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NavSource Online: Aircraft Carrier Photo Archive


Courtesy of CAPT Gene Oleson, CHC, USN (Ret)
(bluejacket.com)

USS HANCOCK   (CV-19)
(later CVA-19 and CV-19)



Flag Hoist/Radio Call Sign: November - Whiskey - Lima - Delta
Tactical Voice Radio Call: "RAMPAGE"


CLASS - ESSEX (Long Hull) AKA TICONDEROGA
Displacement 27,100 Tons, Dimensions, 888' (oa) x 93' x 28' 7" (Max)
Armament 12 x 5"/38AA, 32 x 40mm, 46 x 20mm, 82 Aircraft.
Armor, 4" Belt, 2 1/2" Hanger deck, 1 1/2" Deck, 1 1/2" Conning Tower.
Machinery, 150,000 SHP; Westinghouse Geared Turbines, 4 screws
Speed, 33 Knots, Crew 3448.

Operational and Building Data

Built by the Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass. Laid down as Ticonderoga 26 Jan 1943; renamed Hancock 1 May 1943; launched 24 Jan 1944 and commissioned 15 Apr 1944. Decommissioned to reserve 9 May 1947.

Reconstructed to SCB-27C design by the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard, Bremerton, Wash. Work began on 15 Dec 1951; redesignated as an "attack carrier" (CVA-19) on 1 Oct 1952 and recommissioned on 15 Feb 1954. Decommissioned again 13 Apr 1956 she received further modernization (project SCB-125) at the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, San Francisco, Cal., and was back in service on 15 Nov 1956.

Reclassified as a "Multi-Purpose Aircraft Carrier" (CV-19) on 30 June 1975. Decommissioned for the last time on 30 Jan 1976 and struck from the Navy list the following day, she was sold for scrap by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) on 1 Sep 1976.


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For Full Size Image
Size Image Description Contributed
By And/Or Copyright
Namesake
John Hancock
NS021927
67k

According to DANFS ("Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships," a publication of the Naval Historical Center) CV-19 was named after John Hancock (1737-1793). John Hancock was president of the Massachusetts-provincial Congress and president of the Continental Congress (1775-77). As holder of this office, he was the first signer of the Declaration of Independence.

Hancock served the Continental Congress until he became Governor of Massachusetts in 1780. He presided over the State's Constitutional Convention held in that year and also over the Massachusetts Convention of 1788 which ratified the Federal Constitution. With the exception of a term in the Confederate Congress (1785-86), he was Governor of Massachusetts until his death.

(Painting by John Singleton Copley, circa 1770-72).

Note: A Naval Historical Center article on "Ship Naming in the United States Navy," however, contradicts DANFS and states that CV-19 was named to honor former Navy ships named Hancock, and not the statesman himself.

National Archives
The Early Years — World War II
CV-19 Hancock
NS021948
111k

Official US Navy Photograph of the launching of USS Hancock (CV-19.) The photo was taken on 24 January 1944 as Hannah was being launched from Bethlehem Steel Company at Quincy, MA. The photo is from the Bureau of Aeronautics, #BuAer-230239.

Robert M. Cieri
CV-19
NS021941
102k

As completed, USS Hancock (CV-19) was camouflaged in Measure 32, Design 3A.

Robert M. Cieri
CV-19 + DD-246
NS0524613
143k

USS Bainbridge (DD-246) refueling from USS Hancock (CV-19), during the carrier's shakedown cruise in the western Atlantic and Caribbean areas, 14 June 1944. Official U.S. Navy photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (# 80-G-235276).

Fred Weiss
CV-19 Hancock
NS021901
104k Exact date unknown, but probably taken in the fall of 1944. USN
CV-19 Hancock
NS021916
118k

USS Hancock (CV-19) recovers a Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter, circa 1944. The ship is painted in camouflage Measure 32, Design 3A.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-K-1929-A).

Scott Dyben
CV-19 Hancock
NS021912
88k

Crewmen on USS Hancock (CV-19) move rockets to planes, while preparing for strikes on Formosa, 12 October 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-281338).

Scott Dyben
CV-19 Hancock
NS021913
85k

Carrier Raids on the Philippines, November 1944 — Flight Deck Officer on USS Hancock (CV-19) waves the "take-off" flag at a SB2C "Helldiver" bomber, during strikes on Manila Bay, 25 November 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-289604).

Scott Dyben
CV-19 Hancock
NS021917
152k

USS Hancock (CV-19) underway on 15 December 1944, during operations in the Philippines area.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (photo # NH 89281).

Note the flight deck was cut away just aft of the port catapult, to provide an unobstructed view for a third Mark 37 director that would have been mounted on the former hangar-deck catapult sponson. Only Ticonderoga and Hancock actually had the cut, and it was later eliminated as BuAer considered the cut "a serious hazard to aircraft taking off."

NHC
CV-19 Hancock
NS021915
115k

USS Hancock (CV-19) recovering aircraft during operations in the South China Sea, January 1945. Three F6F Hellcat fighters are flying overhead as a TBM Avenger torpedo plane approaches at left. Photographed from USS New Jersey (BB-62) by Lieutenant Commander Charles Fenno Jacobs, USNR.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-470280).

Scott Dyben
CV-19 Hancock
NS021940
86k

January 21, 1945.

1328: VT 124, Bu #23539 [a General Motors TBM-3 Avenger], pilot, LT(JG) C.R. Dean, 298954, and crewmen F.J. Blake, ARM3c, and D.E. Zima, AOM2c, made a normal landing and taxied forward. As the plane reached a point abreast the island a violent explosion occurred, believed to have been caused by the detonation of two (2) 500 lb. bombs adrift in the plane's bomb bay. The immediate results of the explosion were: casualties: killed - 62; critically injured - 46; seriously injured - 25; slightly injured - 20. A 10x16 foot hole in the flight deck, gallery deck area in the vicinity demolished, inboard side signal bridge wrecked. Three airplanes demolished. Numerous shrapnel holes throughout the island structure. Fires broke out on the flight, gallery, and hangar decks. Hauled clear of the formation and commenced maneuvering at various courses and speeds in an attempt to control the winds over the deck, and with high speed turns, to wash flooding water out of the hangar deck.

1342: Fire in hangar deck under control.

1405: Fire in gallery deck under control.

1406: Hancock planes in the vicinity commenced landing on other carriers of the Task Group.

1500: Rejoined station in formation.

1510: Emergency repairs to the flight deck completed.

(Text from "War History of USS Hancock," courtesy of the USS Hancock Association).

Image courtesy of Riley Cecil Cannon.
CV-19 Hancock
NS021905
102k As seen from the USS Essex (CV-9), smoke pours out of the Hancock's hanger deck after being struck by a kamikaze and its bomb on April 7, 1945. USN
CV-19 Hancock
NS021906
73k The Hancock is seen here burning fiercely as the Essex follows her, hiding in the smoke from any other kamikazes that might be in the area. USN
CV-19 Hancock
NS021907
112k As the fires are being extinguished, crewmen examine the remains of burnt out planes on the flight deck. USN
CV-19 Hancock
NS021914
104k

Casualties are buried at sea on 9 April 1945. They were killed when Hancock was hit by a "Kamikaze" while operating off Okinawa on 7 April.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-328574).

Scott Dyben
After SCB-27C Modernization
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021924
57k

USS Hancock (CVA-19), 45 ° off bow portside, 4 March 1954. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard photo NY8-10774.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives, Record Group 181.

Tracy White
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021925
56k

USS Hancock (CVA-19), broadside view, 28 April 1954. Puget Sound Naval Shipyard photo NY8-11091.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives, Record Group 181.

Tracy White
CVA-19 + DD-682
NS0568204
87k

USS Porterfield (DD-682) refueling from the recently converted USS Hancock (CVA-19), 1954. From a report and series of photos documenting shortcomings in the refueling system: note hoses dragging in the water.

Seattle Branch of the National Archives, Record Group 181.

Tracy White
CVA-19 + DD-682
NS0568205
106k
CVA-19 + DD-682
NS0568206
102k
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021944
189k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) underway, possibly in 1955: she spent that year conducting flight operations off California to test the Sparrow I and Regulus I (note missile on the port elevator) systems and Cutlass jets. Bow-mounted 3"/50 guns are still in place.

David Buell
After SCB-125 Modernization
CV-19
NS021942
219k

Underway, circa 1957.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021945
161k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) underway, circa 1957.

David Buell
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021918
98k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) underway at sea on 15 July 1957. She was then serving with the Seventh Fleet in the western Pacific. There are seven FJ Fury, ten F2H Banshee (two different models); two F7U Cutlass, fifteen AD Skyraider and three AJ Savage aircraft on her flight deck.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (photo # NH 97539).

NHC
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021919
121k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) in San Francisco Bay, California, in September 1957. Her crew is spelling out "Our Town" on her flight deck.

U.S. Naval Historical Center Photograph (photo # NH 94312), courtesy of Robert M. Cieri, 1982.

NHC
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021928
130k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) about to cruise, outbound, under the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco, 1958.

Robert M. Cieri
CV-19 Hancock
NS021902
173k Post SCB-125 Overhaul, which added the angled flight deck. USN
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021926
157k

Photo by Russ Meek, date and location unknown.

Pete Harlem
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021936
90k

An F3H-2 Demon, assigned to VF-213 "Black Lions," preparing to launch, August 23, 1962. F3H-2's were redesignated F-3B under the new, September 1962 joint designation system.

USS Hancock (CVA-19) deployed to WestPac with Carrier Air Group 21 (CVG-21, tail code "NP"), February 2–October 7, 1962.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021937
91k

An AD-6 Skyraider, assigned to VA-215 "Barn Owls," launches from USS Hancock (CVA-19), August 23, 1962. AD-6's were redesignated A-1H under the new, September 1962 joint designation system.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021938
107k

A WF-2 Tracer, assigned to VAW-11 "Early Eleven," prepares to launch, August 23, 1962. WF-2's were redesignated E-1B under the new, September 1962 joint designation system.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021939
121k

A WF-2 Tracer, assigned to VAW-11 "Early Eleven," launches from the port catapult, August 23, 1962.

An F8U-1 Crusader, assigned to VF-211 "Fighting Checkmates," awaits its turn on the starboard catapult. F8U-1's were redesignated F-8A under the new, September 1962 joint designation system.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021946
171k

Aerial view of USS Hancock (CVA-19) passing under the Golden Gate Bridge on April 17, 1963.

David Buell
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021920
98k

Catapult crewmen position an A-4C Skyhawk attack plane for launch, 24 March 1965. The carrier was then operating in Southeast Asian waters. Photographed by PH1 Jean Cote and PHC Robert Moeser. This A-4C appears to be Bureau # 149508. Markings below the cockpit indicate that the plane's assigned pilot was Lieutenant Commander Olof M. Carlson.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1110178-B).

NHC
Task Force 77
NS026119
166k

Task Force 77 operating in the South China Sea, March 1965. It had recently launched strikes against North Vietnam. Carriers present are (clockwise from bottom): Ranger (CVA-61), Yorktown (CVS-10), Coral Sea (CVA-43) and Hancock (CVA-19). The guided missile cruiser Canberra (CAG-2) is in the center of the formation. The destroyer screen includes: England (DLG-22), Gurke (DD-783), Rogers (DD-876), Walker (DD-517), O'Bannon (DD-450), Somers (DD-947), Jenkins (DD-447), John A. Bole (DD-755), Higbee (DD-806), Buck (DD-761), Joseph Strauss (DDG-16) and Ernest G. Small (DD-838). This photograph was specially posed, and does not represent a normal operating formation.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1109915).

James Shriver, PHCM, USN (Ret), notes: "The photo [...] was taken in an exercise we called 'Operation Candid Camera.' On day one it was tried by a Vigilante photo plane. They missed. So the next day it was tried again and the photos were taken with a hand held camera from a HS-8 helicopter. The photographer was PH1 Elvin C. Conarty (now deceased). I was there... I processed the film and printed the photos."

NHC
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021903
223k Subic Bay Philippine Islands, March 7 1966. ©Richard Leonhardt
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021908
44k Subic Bay, Philippine Islands, March 7, 1966. ©Richard Leonhardt
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021929
102k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) preparing to launch a strike against North Vietnam, June 1966.

Robert Hurst
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021921
102k

A crewman wheels a cart loaded with three Sidewinder air-to-air guided missiles across the flight deck, during operations off Vietnam in April 1967. Hancock was then on her third Vietnam War deployment. Photographed by PHC R.D. Moeser.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1142095).

NHC
CVA-41 + CVA-43 + CVA-19 + CVA-34
NS024345
175k

Aerial view of the San Francisco Naval Shipyard at Hunters Point, sometime between April and July 1968. USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) and USS Hancock (CVA-19) are easily identifiable. Also visible in this photo are Midway (CVA-41), undergoing her SCB-101.66 modernization in the drydock just aft of Coral Sea, and USS Oriskany (CVA-34), undergoing an 8-month overhaul in the background.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021930
117k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) leaves Pearl Harbor en route to Vietnam, after a change of command ceremony for Commander, U.S. Pacific Command — ADM John S. McCain, Jr. relieved ADM Ulysses S. Grant Sharp, July 31, 1968. This was the carrier's 4th Vietnam Cruise, July 18, 1968–March 3, 1969.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021909
88k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) underway. These photos are believed to have been taken during Hanna's fourth WestPac/Vietnam Cruise, July 18, 1968–March 3, 1969 — the third with Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21).

CSC H. R. Adams, USN (ret), via Larry Lee, RM1 USN (ret)
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021910
118k
CVAN-65, CVA-19, CVA-43
NS026583
362k

Front to back: USS Enterprise (CVAN-65), USS Hancock (CVA-19), three auxiliaries (which appear to be USS Markab (AR-23) with USS Pictor (AF-54) outboard, and USS Procyon (AF-61) forward of them), and USS Coral Sea (CVA-43) at NAS Alameda, CA, possibly in the first half of July 1969.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19
NS021943
95k

USS Hancock (CVA-19), with Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), passes under the Golden Gate Bridge, August 2, 1969, bound for WestPac and her fifth Vietnam cruise.

Courtesy of
William T. Larkins
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021923
103k

USS Hancock during an underway replenishment from USS Niagara Falls (AFS-3) including VertRep and UnRep during the 1969-70 period.

Photo by William P. Jones, M.D., Medical Officer, USS Niagara Falls
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021931
68k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) in the Gulf of Tonkin, March 17, 1971, as an F-8 Crusader flies by. U.S. Navy photo (# 1147821).

Robert Hurst
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021932
80k

Entering Sydney harbor, Australia, May 16, 1971.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021947
143k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) underway off San Diego, CA, circa 1972–1974.

David Buell
CV-19 Hancock
NS021904
104k

Overhead showing hurricane bow and angled flight deck, late in her career, in the 1970s.

USN
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021935
102k

September 1972. This A-4F Skyhawk (NP-302, BuNo 154990) of VA-212 "Rampant Raiders," part of Carrier Air Wing 21 (CVW-21), and flown by LT Weller, had to make an Emergency Barricade Landing after low oil pressure problems.

Official US Navy photograph (# CVA-19-9212-A-9-72).
Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021933
98k

"Hanna's Home!". Believed to have been taken as USS Hancock (CVA-19) was returning from her second-to-last Vietnam cruise, May 8, 1973–January 8, 1974.

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-43 Coral Sea
NS024346
146k

Aerial view of Naval Air Station Alameda, summer of 1974. Left to right: USS Coral Sea (CVA-43), USS Hancock (CVA-19), USS Oriskany (CVA-34), and USS Enterprise (CVAN-65).

Robert M. Cieri
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021922
110k

USS Hancock (CVA-19) off San Diego, California, 11 February 1975, shortly before beginning her final deployment to the western Pacific. There are twelve A-4 Skyhawk attack planes and one SH-3 helicopter on her flight deck.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1162018).

NHC
"Welcome Aboard"
CVA-19 Hancock
NS021934
102k

1974–1975.

Robert M. Cieri

For more photos and information about this ship, see:

USS HANCOCK CV-19 History
View This Vessels DANFS History Entry
(Located On The Hazegray & Underway Web Site, This Is The Main Archive For The DANFS Online Project.)

Crew Contact and Reunion Information
Date:  
Place:  
Contact:  
Address:  
Phone:  
E-mail:  
Web site: USS Hancock Association Website
Remarks:  

Additional Resources
Hazegray & Underway World Aircraft Carrier Pages By Andrew Toppan.
Official U.S. Navy Carrier Website
USS Hancock Association Website

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Last update: 11 December 2007