USS Mindoro (CVE-120)

Mindoro was 557 ft 1 in (169.80 m) long, had a beam of 75 ft (23 m), displaced 11,373 long tons (11,556 t), and had a draft of 32 ft (9.8 m). The ship was powered by two Allis-Chalmers geared steam turbines, each driving one screw, using steam provided by four boilers, and were rated at a total of 16,000 shp (12,000 kW). Mindoro had a top speed of 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph), was armed with two [[5"/38 caliber gun|5 in (127 mm) dual-purpose guns in single mounts, thirty-six 40 mm (2 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns, and twenty 20 mm (1 in) Oerlikon light AA cannons, and carried 33 planes. She had a complement of 1,066.[1]

Mindoro was laid down by Todd-Pacific Shipyards, Inc., in Tacoma, Washington on 2 January 1945, and launched on 27 June 1945. She was sponsored by Mrs. R. L. Bowman, and commissioned at Tacoma on 4 December 1945, with Captain Edwin R. Peck in command. The ship was nicknamed the "Mighty Minnie".[1][2]

A K-class blimp landing on Mindoro in the 1950s

After her shakedown cruise along the West Coast, Mindoro sailed for the East Coast late in January 1946 and arrived Norfolk, Virginia, on 15 February. Assigned to Carrier Division 14, she began carrier air training operations along the East Coast. In May she joined ships of the 8th Fleet for exercises in waters of the West Indies. During the remainder of the year, she ranged the Atlantic from New England to Cuba, training naval aviators and taking part in anti-submarine Hunter killer exercises.[1]

As the nation underwent a general demobilization, Mindoro continued to carry out a busy schedule of training and readiness operations. During the next nine years she operated out of Norfolk. Her numerous type training and fleet exercises sent her the length of the eastern coast of North America from Davis Strait to the Caribbean, and across the Atlantic to the British Isles and the Mediterranean. In 1950 and again in 1954, she deployed to the Mediterranean where she bolstered the forces of the 6th Fleet.[1]

After completing exercises off the Virginia Capes, Mindoro steamed to Boston on 17 January 1955. She decommissioned at Boston on 4 August 1955 and joined the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. While berthed at Boston, she was reclassified as AKV‑20 on 7 May 1959. Later that year, she was authorized for disposal, and her name was struck from the Navy List on 1 December. Subsequently, she was disposed of in June 1960 and scrapped at Hong Kong later that year.[1]

• This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. The entry can be found here.

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