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DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY -- NAVAL HISTORICAL CENTER
805 KIDDER BREESE SE -- WASHINGTON NAVY YARD
WASHINGTON DC 20374-5060

Online Library of Selected Images:
-- U.S. NAVY SHIPS --

USS Bairoko (CVE-115, later AKV-15), 1945-1960

USS Bairoko, a 10,300-ton Commencement Bay class escort aircraft carrier, was built at Tacoma, Washington. Commissioned in July 1945, she served in the Pacific throughout her career. Bairoko cruised to the Far East in October 1945-January 1946, took part in the atomic bomb tests at Bikini in mid-1946 and made another Western Pacific deployment in February-May 1947. She decommissioned in April 1950, but was brought back into commission the following September for Korean War service.

In November-December 1950, Bairoko transported aircraft from the U.S. to the war zone, then remained in the area until August 1951, operating U.S. Marine Corps aircraft in support of UN forces ashore and anti-submarine planes to guard against the possibility of Soviet intervention in the conflict. She suffered casualties and damage from an accidental explosion and fire in May 1951, but was able to remain in action. The carrier returned to Korea for two more wartime tours, in December 1951-June 1952 and February-August 1953. In early 1954, she was a member of the force supporting nuclear weapons tests in the mid-Pacific. Following routine operations off the U.S. west coast, Bairoko was prepared for inactivation and decommissioned in February 1955. Reclassified as an aircraft transport in May 1959, she was redesignated AKV-15 but saw no service in that role. USS Bairoko was sold for scrapping in August 1960.

This page features all our views of USS Bairoko.

If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."

Click on the small photograph to prompt a larger view of the same image.

Photo #: NH 97320

USS Bairoko (CVE-115)


Photographed during the later 1940s or early 1950s, off San Diego, California.
This photograph was received by the Naval Photographic Center in December 1959, many years after it was taken.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 100KB; 740 x 610 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97319

USS Bairoko (CVE-115)


"The 10,900 ton escort aircraft carrier, USS BAIROKO, is shown as she arrived at Pearl Harbor Thursday evening, July 28 (1949), from San Diego, Calif., with 30 officers and 150 enlisted personnel from Composite Squadron 25, which will receive six weeks' training with Fleet All Weather Training Unit at Barber's Point Naval Air Station, Oahu, T.H. The BAIROKO is commanded by Captain S. Gazze, USN, of Coronado, California".
Quoted from the original picture caption, released by 14th Naval District Public Information Office on 29 July 1949.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 89KB; 740 x 615 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97321

USS Bairoko (CVE-115)


"Escort Carrier, the USS BAIROKO, (CVE-115), part of the Air Support Group under the command of Rear Admiral M.R. Greer, USN, steams past snow covered mountains of Kodiak while recovering Marine support aircraft during 'Operation MICOWEX'".
Quoted from the original picture caption. This view was taken by a USS Boxer (CV-21) photographer on 10 February 1949. A U.S. Marine Corps F4U aircraft is flying over the carrier and other F4Us are parked on her flight deck, forward. Kodiak Island is in the background.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 96KB; 740 x 605 pixels

 
Photo #: NH 97004

USS Bairoko (CVE-115)


"Everybody turns to when it's reactivation time. Here storekeeper striker D.W. Shore ... and Glenn Hobbs ... remove a dehumidifier from the hangar deck of USS Bairoko prior to its actual reactivation by San Francisco Naval Shipyard employees."
"Navy men like Seaman Hobbs and Storekeeper Shore were given the task of helping in reassembling the ship that would be theirs when the ship departed from San Francisco."
Quoted caption was released with this photo circa August 1950.
Bairoko recommissioned for Korean War service on 12 September 1950.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the "All Hands" collection at the Naval Historical Center.

Online Image: 111KB; 595 x 765 pixels

 


In addition to the images presented above, the National Archives appears to hold other views of USS Bairoko (CVE-115). The following list features some of these images:

The images listed below are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections.
DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".



  • Photo #: 80-G-346691
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway off Vashon Island, in Puget Sound, Washington, 26 July 1945.
    Port quarter aerial view, taken from 400' altitude.

  • Photo #: 80-G-346692
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway off Vashon Island, Washington, 26 July 1945.
    Port broadside aerial view, taken from 400' altitude.

  • Photo #: 80-G-346693
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway off Vashon Island, Washington, 26 July 1945.
    Port bow aerial view, taken from 400' altitude.


  • Photo #: 80-G-643247
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway at sea, with two aircraft parked forward. View is dated 1 September 1954.
    Starboard bow aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-643248
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway at sea, with crewmen spelling out "Ba Ro Te" in Japanese Hiragana characters. View is dated 1 September 1954.
    Port bow aerial view.

  • Photo #: 80-G-643250
    USS Bairoko (CVE-115) underway at sea, with no aircraft on her flight deck. View is dated 1 September 1954.
    Port broadside aerial view.


    Reproductions of these images should be available through the National Archives photographic reproduction system for pictures not held by the Naval Historical Center.

    The images listed in this box are NOT in the Naval Historical Center's collections. DO NOT try to obtain them using the procedures described in our page "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions".


  • If you want higher resolution reproductions than the digital images presented here, see: "How to Obtain Photographic Reproductions."


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    5 September 2000