page_title: USS Randolph (CV-15)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Randolph (CV-15)
caption_attribution_description: English: The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Randolph (CVS-15) underway at sea. Note: The U.S. Naval History and Heritage Command dates this photo to 27 February 1962. However, the ship's photo lab had this picture cataloged as "CVS-15-2478-L-10-59," dated 25 October 1959: "USS Randolph, CVS-15, making high speed turn."[1]. Supporting the 1959 date are the Douglas AD-5W Skyraiders next to the island. These were replaced by Grumman WF-2 Tracers in 1961. Also, the Gruman S2F Trackers are S2F-1 and not S2F-3 models, carried in 1962. The tail code on the Trackers also appears to be "ME", which was the tail code of Anti-Submarine Squadron 36 (VS-36) in 1959. After 1960, the tail code was changed to "AV" of Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 58 (CVSG-58).
context_page_description: USS Randolph was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The second US Navy ship to bear the name, she was named for the frigate Randolph of the Continental Navy. Randolph was commissioned in October 1944, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning three battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier, and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier. In her second career she operated exclusively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. In the early 1960s she served as the recovery ship for two Project Mercury space missions, including John Glenn's historic first orbital flight.
  She was decommissioned in 1969 and sold for scrap in 1975.
context_section_description: USS Randolph (CV/CVA/CVS-15) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The second US Navy ship to bear the name, she was named for the frigate Randolph of the Continental Navy, (which had been named for Peyton Randolph, president of the First Continental Congress). Randolph was commissioned in October 1944, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning three battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career she operated exclusively in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. In the early 1960s she served as the recovery ship for two Project Mercury space missions, including John Glenn's historic first orbital flight.
  She was decommissioned in 1969 and sold for scrap in 1975.
caption: USS Randolph underway on 25 October 1959
exif: {}