57 tons of construction material that was to be used to improve Byrd’s “Little America” base.

The idea was to launch these 29,000-pound 27-passenger aircraft, with their 63-foot wingspan, ashore to help conquer Antarctica. Keep in mind that Doolittle’s B-25Bs were only marginally bigger (67-foot span, 33,000-pound TO weight).

Equipped with skis for operating from the ice cap and assisted by two JATO bottles, CDR William Hawkes (with Rear Admiral Richard Byrd aboard) flew the first of the R4Ds off the deck on 29 January– first carrier take-off for the R4D. Two aircraft made it to Little America that day, while the other four followed on the 30th.

“On 29 January 1947, while still 660 miles off the Antarctic continent, our carrier launched the first of six R4D Skytrain transport aircraft to Little America. CDR William M. Hawkes piloted the first plane, which carried RADM Richard E. Byrd Jr. as a passenger. The aircraft used JATO to take off, and skis attached to their landing gear facilitated ice cap operations. The event marked the first carrier launches for Skytrains.”

All six made it ashore, and these planes, operated along with the six water-borne PBM flying boats for 24 days, logged 650 hours of flight time on photographic mapping flights covering 1,500,000 sq. mi of the interior and 5,500 miles of coastline of the continent of Antarctica, much of it had never before been photographed. Over 70,000 images were captured.

As for the 57 tons of construction material, the carrier cross-decked it over to the icebreaker USCGC Northwind for delivery ashore.

Original caption: Cargo being transferred from the USS Philippine Sea to the Coast Guard Ice-Breaking Cutter Northwind, on Operation Highjump, the Navy’s venture of exploration to the Antarctic. The Coast Guard Ice-Breaker has the task of opening lanes through heavy ice when other vessels with thinner plating cannot force their way through. NARA 26-G-5062

At least a dozen Skytrains, most WWII vets, went on to serve in Antarctica with the “Puckered Penguins” of VX-6 well into the 1960s. One, BuNo12418 (MSN 9358) ex-USAAF 42-23496, “Que Sera Sera,” on Halloween 1956 during Deep Freeze II, brought the first humans to the South Pole since Capt. Robert F. Scott of the Royal Navy reached it in 1912. Its co-pilot for that record-setting mission was the same Bill Hawkes who first flew a Skytrain off the Philippine Sea in 1947.

The U.S. Navy Douglas R4D-5L Que Sera Sera (BuNo 12418, c/n 9358, ex USAAF 42-23496) landing at the South Pole as seen from a U.S. Air Force Douglas C-124 Globemaster. This aircraft was the first aircraft to land on the South Pole on 31 October 1956. Crew: pilot LCdr. Conrad S. Shinn, copilot Capt. William. M. Hawkes; navigator, Lt. John Swadener; crew chief, AD2 John P. Strider; radioman AT2 William Cumbie; Rear Adm. George J. Dufek, Commander Task Force 43 and Commander Naval Support Forces, Antarctica; and Capt. Douglas L. L. Cordiner, Commanding Officer of Antarctic Development Squadron 6 (VX-6). These were the first people to stand at the South Pole since January 1912. The aircraft is today on display at the National Museum of Naval Aviation at Pensacola.

Back to our carrier, in warmer climes

Post-Highjump, the Philippine Sea was soon to carry a series of airwings that could have come right out of the last days of WWII– with the addition of helicopters. She did this while supporting early jets off and on as well.

Returning stateside, she began a relationship with CVAG-9, whose wing included Bearcats, Helldivers, photo/night Hellcats, Avengers, and HO3S-1 whirlybirds. She carried the wing for a short March-May 1947 Caribbean cruise, followed by a February-June 1948 Mediterranean deployment. She made a second Med cruise with the similarly equipped fighter-heavy CVG-7 in January-May 1949, which traded Helldivers for Corsairs.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) exercising at sea with another carrier and a heavy cruiser, circa 1948. Note: “E” painted on her stack, location of hull number below the after end of her island; and HO3S helicopter on her flight deck. 80-G-706709

FH-1 Phantom of Fighter Squadron (VF) 171 pictured on approach for recovery on board USS Philippine Sea (CV 47), 24 August 1948. Only 62 of these early jet fighters were produced by McDonnell in the late 1940s and would lead to the development of the much more prolific F2H Banshee. NNAM

Accustomed to the roar of aircraft, crew members work on an anti-aircraft gun aboard USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) as an SB2C-5 Helldiver of Bombing Squadron 9A (VA-9A) roars overhead after launch from the carrier in 1948. This was one of the last carrier deployments with the Helldiver, as it was retired in favor of the Skyraider in June 1949.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) looking forward over Mt. 52 (her second 5″/38 twin mount) at embarked CVG-7 aircraft, while the ship lies off Sicily on 29 January 1949. Grumman F8F-1 “Bearcat” fighters are spotted forward. Note Mt. Aetna in the background, also other ships. Identifiable: USS Ellyson (DMS-19) (L) Italian battleship; either Andrea Doria or Caio Duilio. 80-G-402219

USS Philippine Sea (CV 47), moored in Naples, Italy. Photograph released February 6, 1949. 80-G-399785

Then came one more Caribbean cruise in September-November 1949, with CVG-1 embarked.

F8F Bearcat USS Philippine Sea (CV 47) 28 Feb 1950, NNAM

Then came…

Korea

On 24 May 1950, Philippine Sea shifted homeports from the East Coast to the West, arriving at San Diego to join the Pacific Fleet. A month and a day later, North Korean forces swept over the 38th Parallel into neighboring South Korea.

Just ten days into this new war, Philippine Sea left San Diego on 5 July with 95 aircraft of CVG-2 aboard: 32 F9F Panthers, 28 F4U-4B Corsairs, 16 AD-4 Skyraiders. Smaller dets included radar-equipped night fighters (four F4U-5Ns and four AD-4Ns), two F4U-4P photo birds, four AD-3Ws Skyraider early-warning radar pickets, four AD-4Q Skyraider electronic countermeasures aircraft, and a HO3S whirlybird.

The ship’s Disbursing officer drew $1 million in U.S. currency, enough to cover four months’ pay allowances. The ship’s intel shop ordered 150 each blood hits, cloth survival charts, and “pointee-talkies” in both Korean and Chinese for aircrews.

Speeding across the Pacific and stopping in Hawaii for eight rushed days of carrier quals, she arrived off Korea with her sister, USS Valley Forge, as flagship of Task Force 77, on 5 August. Offensive air operations commenced at 1212K, with the launching of a strike group winch had as its mission, the destruction of a railway bridge and two highway bridges near the town of Iri (Iksan), South Korea, in an attempt to halt the oncoming enemy forces.

Between 4 August and 6 September 1950, the Philippine Sea lost four Corsairs and three Panthers in high-tempo ops, with four aviators killed. Running as many as 140 sorties a day, they fired over 351,690 machine gun rounds in strafing runs, along with 4,284 3.5- and 5-inch rockets.

They dropped no less than 3,094 bombs:

Back on the line from 12-21 September 1950 after a short stint in Sasebo, her airwing pulled 868 sorties in those eight days, firing 112,350 rounds in strafing runs along with 2,133 rockets and 748 bombs. They also dropped their first napalm, around the Pusan Perimeter, some 5,780 pounds of jellied gasoline made with  Navy Type I powder used in Mk12 (150-gallon) and Mk5 drop (300-gallon) tanks repurposed for the task. Later, thousands of Japanese-made drop tanks were sourced specifically for this purpose.

And so it went, day after day.

F9F Panther of VF-111 in flight over Korea, from USS Philippine Sea

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). A Grumman F9F-2 Panther of Fighter Squadron 111 (VF-111) being moved by a flight deck tractor, during operations off Korea, circa 19 October 1950. Other planes parked nearby are Vought F4U-4B Corsairs. 80-G-420925

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Grumman F9F-2 Panther from Fighter Squadron 112 (VF-112) on the flight deck, during operations off Korea, circa 19 October 1950. Note spectators on “Vultures Row,” the island walkways. 80-G-420946

Besides the Panthers, these bad early days in Korea saw the old “gull-winged angel of death,” the F4U-4B Corsair clock in and perform brilliantly.

John D. Robinson, AO2, USN, of Imperial Beach, CA, pushes a bomb dolly loaded with 100-pound anti-personnel bombs past a partially loaded VF-113 F4U-4B on the flight deck of the USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) as aircraft are made ready for a strike on Korea. NNAM

Vought F4U-4B Corsair Fighters, of VF-113 (300 numbers) and VF-114 “Executioners,” (400 numbers) prepare for launching aboard USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), during strikes on North Korean targets, circa 19 October 1950. Note small bombs, with fuse extensions, on the planes’ wings. 80-G-420926

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Ordnance men loading bombs on a Vought F4U-4B Corsair of Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114), during operations off Korea, circa 19 October 1950. This aircraft is Bureau No. 63034. F4U-4 in the right background has tail code “PP”, indicating that it belongs to squadron VC-61. 80-G-420921

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Vought F4U-4B “Corsair” of Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114) taking off for a mission over Korea, circa 19 October 1950. Other F4Us are following. 80-G-420967.

Vought F4U-4B Corsair, of Fighter Squadron 114 (VF-114). Returns to USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) following a strike on North Korean targets, circa 19 October 1950. 80-G-420942.

Carrier Philippine Sea (CV 47), ordancemen load a 500-lb. bomb on a F4U-4 Corsair, Korea, September 5, 1950 NNAM

One of the Philippine Sea’s F4U-4B Corsairs from VF-113 (Stingers) over Inchon, 15 Sept 1950, with the battlewagon USS Missouri below. NH 97076

And of course, the mother beautiful AD Skyraider, which was capable of carrying much more ordnance than the Corsair.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Ordnancemen hauling bombs on the carrier’s flight deck, preparing planes for attacks on enemy targets in Korea, circa 19 October 1950. A Douglas AD-4 Skyraider of Attack Squadron 115 (VA-115) is behind them, with small bombs on its wing racks. 80-G-420919.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Douglas AD Skyraider of Attack Squadron 115 (VF-115) ready for launching on a strike mission against Korean targets, circa 19 October 1950. 80-G-420934.

As well as some of the first helicopter-borne sea-based CSAR operations in military history by the Sikorski HO3S-1s of Helicopter Utility Squadron One (HU-1).

HO3S-1s of HU-1 on board USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) during operations off Korea, circa 19 October 1950. Crewman is backing off the vacuum before starting the helicopter’s engine. Note the aircraft carrier in the distance, likely Valley Forge. 80-G-420949

Sikorski HO3S-1 helicopter, of Helicopter Utility Squadron One (HU-1). Hovers near USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), awaiting the return of aircraft from missions over Korea, circa 19 October 1950. Crewmen foreground are standing by their stations on one of the ship’s 40mm gun mounts. Note the screening destroyer in the middle distance. 80-G-420950.

During strikes on bridges over the Yalu River, on 9 November 1950, LCDR William T. Amen, the skipper of VF-111 off USS Philippine Sea (CV 47), scored the Navy’s first MiG-15 in a jet vs. jet engagement in Naval Aviation history. Ironically, he did it in a borrowed Panther from rival VF-112.

The high tempo of the ops required a huge logistical support with regular unreps. The war of shifting avgas and ordnance from deck to deck to keep the sorties rolling.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) receives bombs from USS Mount Katmai (AE-16) during underway replenishment off Korea, 29 November 1950. Note crewmen standing in the carrier’s forward hangar bay, and Grumman F9F-2 Panther fighters and a LeTourneau crane parked on her flight deck. Crewmen on Mount Katmai are wearing cold-weather clothing. A few days after this photo was taken, Philippine Sea commenced a period of close-support operations in the vicinity of the Chosin Reservoir. 80-G-439879

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), 250-pound bombs being loaded under the wings of a Douglas AD Skyraider of Attack Squadron 65, during operations off the Korean coast. A cart of 5-inch rockets and a second cart of 250-pound bombs are also present. 80-G-439902

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) members of the carrier’s Ordnance Department pose with decorated 2000-pound bombs, during Korean War operations, 9 March 1951. Messages painted on the bombs are: Greetings from PhilCee; Happy Easter; and Listen! To This One it will Kill you. Among the planes parked in the background are F4U-4Bs of Fighter Squadron 113 (VF-113). 80-G-439895

The weather in Korea in winter can be unforgiving, as the deck crews on CV-47 found out.

The use of rockets in extreme freezing weather was curtailed as the motors failed to ignite. It was found that napalm wouldn’t gel at the known rates at temperatures below 60 degrees F, and the ship’s ordnance men and officers with a chemistry background had to improvise a system onboard using low-pressure steam, heated gasoline (!), and flexible steel and copper tubing looped inside 55-gallon drums to get it to mix. The 20mm cannons of the Corsairs and Panthers had heaters, but it was found out that their lifespan was only about 30 hours. Even then, the freezing of condensed water on the gun parts and the ammunition trays and cans caused repeated jams. Crews liberally took to using muzzle tape. The hydraulic system on the F9Fs became sluggish with congealed hydrolube at low temperatures to the point that the landing gear took 85 seconds to lower and lock into place.

Still, across 1 November-31 December 1950, her group dropped 4,547 bombs of all types, mainly 100-pound GPs in close air support roles over the push into North Korea and the fight for the Chosin.

For 16 successive days, the surrounded Tenth Corps received on the order of 220 close support sorties a day with a record peak of 315 on one day at the height of the breakout. Each carrier-based sortie remained on station from one to 1.5 hours and made between five and nine attack passes. Over three-quarters of these sorties were provided by carriers, and it is unlikely that the Tenth Corps would have broken out to the coast without them. As a result of the severe losses inflicted on the Chinese by the Tenth Corps and tactical air, the subsequent evacuation of over 100,000 troops and their full equipment was accomplished with negligible loss.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) Grumman F9F-2 Panther fighters of VF-111 & VF-112 parked on the flight deck, forward, during a snowstorm off the Korean coast, 15 November 1950. 80-G-439871

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Flight deck scene, looking aft from the island, as the carrier is enveloped in a snowstorm off the Korean coast, 15 November 1950. Planes on deck include Vought F4U-4B Corsair fighters and Douglas AD Skyraider strike planes. Note men on deck, apparently tossing snowballs, and what may be a toppled snowman just in front of the midships elevator. 80-G-439869

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Crewmen Gerald F. Quay (AMM3c) and Warren E. McKee (PH2c) check braces on a napalm tank during a snowstorm off North Korea, 17 November 1950. The weapon is mounted on the port wing of a Douglas AD Skyraider of VA-115 parked on the carrier’s flight deck. 80-G-422341

AD-4 Skyraider assigned to VA-15, its wing racks loaded with bombs, launches from USS Philippine Sea (CV 47) for a combat mission over Korea, 23 November 1950. NNAM

Vought F4U-4B Corsair BuNo # 62924 landing on USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) after attacking targets in Korea, circa 7 December 1950. This plane belongs to Fighter Squadron 113 (VF-113). 80-G-423961.

USS Philippine Sea CV-47 launching Grumman F9F Panthers off of Korea – Dec 1950 LIFE John Domins

And into January..

Crew members of USS Philippine Sea (CV 47) clear snow from the deck of the carrier so that another strike could be launched against enemy forces in Korea. It was the second time that morning that heavy snow was cleaned off the deck. Photograph released February 23, 1951. 80-G-426797

By late March, with the aircraft and crews of CVG-11 worn out after eight months of round-the-clock operations, Philippine Sea put into Yokosuka and welcomed aboard CVG-2. With the problems with the Panther apparent in cold weather, the new air wing was light on jets but heavy on props, with three full squadrons of Corsairs (VF-64, VF-63, and VA-24) and one of Skyraiders (VA-65).

F4U-4 Corsair VF 63 USS Philippine Sea (CV 47) Korea 1951 NNAM

Leaving Japan on April Fool’s Day 1951, the carrier and her fresh air wing were diverted to Formosa (Taiwan), where her wing carried out a series of “air parades” along the east coast of Communist China for three days to make sure Mao knew where the U.S. stood concerning the semi-independence of the island.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) underway at sea, 9 April 1951, while en route to operating areas off Formosa. 80-G-439899

A film shot on 21 April 1951 shows her 5-inch battery at work in a live fire shoot-ex, perhaps one of the last such videos from an Essex-class carrier, along with footage of her escort, the light cruiser USS Juneau (CL-119), and NP-marked F4U-4 Corsairs and AD Skyraiders conducting fight ops.

She then shifted back to Korea, where she was once again in the thick of close air support. Over the next two months, CVG-2 suffered 13 aircraft lost and 139 damaged (some repeatedly) with an average of 103 sorties scheduled per day.

Check out these figures for those two months, including 2 million rounds of ammunition and more than 15,000 bombs– not including 1,973 napalm tanks:

Bomb-loaded F4U-4 Corsairs of VF-24 from Carrier Air Group (CVG) 2, on the flight deck of USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), April–June 1951. Robert L. Lawson Photo Collection UA 410.05

By the time Philippine Sea made it back to the West Coast on 9 June, she had spent 264 days underway and only 76 in port, steaming 108,000 miles. Her airwings had logged more than 12,000 combat sorties, dropping more than 7,000 tons of aviation ordnance.

She set a record of sorts from Yokohama to San Francisco, steaming the distance in 7 days, 13 hours, averaging 25.2 knots.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47). Passes under the Oakland Bay Bridge as she arrives at San Francisco, California, upon her return from the Korean War zone, circa 9 June 1951. Crewmen on the flight deck are spelling out “CVG 2” in honor of her air group. NH 97322.

Following six months of much-needed rest and refit, Philippine Sea was headed back to Korea with CVG-11 once again, pulling stumps on New Year’s Eve 1951 for a seven-month, one-week cruise.

This cruise saw the arrival of the new and much more advanced Panther photo reconnaissance planes, which replaced the venerable F4U-4P photo Corsairs. Its K438 camera loaded with K17 aerial film in  A-8 magazines, they captured miles of prints with one batch of 39 sorties generating 28,745 10x10s, keeping the ship’s photo lab guys busy. For BDA during strikes, WWII-era K-25 camera pods carrying 55-exposure reels were loaded on the occasional Corsair and Skyraider.

USS Philippine Sea (CV-47), LT Zack Taylor of VC-61 Det. M gets ready for a reconnaissance flight over enemy territory while the carrier was operating off Korea in April 1952. His plane is a Grumman F9F-2P photo version of the Panther jet fighter. Note the camera window in the plane’s nose, and Lt. Taylor’s rare, ridged Type H-4 helmet. The F9F-2P removed the four 20mm cannons of the standard F9F-2 and replaced them with photographic equipment. Only 36 F9F-2Ps were made. NH 97114

CVG-11’s second war cruise on the Philippine Sea was more of the same, a daily slog at low level. A war of 100-pound GP bombs and 20mm/.50 cals targeting trucks and railcars from 500 feet.

Korea F9F-2 Panthers of VF-191 “Satans Kittens” return to carrier USS Princeton (CV-37) background is USS Philippine Sea (CV-47)

A sample of one week:

Philippine Sea returned to San Diego on 8 August 1952.

While stateside, our carrier was redesignated an attack carrier, CVA-47, on 1 October 1952, along with most of her class.

Headed back to Korea on 15 December 1952, she carried CVG-9 once again, her original airwing from her 1947 Caribbean and first (1948) Med cruise. By that time, CVG-9 had traded in its Bearcats, Avengers, and Helldivers for two squadrons of Panthers, one of Corsairs, and one of Skyraiders.

This cruise saw the use of unmanned platforms, specifically UF-tail coded F6F-5K Hellcat drones of VU-3K, used in attacks against enemy targets. These typically carried a 2,000-pound bomb centerline and a TV pod slung under their wings, allowing an AD-2Q Skyraider to fly these early cruise missiles into their targets.

Drone F6F-5KD Hellcats assigned to VU-3K launch from USS Philippine Sea (CVA 47) 17 June 1953. These aircraft had bright yellow wings with red bands. NNAM

An F6F-5K Hellcat drone assigned to VU-3K is pictured on the flight deck of USS Philippine Sea (CVA 47), 18 June 1953. NNAM

She kept fighting right up to the ceasefire.

In the three days (24-26 July) before the ceasefire, the three TF77 carriers maxed out on sorties, running an amazing 72-hour total of 1,839 aimed at damming up the Chinese/Nork forces, then on the offensive. USS Princeton’s air group flew 159/142/164 sorties in those three days, and USS Lake Champlain flew 150/148/166. However, Philippine Sea bested them both by hitting 167/166/161, her highest three-day run, and perhaps the highest of any Essex-class carrier in any campaign as far as I can tell.

In the 12 days between 15-27 July 1953, CVG-9 logged 1,098 sorties, with its two Panther squadrons, VF-91 and VF-93, running 283 each, compared to the Corsair unit (VF-94)’s 196 and the AD unit (VA-95)’s 203, showing that the once very finicky F9F had hit its stride. By the time combat operations ended, CVG-9 had chalked up 7,243 combat sorties in its seven months off Korea, with over half, 3,754, attributed to its Panthers. Individual pilots logged 16,841 hours on the cruise, averaging almost 150 per aviator.

CVG-9’s tally sheet for the January-July 1953 cruise:

The close air support was a meat grinder, with 24 aircraft lost (including 21 ditchings and crash water landings) and 38 damaged beyond shipboard repair.

USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47), Lt(JG) Hugh N. Batten lands his damaged Grumman F9F-2 Panther after it was hit by enemy anti-aircraft fire. The photo is dated 12 July 1953– just 15 days from the Armistice Agreement. This plane’s nose covering has been entirely torn away. 80-G-484863

RADM Apollo Soucek, ComCarDivThree flashed, “The hard pushes delivered by Philippine Sea and her air group will long be remembered as a splendid example of fighting Teamwork under difficult conditions. My congratulations on your performance and best wishes for continued success.”

By 30 July 1953, Philippine Sea had logged her 59,553th arrested landing since her commissioning in 1946.

She arrived back on the West Coast on 14 August 1953.

Too late for WWII, the Philippine Sea received nine battle stars for Korean service.

Continued service

Philippine Sea made two further “non-shooting” deployments to the uneasy Western Pacific with a mix of Panthers and Skyraiders of CVG-5 (12 March-19 November 1954) and one with the F9F-6 Cougars and Skyraiders of the short-lived ATG-2 (1 April-23 November 1955).

The 1954 cruise saw her air wing participate in what was later dubbed the “Hainan Incident.” While responding to the downing of a British Cathay Pacific Airways civilian DC-4 en route from Bangkok to Hong Kong by Chinese Lavochkin La-11 fighter aircraft, two PLAAF La-7 fighters unsuccessfully tried to jump the U.S. Navy aircraft and were in turn splashed by Philippine Sea Skyraiders from VF-54.

As noted by Time, “Radio Beijing announced that two American fighters had made piratical attacks on two Polish merchant ships and one Chinese escort vessel, but failed to mention the LA-7s.”

(Kodachrome) USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) makes a sharp turn to starboard, while steaming in the Western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet, 9 July 1955, with ATG-2 embarked. Photographed by PH1 D.L. Lash. 80-G-K-18429

(Kodachrome) USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) view looking aft from the carrier’s island, showing AD Skyraiders and F9F Cougars of ATG-2 parked on the flight deck. Photographed on 19 July 1955, while operating with the Seventh Fleet. Photographed by PH1 J.E. Cook. 80-G-K-18466

(Kodachrome) USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) refueling from USS Platte (AO-24), while operating with the Seventh Fleet, 19 July 1955. USS Watts (DD-567) is also taking on fuel from Platte. Other ships present include two aircraft carriers, a cruiser, and several destroyers and replenishment ships. 80-G-K-18468

(Kodachrome) USS Philippine Sea (CVA-47) operating in the Western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet, 19 July 1955. 80-G-K-18427

Post-Korea, the Philippine Sea remained a “straight deck” Essex and did not undergo the dramatic SCB-125 angled flight deck reconstruction and modernization that 14 of her sisters did.

This left her in the club that included USS Franklin (CV-13) and Bunker Hill (CV-17) which never recommissioned after their 1947 mothballs, and fellow Korean War vets Boxer (CV-21), Leyte (CV-32), Princeton (CV-37), Lake Champlain (CV-39), Tarawa (CV-40), and Valley Forge (CV-45). The latter six axial deck carriers, along with Antietam (CV-36) which had an early angled deck fit in 1952 but no major modernizations, and Philippine Sea, were all rerated as anti-submarine carriers (CVS) in the mid-1950s, intended to operate a mixed wing of two squadrons of S2F Trackers and one of Sikorsky HSS-1 (SH-34) Seabats.

USS Philippine Sea (CVS-47) underway at sea, with eleven S2F aircraft of Anti-Submarine Squadron 37 (VS-37) flying overhead, July 1958. Six of these aircraft are still painted in the older blue color scheme. Photographed by Everett. NH 97323

USS Philippine Sea (CVS-47), August 1956. View showing the ship’s antenna after recent overhauling. Please refer to the chart that shows the name of the antenna with the use of a numerical system. 1. AN/URN3; 2. AN/CPH6; 3. AN/SRO7; 4. AN/SLR-2 DF; 5. UHF; 6. An/URO-4; 7. VHF; 8. An/SPS-6B; 9. An/SLR-2; 10. SG-6B; 11. AN/UPV-1A; 12. AP/SLR-2 DF; 13. AN/SLR-2 DF; 14. SC-5; 15. YE-3; 16. AN/SPN-8A; 17. AN/SPN-12; 18. Receiving Antennas; 19. AN/UPX-1A; 20. AN/SLR-2; 21. AN/SRK-4; 22. AN/SPS-8A; 23. AN/FMQ-2; 24. Receiving Antennas; 25. AN/URD-2; 26. AN/UPN-7; 27. LF-MF Transmitter Whip antennas Aft. Std.; 28. LF-MF Transmitter Whip, antennas Fwd. Stbd. 80-G-696528

Philippine Sea only made two West Pac cruises as a CVS, 5 January- 6 August 1957 and 13 January-15 July 1958, with the latter as part of Operation Oceanlink, which saw her cross-deck aircraft with the Australian carrier, HMAS Melbourne (R21).

USS Philippine Sea (CVS-47) refuels destroyer USS Orleck (DD-886) in May 1957 while on a West Pac cruise. Photo courtesy of the National Naval Aviation Museum, 1996.488.114.056.

As the mammoth Forrestal-class supercarriers entered the fleet in the late 1950s, eight high-mileage SCB 27A/125 Essex-class angled deck conversions were redesignated as CVS to replace the original unconverted axial deck ships. This also allowed these new CVS models to carry A-4 Skyhawks and F-8 Crusaders in a pinch, such as on USS Intrepid (CVS-11)’s three Vietnam cruises in 1966-68, where she carried three squadrons of A-4s and one of Skyraiders augmented by a few F-8/RF-8s for good measure.

This move proved the final nail in the coffin for the Philippine Sea. While a few unconverted sisters, such as Boxer, Princeton, and Valley Forge, caught amphibious helicopter ship (LPH) conversions and lingered on into the 1960s, that was generally a wrap for these old warriors.

Decommissioned 28 December 1958, marking a busy 12-year career, Philippine Sea was berthed with the Reserve Fleet at Long Beach. She was administratively redesignated a training carrier (AVT-11) on 15 May 1959 and struck from the Navy List on 1 December 1969.

Jane’s 1960 Essex class listing the 17 “non-improved” members, PS included

Sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc. of Portland, Oregon, on 23 March 1971, about 600 tons of her armor plate were put to use at the Fermi National Accelerator Laboratory for use in proton accelerator experiments. Plates from four other Korean War CVS sisters (Antietam, Bunker Hill, Lake Champlain, and Princeton) are also in use there.

Epilogue

Today, little of our carrier remains outside of Fermi Labs.

The NHHC has her Korean War action reports digitized online.  Meanwhile, NARA has several videos and images.

At least two of her Korean War skippers, Ira Earl Hobbs (USNA 1925) and Paul Hubert Ramsey (USNA 1927), later rose to the rank of Vice Admiral. Both had started their careers as battleship men, then were minted as aviators and were highly decorated in WWII.

Hobbs and “Sheik” Ramsey. From battlewagons to WWII aviators against the Rising Sun, they went on to command the Philippine Sea during Korea, then retire as vice admirals. 

The Navy recycled the name of our carrier for a Flight II Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser, CG-58, commissioned in 1989. She has carried a few relics of her namesake with her all this time.

USS Philippine Sea (CG 58) departed Naval Station Norfolk for her final scheduled deployment, a quiet cruise to the U.S. 4th Fleet area of operations, on 20 January 2025. She is slated to decommission later this year, wrapping over 35 years of service, a stint some three times as long as her flat-topped predecessor. She slung TLAMs in numerous wars, scattered the cremated remains of Korean War pilot Neil Armstrong at sea, and recently battled the Houthis.

Norfolk, Va. (January 20, 2025) The Ticonderoga-class guided-missile cruiser USS Philippine Sea (CG 58), departs from Naval Station Norfolk to deploy to the U.S. Southern Command Area of Responsibility (USSOUTHCOM AOR) to support maritime operations with partners in the region, conduct Theater Security Cooperation (TSC) port visits, and support Joint Interagency Task Force South (JIATF-South) to deter illicit activity along Caribbean and Central American shipping routes. (U.S. Navy photo by Chief Mass Communication Specialist Evan Thompson/Released)

Perhaps a new LHA could carry the name forward.

Meminisse est ad Vivificandum – To Remember is to Keep Alive

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