USS SIBONEY

USS Siboney (CVHE-112) was launched in 1944 and commissioned in 1945 as an escort aircraft carrier in Tacoma, Washington. She then sailed for San Diego before moving on to the Bay Area to participate in shakedown operations. Siboney was loaded with bombs, aircrafts, and soldiers and departed for Pearl Harbor.

Early Service

After she dropped off her cargo, she sailed on to Okinawa and Honshu, Japan. In Honshu, she participated in search operations for Rear Admiral William D. Sample and a PBM Mariner. She remained in Tokyo Bay until she was ordered to return to San Diego in 1946, where she departed for Norfolk, Virginia. She sailed between Norfolk and Guantanamo Bay, Cuba from 1947 until 1948. In 1948, she was temporarily inactivated. A few months later, she was activated and responsible for carrying former Air Force planes to Turkey. She then sailed to Boston for a complete overhaul.

Korean War

After completing refresher training in Guantanamo Bay and worked with the Atlantic Fleet until she was inactivated again. In 1950, she was activated and assigned to Norfolk. After participating in evaluation tests and carrier qualifications, Siboney played an important role in testing vertical landings, used by the Marine helicopters. After she was modernized, Siboney joined the 6th Fleet.

 

Siboney spent this point of her career participating in fleet operations in New England and the Caribbean and midshipman cruises to Spain. In the fall of 1955, she was loaded with supplies and sailed for the Gulf of Mexico, where she participated in hurricane and flood relief missions. She was deactivated in 1957 and turned to scrap in 1970.