USS Valley Forge (CV-45)

USS Valley Forge (CV-45) was an Ticonderoga-class aircraft carrier, a variant of the Essex-class. While she missed World War Two in the Pacific, she was the first U.S. aircraft carrier to play a combat role in the Korean War.

Valley Forge is in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania, as is the city of Philadelphia, who funded construction of the ship with a special war bond drive. Her keel was laid on 14 September 1943 at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and was commissioned on 3 November 1946, sponsored by Mrs. A.A. Vandegrift, wife of the Commandant of the Marine Corps. Captain John W. Harris was her first commanding officer.

Initial duty

Arriving at her home port of San Diego, California on 14 August 1947, she formally joined the Pacific Fleet and embarker Air Group 11,"flying the flag of Rear Admiral Harold L. Martin, Commander of Task Force 38—got underway for Hawaii on 9 October."

"The task force devoted almost three months to training operations out of Pearl Harbor before sailing for Australia on 16 January 1948. After a visit to Sydney, the American warships conducted exercises with units of the Royal Australian Navy and then steamed to Hong Kong. During a voyage from the British crown colony to Tsingtao, China, orders arrived directing the task force to return home via the Atlantic. With her escorting destroyers, the ship continued the round-the-world trip with calls at Hong Kong; Manila; Singapore; Trincomalee, Ceylon; and Ras Tanura, Saudi Arabia. After operating for a time in the Persian Gulf, she became the largest aircraft carrier to transit the Suez Canal. The ship finally arrived at San Diego, via the Mediterranean Sea, the Atlantic Ocean, and the Panama Canal."