Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Shangri-La

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ClassEssex class
TypeAircraft carrier (CV)
HullCV-38
FateAfloat. Not sunk. Survived the war.
Armament (class)Fleet carrier. Flight deck, with the island set aft of amidships.
Command

Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.

The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.

Shangri-La
The U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Shangri-La (CV-38) underway in the Pacific Ocean, with her crew paraded on the flight deck, 17 August 1946. Note use of the air group identification letter "Z" on the flight deck instead of her hull number ("38"). Public domain.

USS Shangri-La (CV-38) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier of the United States Navy. She was a fleet carrier, a ship built to take aircraft to sea with the fast carrier force.

James Duke Barner was her captain from 15 September 1944. His command ran through the spring of 1945, when she went into the fighting named for her, and he stayed in the post until 16 July 1945.

That fighting was at Okinawa, dated from 1 April 1945. Shangri-La joined the fast carriers on 24 April and from that day worked against Okinawa with them. She came through the battle afloat.

On 16 July 1945 Richard Francis Whitehead relieved Barner and took command. Whitehead remained captain until 26 November 1945. Shangri-La survived the war. She was not sunk, and the hull came through the conflict still afloat.

The pictures on this page are the originals.