06/16/2026
The arrow on our tail and wing represent the USS Bunker Hill (CV-17), which was one of the most damaged carriers to survive WWII. Much of that damage came in a kamikaze attack on 11 May 1945, when the ship was struck by two Japanese Special Attack planes in quick succession while supporting the invasion of Okinawa. The catastrophic attack resulted in 393 crewmen killed or missing, 264 wounded, and severe damage to the ship.
Some of that damage can be seen here in this photo taken on 16 June 1945 as Bunker Hill sat in the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard’s Dry Dock No. 5 shortly after arriving at Bremerton, Washington. Note hole in the after flight deck and the collapsed aircraft elevator.
While the ship would be repaired, it would not be until after the war ended. She would report for duty in September under Operation Magic Carpet, bringing home American personnel from overseas. She was then placed in reserves. She and USS Franklin (CV-13), which had also been badly damaged by aerial attack, were the only Essex-class aircraft carriers that saw no combat or flight operations after the war. Although both ships had been fully repaired, their nearly new post-repair condition kept them in reserve while the Navy considered an “ultimate reconfiguration” for Bunker Hill and Franklin that was never carried out.
Rather than returning to sea, she found a second life as a stationary electronics test and support platform. Beginning in the 1960s, she served at Naval Air Station North Island in San Diego as a moored test ship used for evaluating electronics, communications systems, and carrier-related equipment.
She was finally stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1973 and sold for scrap in 1974. Ironically, one of the most heavily damaged Essex-class carriers of World War II survived the war, survived the reserve fleet, and lingered for nearly thirty years afterward, only to end her days tied to a pier rather than under way at sea.
