USS Bataan (CVL-29/AVT-4), originally planned as USS Buffalo (CL-99) and also classified as CV-29, was an 11,000 ton light aircraft carrier which was commissioned in the United States Navy during World War II on 17 November 1943. Serving in the Pacific Theatre for the rest of the war, taking part in operations around New Guinea, the Invasion of the Mariana Islands, the Battle of the Philippine Sea, the Battle of Okinawa, and attacks on the Japanese home islands. After World War II's end she was converted into an anti-submarine carrier and placed in reserve on 11 February 1947.
She was reactivated on 13 May 1950 at Philadelphia in order to participate in the Korean War. After the war she returned to Pearl Harbor, and reported for a preinactivation overhaul on 26 August 1953. After moving to the San Francisco Naval Shipyard, Bataan was decommissioned on 9 April 1954 and assigned to the Pacific Reserve Fleet at San Francisco. Although she was reclassified an auxiliary aircraft transport and redesignated AVT-4 on 15 May 1959, her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 September 1959. She was sold to Nicolai Joffe Corp., Beverly Hills, California, on 19 June 1961 for scrapping.
Design and construction
thumb|Captain Valentine H. Schaeffer, USN, the carrier's Commanding Officer, cuts the cake at a reception following her commissioning ceremonies, at Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, 17 November 1943. Looking on are Philippine Commonwealth Vice President [[Sergio Osmeña and Miss Rosie Osmeña.]]
The vessel that eventually became the light aircraft carrier Bataan was originally planned as the Buffalo (CL-99). Following the December 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor, the need for more carriers became urgent. In response, the Navy ordered the conversion of nine Cleveland-class light cruisers then under construction to completion as light aircraft carriers. These became known as the s. Thus, CL-99 was reclassified CV-29 and renamed Bataan on 2 June 1942. She was further reclassified as CVL-29 on 15 July 1943.
Bataan displaced light and at full load. She had an overall length of and a waterline length of . Her extreme beam was and her beam at the waterline was . Her draft was maximum. For armament she was equipped with 24 Bofors 40 mm gun and 22 Oerlikon 20 mm cannon for anti-aircraft protection. She normally carried 30 aircraft. Her armor consisted of of belt armor, on the decks, and on the conning tower. She was powered by four Babcock & Wilcox steam boilers and General Electric geared turbines producing for her four screws. She had a design speed of and had a range of at . She normally carried a complement of 1569.
The vessel was ordered 16 December 1940 as a light cruiser and reordered as a light aircraft carrier on 2 June 1942. Following this, her aircraft returned to several weeks of air attacks on Okinawa and Kyushu. The heaviest Japanese counter-attack took place on 14 May when eight crewmen were killed and 26 others wounded. During these April and May operations, her gunners and pilots claimed a share in dozens of kills at a cost of nine aircraft and four air crewmen. Finally, on 29 May, she steamed south to the Philippines anchoring in San Pedro Bay on 1 June.
Following a month of minor repairs to the warship and liberty for her crew, Bataan sailed in company with TG 38.3 on 1 July for the Japanese home islands. There her aircraft struck airfields in the Tokyo Bay area on 10 July, hit shore installations in northern Honshu and Hokkaido on 14 and 15 July, and helped to damage in Yokosuka Harbor on 18 July. Then her aircraft struck the naval base at Kure on 24 July, helping to sink and 15 small craft in the harbor. Bad weather canceled most of her air strikes late in the month, limiting her aircraft to attacks on 28 and 30 July, and, because a typhoon passed through the area, raids did not resume until 9 August. On that day her aircraft struck Misawa Air Base in northern Japan and on 10 August they battered Aomori. She returned to Honshu on 13 August working over the Tokyo area until 0635 on 15 August 1945 when all strikes were canceled following news that the Japanese intended to surrender.
The following day, 22 April, communist troops began another heavy attack toward Seoul, and Bataans aircraft flew 136 close air support sorties against them over the next four days. After a brief period of replenishment and upkeep at Sasebo between 27 and 30 April, Bataan returned to the Yellow Sea on 1 May. In company with the British carrier , she launched 244 offensive sorties against enemy troop concentrations, helping to stall and then reverse the communist offensive by 10 May. Later in the month, Bataans Corsairs concentrated on the destruction of junks and sampans in the Taedong Gang estuary until bad weather canceled flight operations. During these strikes, one pilot and aircraft was lost after being hit by 40-millimeter ground fire east of Anak.
Relieved on 3 June by a British carrier, Bataan offloaded the aircraft and personnel of VMF-312 and proceeded for home via Japan, eventually mooring in San Diego harbor on 25 June. Following two weeks of rest and recreation for her crew, Bataan steamed to Bremerton, Washington, on 9 July for an extensive overhaul at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. When those repairs were complete, Bataan steamed to San Diego on 7 November for underway refresher training. Over the next 10 weeks, she conducted carrier landing qualifications and ASW exercises in preparation for a second deployment to the Far East.