U.S.S. RENDOVA

USS Rendova was a Commencement Bay class escort aircraft carrier that was commissioned in 1945 in Tacoma, Washington. The vessel, weighing more than 11,000 tons, was commissioned almost two months after WWII ended, and was used for shakedown operations up until the spring of 1946.

After a year of inactivity, she took on a training role and embarked on three transport cruises to Turkey and the Far East, taking aircraft to the areas. After that, in January of 1950, the ship was decommissioned and became part of the Pacific Reserve Fleet.

During the Korean War crisis, Rendova was put back on active duty in 1951 and deployed to Korean waters. She operated mostly in the Yellow Sea offering air support to the Marine Corps fighter squadron and participating in various combat missions. After that run, the vessel was used for training and as an anti-submarine warfare ship.

She was decommissioned in June of 1955, reclassified in May of 1959 as an aircraft transport vessel under the hull number AKV-14, and remained in reserve until April of 1971. At that time, Rendova was stricken from the Navy list and was subsequently sold for scrapping in November of 1972.