View source for USS Bennington (CV-20)

{{short description|Essex-class aircraft carrier of the US Navy}}
{{Other ships|USS Bennington}}
{{more citations needed|date = July 2022}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=July 2021}}
{|{{Infobox ship begin}}
{{Infobox ship image
|Ship image=USS Bennington (CVS-20) underway at sea on 5 March 1965 (NH 97581).jpg
|Ship caption=USS ''Bennington'' as an ASW-carrier on 5 March 1965
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=
|Ship country=United States
|Ship flag={{USN flag|1970}}
|Ship name= ''Bennington''
|Ship namesake=[[Battle of Bennington]]
|Ship ordered=15 December 1941
|Ship builder=[[New York Naval Shipyard]]
|Ship laid down=15 December 1942
|Ship launched=28 February 1944
|Ship commissioned=6 August 1944
|Ship decommissioned=8 November 1946
}}
{{Infobox ship career
|Hide header=yes
|Ship recommissioned=13 November 1952
|Ship decommissioned=15 January 1970
|Ship reclassified=*CVA-20, 1 October 1952
*CVS-20, 30 June 1959
|Ship struck=20 September 1989
|Ship fate=[[Ship breaking|Scrapped]], 12 January 1994
}}
{{Infobox ship characteristics
|Hide header=
|Header caption=(as built)
|Ship displacement=
*{{cvt|27100|LT|t|lk=on}} ([[Displacement (ship)#Standard displacement|standard]])
*{{cvt|36380|LT|t}} ([[Full-load displacement|full load]])
|Ship length=
*{{convert|820|ft|m|1}} ([[Waterline length|wl]])
*{{convert|872|ft|m|1}} ([[o/a]])
|Ship beam={{cvt|93|ft|m|1}}
|Ship draft={{cvt|34|ft|2|in|m}}
|Ship propulsion=
*4 × geared [[steam turbine]]s
*4 × [[screw propeller]]s
|Ship speed={{convert|33|kn|lk=in}}
|Ship range={{cvt|14100|nmi|lk=in}} at {{convert|20|kn}}
|Ship complement=2,600 officers and enlisted men
|Ship power=
*8 × [[Babcock & Wilcox boiler]]s
*{{cvt|150000|shp|lk=in}}
|Ship armament=
*12 × [[5-inch/38-caliber gun|{{cvt|5|in|0}}]] [[Dual-purpose gun|DP guns]]
*32 × [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|{{cvt|40|mm|1}}]] [[AA gun]]s
*46 × [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|{{cvt|20|mm|1}}]] AA guns
|Ship armor=
*[[Belt armor|Waterline belt]]: {{cvt|2.5|-|4|in|0}}
*[[Deck (ship)|Deck]]: {{cvt|1.5|in}}
*[[Hangar]] deck: {{cvt|2.5|in}}
*[[Bulkhead (partition)|Bulkhead]]s: 4&nbsp;in (102&nbsp;mm)
|Ship aircraft=
*36 × [[Grumman F6F Hellcat]]
*36 × [[Douglas SBD Dauntless]]
*18 × [[Grumman TBF Avenger]]
|Ship notes=
}}
|}

'''USS ''Bennington'' (CV/CVA/CVS-20)''' was an {{sclass|Essex|aircraft carrier}} in service with the [[United States Navy]] from 1944 to 1946 and from 1952 to 1970. She was sold for scrap in 1994.

==Service history==

===World War II===
USS ''Bennington'' was named for a [[Battle of Bennington|battle]] in 1777 near Bennington, Vermont, during the [[American Revolutionary War]], in which American victory contributed to the ultimate defeat of [[General]] [[John Burgoyne|Burgoyne]] at [[Battles of Saratoga|Saratoga]].  The carrier was laid down on 15 December 1942 by the [[Brooklyn Navy Yard|New York Naval Shipyard]] and launched on 26 February 1944, sponsored by the wife of [[Melvin Maas|Congressman Melvin Maas]] of [[Minnesota]]. She was commissioned on 6 August 1944, [[Captain]] James B. Sykes in command.

''Bennington'' completed trials, shakedown training, and post-shakedown availability by 14 December when she departed [[New York City|New York]] and headed for the [[Pacific War|Pacific theater]]. She transited the [[Panama Canal]] on 21 December and moored at [[San Diego]] on the 29th. On New Year's Day 1945, the carrier stood out of San Diego to continue her voyage west. She arrived in [[Pearl Harbor]], [[Hawaii]], on 7 January. For the remainder of the month, she conducted air and gunnery training in the Hawaiian operating area. On 1 February, ''Bennington'' exited Pearl Harbor in company with the [[aircraft carrier]]s {{USS|Belleau Wood|CVL-24|6}}, {{USS|Bunker Hill|CV-17|6}}, {{USS|Randolph|CV-15|6}}, {{USS|Saratoga|CV-3|6}} and the large cruiser {{USS|Alaska|CB-1|6}} to join [[Fast Carrier Task Force|Task Force 58]] at [[Ulithi Atoll]] in the [[Caroline Islands]].

====Operations off Iwo Jima====
[[File:USS Bennington (CV-20) underway at sea on 20 October 1944.jpg|thumb|left|''Bennington'' in her original configuration, 1944.]]

She arrived in Ulithi lagoon on 8 February and became a unit of Task Group (TG) 58.1. The aircraft carrier remained at Ulithi only two days, departing the atoll with TG 58.1 on the 10th to make air attacks on the Japanese home islands in support of the [[Battle of Iwo Jima|landings on Iwo Jima]]. Task Force 58 steamed first to the vicinity of the [[Marianas]] to conduct rehearsals over [[Tinian]] before heading north. After the air groups carried out the training sorties on 12 February, the ships fueled at sea on the 14th and then headed toward the launching point some 200&nbsp;km southeast of [[Tokyo]]. On the 16th, TF 58 launched its air strikes on Japan proper. ''Bennington'' aviators went after targets both at Tokyo and at [[Yokosuka]], site of the large Japanese naval base. While their colleagues pounded Japan, pilots in ''Bennington''{{'}}s [[Combat Air Patrol|Combat Air Patrol (CAP)]] helped to protect TG 58.1 from air raids and shot down three intruders. On the negative side, her air group lost one plane to antiaircraft fire over Japan.

The aircraft carrier retired from the vicinity of Honshu on 18 February, fueled the next day, and then steamed toward Iwo Jima to provide close support. She continued that duty from 20 to 22 February before retiring for a fueling rendezvous on the 23rd. The following day, she and her sister carriers set a course back toward Japan. On the 25th, her air group participated in another series of attacks on the Tokyo region of Japan. Retiring on the 26th, ''Bennington'' launched aircraft against airfields on [[Okinawa Prefecture|Okinawa]] in the [[Ryukyu Islands]] on 1 March. TF 58 headed back to Ulithi on the 3rd and reentered that anchorage the following day for eight days of rest and relaxation.

====Okinawa campaign====
On 14 March, she returned to sea. After several days of training exercises, ''Bennington'' and the other carriers of TF 58 steamed toward [[Kyushu]], southernmost of the major Japanese home islands, to hit airfields and naval bases there in preparation for the projected [[Battle of Okinawa|invasion of Okinawa]]. [[Attack on Kure (March 1945)|Those attacks went forward]] on 18 March; and, the following day, ''Bennington'' aircraft struck the [[Kure Naval Arsenal]] and the area of [[Hiroshima]]. On the 20th, the aircraft of ''Bennington''{{'}}s Carrier Air Group 82 (CVG-82) again attacked airfields on Kyushu. That same day, ''Bennington'' and the other units of TF 58 began their retirement from Japanese waters and toward Okinawa to begin direct support for the landings. On 23 March, she began launching raids against Okinawa and the surrounding islands, concentrating primarily on [[Kerama Retto]], a small group of islands located due west of the southern portion of Okinawa and which constituted the first objective of the invading force. That small group of islands, needed as a fleet anchorage and forward repair base, fell late the following day, and the fast carriers shifted their attention to softening up the main objective.

That phase of the operation lasted until early on the morning of the initial landings on 1 April. After the assault force went ashore, ''Bennington'' and the other fast carriers began dividing their time between strikes on Okinawa and the surrounding islands in direct support of the occupying troops and raids on the Japanese home islands, primarily Kyushu, in distant support of the operation. On 7 April, ''Bennington'' aircraft helped stifle the [[Operation Ten-Go|last major action]] of the [[Imperial Japanese Navy]]. The [[battleship]] {{ship|Japanese battleship|Yamato||2}}, escorted by [[light cruiser]] {{ship|Japanese cruiser|Yahagi|1942|2}} and eight [[destroyer]]s, came out of Japan in a desperate attempt to break up the landings at Okinawa. That force, lacking any air cover, was spotted on the 6th by American submarines; and, on the 7th, by American patrol planes. When TF 58 attack groups found the force on the 7th, ''Yamato'', ''Yahagi'', and four of the destroyers were sunk. The four destroyers that escaped also suffered damage but managed to reach the [[Sasebo Naval Arsenal]]. ''Bennington'' aviators claimed at least two torpedo hits on the battleship at the cost of a single plane from her air group.

[[File:Flight deck of USS Bennington (CV-20) damaged by typhoon, 12 June 1945.jpg|thumb|Flight deck of ''Bennington'' damaged by Typhoon Connie]]

The aircraft carrier continued to give support to the Okinawa operation, to provide combat air patrol to intercept enemy air raids, and to attack the airfields that were the points of origin for those raids. On 28 April, ''Bennington'' and the rest of TG 58.1 left the vicinity of Okinawa for rest and relaxation at Ulithi. She remained at the fleet anchorage from 30 April to 9 May. On the latter day, she stood out of Ulithi and, after exercises in the area, headed back to Okinawa on the 10th. The aircraft carrier resumed support duty for the Okinawa campaign on 12 May. Again, she divided her time between direct support for the troops fighting on the island and sweeps against the Kyushu airfields. Early in June, ''Bennington'' suffered a damaged flight deck when TF 38 (on 27 May the fleet, task forces, and task groups changed designation) steamed through [[1945 Pacific typhoon season#Typhoon Connie|Typhoon Connie]]. On 9 June, she set a course for [[Leyte Gulf]] and repairs. The ship arrived at her destination on the 11th and underwent repairs until the 27th. She cleared the base at [[San Pedro Bay (Philippines)]] on 1 July in company with the rest of TF 38.

====End of the war====
For the remainder of the war, she and the other fast carriers concentrated exclusively upon the [[Japanese home islands]] and surrounding waters. Her planes ranged the length of the island chain from [[Hokkaido]] in the north to Kyushu in the south, making frequent attacks on [[Honshu]]. Targets included industrial complexes, military and naval installations, and shipping. She was still conducting air strikes off Honshu on 15 August when news broke of the [[Surrender of Japan|Japanese capitulation]].

After hostilities ended, ''Bennington'' continued operations in the Japanese home islands in support of [[Occupation of Japan|occupation forces]]. Her aviators conducted routine patrols as well as searches for [[List of Japanese-run internment camps during World War II|camps containing Allied prisoners of war]]. That duty lasted until 10 September at which time she entered [[Tokyo Bay]]. The aircraft carrier remained in the Far East until mid-October when she set course back to the United States. Along the way, she stopped at [[Saipan]], where she disembarked her air group, and at Pearl Harbor before entering [[San Francisco Bay]] on 7 November. She remained there until the first week in January 1946 when she returned to sea, bound for Hawaii transporting a load of planes and a draft of men. After conducting some training operations in the Hawaiian Islands, the carrier headed back to [[San Francisco]] where she arrived on 30 March. Early in April, the warship set out on a voyage to the east coast with CVG-19 embarked. She transited the Panama Canal at mid-month and arrived at [[Norfolk Naval Base]], [[Virginia]], on 22 April. She remained there until 8 November at which time she was decommissioned and berthed with the Atlantic Reserve Fleet.

===Cold War===
[[File:USS Bennington (CVA-20) underway circa 1954.jpg|thumb|''Bennington'' after her SCB-27A modernization.|left]]

''Bennington'' remained in reserve for almost four years. On 29 October 1950, she moved to the New York Naval Shipyard to receive her [[SCB-27|SCB-27A]] modernization. Over the next two years, she underwent a transformation that increased her displacement, length, and beam. Her flight deck was strengthened and widened to accommodate jet aircraft, her island was replaced. She also received many modifications to other equipment, such as catapults and elevators, to accomplish the same purpose. In October 1952, while completing those alterations, she was re-designated an attack aircraft carrier (CVA-20). On 13 November, Captain [[David. B. Young]] took command of ''Bennington'' in a ceremony attended by more than 1,400, including the [[Secretary of the Navy]] [[Dan A. Kimball]] and [[Rear admiral (United States)|Rear Admiral]] [[Roscoe H. Hillenkoetter]]. [[Marine Air Group 14]], under the command of [[Colonel (United States)|Colonel]] W.R. Campbell, USMC reported for duty on ''Bennington'' on 13 February 1953, and ''Bennington'' set off for the waters off Florida to conduct [[Modern United States Navy carrier air operations|carrier qualifications]]. The first arrested landing was made on ''Bennington'' since her recommissioning by [[Lieutenant Colonel]] [[T.W. Furlow]] in his [[Douglas A-1 Skyraider|AD Skyraider]]. Furlow was the commanding officer of [[Marine Attack Squadron 211]]. The first jet aircraft to land on ''Bennington'' occurred on 18 February by [[Major (rank)|Major]] Carl E. Schmitt in a [[Grumman F-9 Cougar|F9F-5 Cougar]]. When the qualifications were over, ''Bennington'' headed for [[Guantanamo Bay Naval Base]] where she underwent 11 weeks of shakedown training with [[Carrier Air Wing Seven|CVG-7]] aboard.

During the training cruise, an explosion occurred in her number 1 fireroom on 27 April. 11 men were killed. She put into Guantánamo Bay on the 29th, completed repairs in a week, and returned to sea to continue her shakedown training. On 7 May, she concluded training operations and set a course back to New York. After a stop at Norfolk to disembark her air group, the carrier reentered the New York Naval Shipyard on 25 May to begin post-shakedown availability. That summer, she began normal operations with the [[United States Atlantic Fleet]] out of her home port, [[Naval Air Station Quonset Point]], [[Rhode Island]]. That duty lasted until mid-September at which time she put to sea to participate in a large-scale [[NATO]] exercise, "Operation Mariner". That operation ended on 4 October, and ''Bennington'' steamed through the [[Strait of Gibraltar]] to begin her first deployment with the [[United States Sixth Fleet]] in the [[Mediterranean Sea]], still with CVG-7 on board. That assignment lasted until 16 February 1954 when she embarked upon her homeward voyage. ''Bennington'' arrived at Quonset Point on the 21st to disembark her air group. On 1 March, she moved to New York for a shipyard availability and a post-deployment standdown period. Early in April, she returned to sea to conduct carrier qualifications off [[Naval Station Mayport|Mayport, Florida]]. She completed that mission and returned to Quonset Point on the 29th. Late in May, she moved south to Norfolk where she embarked Air Task Group 181 (ATG-181) on 22 May and put to sea for carrier qualifications in the [[Narragansett Bay]] area.

====1954 catapult explosion and fire====
[[File:USS Bennington Memorial plaque, Fort Adams State Park, Newport, Rhode Island.jpg|thumb|right|A memorial to the victims of the 1954 explosion was erected at [[Fort Adams]] in 2004.<ref name="HMDB">{{cite web |title=U.S.S. Bennington CVA-20 |url=https://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=48623 |website=Historical Marker Database |access-date=27 June 2019}}</ref>]]
At 0600 on 26 May, ''Bennington'' began launching aircraft for the qualifications. Ten minutes later, white "smoke" emanating from Hangar Bay 1 caused Captain [[William F. Raborn]] to issue two general fire alarms<ref name="2011EdwardsUSNI">{{cite journal |last1=Edwards |first1=Christopher |title=Fire Down Below! |journal=Naval History Magazine |date=January 2011 |volume=25 |issue=1 |url=https://www.usni.org/magazines/naval-history-magazine/2011/january/fire-down-below |access-date=23 June 2022 |publisher=U.S. Naval Institute |language=en}}</ref> and within seconds a series of explosions rocked the ship when the port side catapult accumulator burst and released vaporized lubricating oil which was detonated by some unknown heat source.<ref name="2011EdwardsUSNI"/> Though severely damaged internally, the warship managed to launch the entire air group and send it into Quonset Point, Rhode Island. She also maintained way on and headed back to Quonset Point while damage control, fire, and rescue parties worked feverishly to control fires, to rescue the injured, and to recover the dead.<ref name="2011EdwardsUSNI"/> The most severely injured men were carried to Quonset Point in a helicopter lift, and ''Bennington'' dropped the remainder off there before heading to New York for extensive repairs. The explosion cost her 103 officers and men dead and over 200 others injured, most of them severely burned, the second highest casualty count in the post-war peacetime U.S. Navy.<ref name="2011EdwardsUSNI"/><ref name="1955Enyart278">{{cite journal |last1=Enyart |first1=John J. |title=The U.S.S. Bennington Disaster: Handling and Initial Treatment of Casualties |journal=Military Medicine |date=April 1955 |volume=116 |issue=4 |pages=278–281 |url=https://archive.org/details/sim_military-medicine_1955-04_116_4/page/278/mode/2up |access-date=30 June 2022 |publisher=Association of Military Surgeons of the United States |doi=10.1093/milmed/116.4.278 |pmid=14369736 |language=English|doi-access=free }}</ref> A memorial to the sailors who died in the explosion was erected in 2004 at [[Fort Adams State Park]] in [[Newport, Rhode Island]].<ref name="HMDB" />

A court of inquiry into the explosion chaired by Quonset Point Commander Fleet Air [[John Hoskins (officer)|John Hoskins]] determined that hazards related to hydraulic catapults were previously known and had not yet "led to serious consequences."<ref name="2011EdwardsUSNI"/> The inquiry's conclusions eventually led to the Navy's abandoning hydro-pneumatic catapults in favor of steam-driven launch systems.<ref name="2022Caisse">{{cite web |last1=Caisse |first1=Leo |title=Disaster in Rhode Island Waters: The USS Bennington |url=https://www.newenglandhistoricalsociety.com/disaster-in-rhode-island-waters-the-uss-bennington/ |website=New England Historical Society |access-date=23 June 2022 |date=29 March 2020}}</ref>

''Bennington'' arrived in the New York Naval Shipyard for extensive repairs on 12 June. In addition to repairing the damaged area, the shipyard made major modifications originally scheduled for a later date. She received the [[SCB-125]] modernization. The two most notable changes were the addition of an enclosed hurricane bow to lessen the potential for damage in heavy weather and of an angled flight deck to improve the efficiency of air operations. She completed repairs and alterations by 11 March 1955. On 22 April 1955, the Secretary of the Navy came aboard and presented medals and letters of commendation to 178 of her crew in recognition of their actions on 26 May 1954. As of 1 August 1955, she was part of [[Carrier Strike Group Two|Carrier Division 2]], along with {{USS|Lake Champlain|CVA-39|6}}.<ref>Naval Aeronautical Organization OPNAV NOTICE 05400 for Fiscal Year 1956 dated 1 August 1955</ref> The carrier returned to sea on 25 April to conduct carrier qualifications off Naval Station Mayport and post-overhaul shakedown training out of Guantánamo Bay. For the next four months, she conducted normal operations along the east coast and in the West Indies with ATG-201 aboard. On 8 September, the carrier embarked upon a voyage to a new home port and a new fleet. Steaming around [[Cape Horn]], she arrived [[Naval Base San Diego]], [[California]], on 20 October. There, the warship joined the [[United States Pacific Fleet]].

====1955–1964====
[[File:USS Bennington (CVA-20) underway c1958.jpg|thumb|''Bennington'' underway in 1958]]
Over the next nine years, the period preceding the United States' full entrance into the [[History of Vietnam#Republican era (1945–present)|conflict in Vietnam]], ''Bennington'' divided her time between deployments to the [[United States Seventh Fleet]] in [[Far East|Far Eastern waters]] and normal evolutions along the California coast. During that time, she made five deployments to the [[Western Pacific Ocean|Western Pacific]]. The first two, made during the winter of 1955 and 1956 and the winter of 1957 and 1958, proved to be of routine nature, combining training evolutions and goodwill visits to various Asian ports. ATG-201 was embarked for the first cruise, ATG-181 for the second.

On 7 May 1957, while docked in Sydney for Coral Sea Day celebrations, ten [[University of Sydney]] students dressed as pirates boarded the aircraft carrier in the early morning hours undetected.  While some began soliciting donations from the Navy crew for a local charity, others entered the bridge. The public address system was turned on. "Now hear this!" announced Paul Lennon, a medical student. "The USS ''Bennington'' has been captured by Sydney University pirates!"<ref>{{Cite magazine|url=http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809510,00.html|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100212143840/http://www.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,809510,00.html|url-status=dead|archive-date=12 February 2010|title=Education: Incident in Sydney|date=1957-05-20|magazine=Time|access-date=2018-03-21|language=en-US|issn=0040-781X}}</ref><ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uss-Bennington.org/stz-gmaysydney57.html|title=Gary May Sydney Australia May 1957 GQ - CREW STORIES - USS BENNINGTON|website=www.uss-Bennington.org|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref> Alarms for general quarters, atomic and chemical attacks were sounded, rousing the crew from their bunks.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uss-Bennington.org/stz-sydneytyung.html|title=1957 Visit to Sydney - Terry Yung - CREW STORIES - USS BENNINGTON|website=www.uss-Bennington.org|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref> Marines escorted the students off the ship. No charges were filed.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uss-Bennington.org/stz-hoax-usnview57.html|title=UNITED STATES NAVY VIEW OF UNIVERSITY HOAX - CREW STORIES - USS BENNINGTON|website=www.uss-Bennington.org|access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref>

The third deployment of the period, from August 1958 to January 1959 with ATG-4 aboard, came as an emergency assignment occasioned by [[China|Chinese]] threat to the [[Taiwan]]ese offshore islands, [[Kinmen|Quemoy]] and [[Matsu Islands]]. The carrier's service during the [[Second Taiwan Strait Crisis]] earned her the [[Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal]]. Following her return to normal west coast duty in January 1959, the U.S. Navy decided to use the carrier exclusively for [[antisubmarine warfare]]. On 30 June 1959, she became an antisubmarine warfare support aircraft carrier (CVS-20). Carrier Anti-Submarine Air Group 59 (CVSG-59) was assigned to ''Bennington'' until her decommissioning.  She was used in the movie, "The Wackiest Ship in The Army,"  During her fourth tour of duty in the Far East, carried out between October 1960 and May 1961, the [[Laotian Civil War|Laotian crisis]] erupted. Again, she earned the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal. The final deployment of that period was characterized by a return to more normal duty, training and port calls. ''Bennington'' was dispatched to Eureka, in Humboldt County, California, during the [[Christmas flood of 1964]] to provide disaster relief from severe flooding with water levels that exceeded thirty feet.  The ''Bennington'' remained offshore in heavy seas and the twenty Marine helicopters she carried were invaluable in providing assistance and supplies to the stricken residents.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.uss-Bennington.org/stz-Eureka_Dec-64_1.html|title=EUREKA FLOODS - Christmas 1964 - PHOTO - USS BENNINGTON|website=USS Bennington |access-date=2018-03-21}}</ref>

====Vietnam War and later career====
[[File:S67-49423.jpg|thumb|Apollo Spacecraft 017 Command Module, with flotation collar still attached, is hoisted aboard the ''Bennington'' on 9 November 1967]]
''Bennington'''s final seven years of active service, which included four more assignments with the 7th Fleet, coincided with the period of direct involvement of United States armed forces in the [[Vietnam War]]. The first deployment of this phase of her career started peacefully enough early in 1964, but the [[Tonkin Gulf incident]] in August extended her Far Eastern tour and brought duty in Vietnamese waters in October and November. Her next 7th Fleet tour of duty, during the summer and fall of 1965, brought more duty off the coast of Vietnam, but the service was not nearly so extensive as the she would perform during her final two deployments.

On 18 May 1966, while cruising off of [[San Diego, California]], ''Bennington'' hosted the experimental [[LTV XC-142]] aircraft as it executed 44 short takeoffs and landings and six vertical takeoffs and landings, the ship steaming at various speeds to generate different velocities of wind-over-the-deck.<ref>Sunday, Terry L., ''Tri-Service Tiltwing'', Airpower, Granada Hills, California, July 1984, Volume 14, Number 4, pages 54–55.</ref> She was the prime recovery vessel for the unmanned [[Apollo 4]] mission and on 9 November 1967 recovered the spacecraft which had splashed down {{convert|10|mi|km|abbr=on}} from the ship. 

On 4 November 1966, ''Bennington'' embarked upon her next to last 7th Fleet assignment. Throughout that tour of duty, she served with the larger carriers on [[Yankee Station]] in the [[Gulf of Tonkin]]. In addition to providing antisubmarine protection to [[Task Force 77 (United States Navy)|Task Force 77]], she also had the responsibility for tracking and identifying all ships operating in the vicinity of the task force and for providing [[Combat search and rescue|search and rescue services for downed aviators]]. The deployment ended on 21 April, and ''Bennington'' headed for [[Australia]] to participate in the celebration commemorating the 25th anniversary of the Allied victory in the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]]. The carrier departed [[Sydney]], Australia, on 8 May and, after a stop at Pearl Harbor on the 18th, arrived in San Diego on 23 May 1967.

After almost a year of normal operations along the west coast, she stood out of [[Long Beach Naval Shipyard|Long Beach]], California, for the final deployment on 30 April 1968. She made a stop at Pearl Harbor from 15 to 20 May and arrived in [[United States Fleet Activities Yokosuka]] on 29 May. Her last deployment brought more of the same duty that she had seen on the previous one, antisubmarine protection for TF 77, ship identification work, and search and rescue services. She concluded that tour of duty on 28 October when she departed Yokosuka to return to the United States. ''Bennington'' arrived in Long Beach on 9 November and, on the 14th, entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a five-month yard overhaul. The aircraft carrier resumed active service on 30 April 1969 and conducted normal operations along the California coast for the remainder of the year and into January 1970. On 15 January 1970, ''Bennington'' was placed out of commission with the Pacific Reserve Fleet at [[Puget Sound Naval Shipyard]], [[Bremerton, Washington]], and stricken from the Naval Vessel Register on 20 September 1989. The carrier was finally sold for scrap on 12 January 1994, being subsequently towed across the Pacific for scrapping in [[India]].

==Awards==
[[File:F2H-3 of VF-41 on USS Bennington (CVA-20) 1956.jpg|thumb|[[F2H-3 Banshee]] of [[VF-41]] on ''Bennington'' in 1956]]
''Bennington'' earned three battle stars for World War II service and five battle stars during the Vietnam conflict.

* [[Navy Meritorious Unit Commendation]] (2)
* [[China Service Medal]] (Extended)
* [[American Campaign Medal]]
* [[Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal]] (3 [[battle stars]])
* [[World War II Victory Medal]]
* [[Navy Occupation Service Medal]] (with Asia and Europe clasps)
* [[National Defense Service Medal]] (2)
* [[Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal]] (2)
* [[Vietnam Service Medal]] (4 battle stars)
* [[Republic of Vietnam Meritorious Unit Citation]] ([[Gallantry Cross Medal Color with Palm|Gallantry Cross Medal with Palm]]) 
* [[Republic of Vietnam Campaign Medal]]

== Gallery ==
<gallery widths="180px" mode="nolines" >
File:USS Bennington (CV-20) scoreboard, circa in August 1945.jpg|''Bennington''<nowiki/>'s scoreboard in August 1945
File:USS Bennington (CVA-20) at sea in 1953.jpg|''Bennington'' at sea in 1953
File:F4U-4 of VF-74 making crash landing on USS Bennington (CVA-20) 1953.jpg|[[F4U-4 Corsair]] of [[VF-74]] making crash landing on ''Bennington'' in 1953
File:Stern of USS Bennington (CVA-20) c1957.jpg|''Bennington'' in [[Hong Kong]], 1957
File:Grumman US-2C Tracker is launched from USS Bennington (CVS-20), in the 1960s.jpg|[[Grumman S-2 Tracker|US-2C Tracker]] is launched from ''Bennington'' in the 1960s
File:Island of USS Bennington (CVS-20) in 1964.jpg|Island of ''Bennington'' in 1964
File:XC-124A on deck of USS Bennington (CVS-20) 1966.jpg|[[LTV XC-142]] on deck of ''Bennington'' in 1966
File:SH-3A Sea Kings of HS-8 on USS Bennington (CVS-20) in 1968.jpg|[[SH-3 Sea King|SH-3A Sea Kings]] of [[HSC-8|HS-8]] on ''Bennington'' in late 1968
</gallery>

== References ==
{{Reflist}}
{{DANFS|https://www.history.navy.mil/content/history/nhhc/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bennington-ii.html}}

== External links ==
{{Commons category|USS Bennington (CV-20)}}
*[http://www.navsource.org/archives/02/20.htm USS ''Bennington''] at NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive
*[http://www.uss-bennington.org/ USS ''Bennington'', her history and her crew]
*[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vmqsoLOXA3Y Newsreel footage of the 1954 fire aftermath] from [[British Pathe]]
*[https://www.history.navy.mil/research/histories/ship-histories/danfs/b/bennington-ii.html USS ''Bennington'' from the U.S. Naval History Center]

{{Essex class aircraft carrier}}
{{1954 shipwrecks}}
{{Authority control}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Bennington (Cv-20)}}
[[Category:Essex-class aircraft carriers]]
[[Category:Ships built in Brooklyn]]
[[Category:1944 ships]]
[[Category:World War II aircraft carriers of the United States]]
[[Category:Cold War aircraft carriers of the United States]]
[[Category:Vietnam War aircraft carriers of the United States]]
[[Category:Maritime incidents in 1954]]
[[Category:Aircraft carrier fires]]
[[Category:Space capsule recovery ships]]