A brief History of The USS Cabot: Active in the United States Navy until 1953, she was sold to Spain in 1967. In her 22-year service in the Spanish Armada, she played host to US presidents Johnson, and Nixon and chiefs-of-state Mitterand, Franco and De Gaulle. The Cabot was the third oldest continuous service warship in the world, it was the last straight wood-deck carrier in the world. Her history includes nine battle stars, a presidential unit citation, over 360 enemy planes and 265 ships destroyed in World War Two over 525,000 nautical miles of patrols and a Spanish Royal Crown and NATO proclamation for her work in antisubmarine patrols. With all of this, she is best known for one passenger that sailed on her during World War Two, Ernie Pyle. Dispatches from the Pacific, one of the classics of World War Two, were written from her decks. Her almost 50 years of naval history reflects the struggles and triumphs of two navies and thousands of sailors. Her keel was laid down in the peaceful days before WWII as the light cruiser Wilmington. She and her sister ships were to be completed in a two-and-a-half-year period and then join the fleet after an extensive training period. December 7, 1941, changed all that. The order to convert uncompleted cruisers to carriers was given to New York Shipbuilding Corporation on January 7, 1942. Her first war action followed an escorting rescue of the Intrepid back to Pearl Harbor. Her next major action was one of the most famous air battles in history, the Great Mariana's Turkey Shoot. Of The 395 Japanese planes shot down that day Cabot shot down 52. Her air group was nicknamed "The Meat Axe Squadron" for the carnage they inflicted on the Japanese that day. The "Meat Axe Squadron" still holds the Navy destruction record for aerial combat of ten planes per man. Perhaps one of the most dramatic incidents of the Pacific directly involved the Cabot. It was Admiral Halsey's Japanese fishing expedition code-named "Streamlined Bait." In October of 1944, the Japanese still had a substantial fleet in the South Pacific. Halsey hoped to draw them out, and in one decisive stroke destroy the entire Japanese South Pacific Fleet. To do so, he stated he would "go fishing." His expedition used the most expensive bait ever used in the Pacific, the crippled cruisers Canberra and Houston, five destroyers and the Cabot. With two cruisers undertow and apparently guarded by only one fast carrier, Halsey hoped the Japanese Fleet would pounce. The Japanese Fleet badly needed a victory and the "bait" was tempting. A major victory in the South Pacific would aid the war effort and strengthen the Emperor's resolve. What the Japanese didn't know was that the main U.S. fleet stood over the horizon waiting for the Japanese What Halsey hadn't counted on was the skill of the Cabot's air groups. The Japanese sent a wave of 70 planes against Cabot's eight pilots of the famed "Meat Axe Squadron?' In less than fifteen minutes, 27 enemy planes had been shot down with no loss to the squadron. Three Cabot pilots made their entire qualification as ace on this one action. Bitten by the bait the Japanese turned and ran. While Halsey was upset at not being able to destroy the Japanese fleet, he still signaled a "Job Well Done" to the men of the Cabot. The Battle of Leyte Gulf is regarded as the greatest in naval warfare. The VT-29 squadron did the sinking of the Japanese super battleship Musashi and battleship Kongo. Cabot TBM pilot Lt. Howard Skidmore, his plane on fire and with a wounded crewman, dove his burning plane at the Musashi and is credited with sinking her. With their fleet destroyed in actions of the previous year, the Japanese then launched the Kamikaze as their final weapon. Cabot took two on November 25th in a space of three minutes. Famed war correspondent Ernie Pyle was on deck when it happened. He immortalized the drama of this attack in the World War Two classic "The Last Chapter". Lt. Howard Skidmore, who was the pilot of a plane when its propeller was sheared off by the Kamikaze as it crossed the flight deck, gives the following version. "My plane was the last to be catapulted for a large air strike on Luzon. Noticing the gunners firing aft, I saw two enemy aircraft flying low, crossing the Cabot's wake from starboard to port. Shortly after passing the wake of the carrier intrepid, the second plane did a right wing over and drove into the Intrepid. By this time, there were many enemy planes flying in, around and over the formation." "Just as I had taxied onto the catapult and was hooking up for the shot, the Task Force commander ordered all carriers to cease launching and turn starboard, I was not ordered to cut my engine, but I had slowed down the prop to a low rpm. "By the sound of the 40mm and 20mm, I knew the enemy planes were close. I positioned myself in front of my armor plate, lowered my seat and adjusted my gear to give me as much protection as possible. The next thing I knew, I was sitting in a flaming furnace. I ordered my crew out and climbed out the starboard side onto the flight deck. "The Kamikaze had crashed just ahead on the port side of the TBF. The bomb had exploded and the plane was burning. I ran aft through heavy smoke to a catwalk and ducked into an ammo storage room when I heard the gunners open up again. Another Japanese plane crashed into the port side amid ship at the waterline, with much damage and loss to the gun crews." Skidmore, who retired with the rank of Captain, stood on the deck for the first time in 40 years when the Cabot arrived in New Orleans. "There is no doubt in my mind the Kamikaze had me in his sights. He came close enough to knock off my propeller and if he had a few more inches he would have gotten me," he said. Thirty-five men were killed and 67 wounded in the attack. Though the ship had 97 holes in her hull and massive damage to her hangar and flight decks she stayed on station. Ernie Pyle was so moved by the men and the ship's fight that he gave her the nickname that stayed with her throughout her career "The Iron Woman." While Cabot was active throughout the war and served as the US Navy training carrier until 1952, her last major action netted her the largest prize of the war. The sinking of the super battleship Yamoto is a feat that can never be duplicated. Her 60,000 plus tons being a record for any battleship. The Cabot launched five strikes on the ship and is credited with four torpedo hits. Immediately after the last strike, the Yamato exploded and went to the bottom. In her last major action Cabot again emerged a winner. In her 17 months of combat, the Cabot was responsible for destroying 360 enemy planes, torpedoing or bombing 265 ships and destroying major shore installations throughout the Pacific. She won nine battle stars for her actions in the Marshall Islands, Hollandia, Marianas, Western Carolina Islands, Leyte, Luzon, Iwo Jima and Okinawa. Her Presidential Unit Citation by Harry Truman best sums up her service: "For extraordinary heroism in action against enemy Japanese forces in the air, ashore and afloat in the Pacific War Area from January 29, 1944 to April 8, 1945. Operating continuously in the most forward areas, the USS Cabot and her air groups struck crushing blows toward annihilating Japanese fighting power; they provided air cover to our amphibious forces; they fiercely countered the enemy's aerial attacks and destroyed his planes; and they inflicted terrific losses on the Japanese in Fleet and Merchant units sunk or damaged. Daring and dependable in combat, the Cabot, with her gallant officers and men, rendered loyal service in achieving the ultimate defeat of the Japanese Empire."
**** Denver Mullican****Sea Classics, Magazine March 1990
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| USS Cabot CVL-28 Association.
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| History Of Air Group 31 Web Page
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