The name predates the ship you are reading about by 165 years. The first Bon Homme Richard was the former French merchant vessel Duc de Duras, procured for the Continental Navy by Benjamin Franklin while serving as the colonies' Commissioner to France. The French converted her into a warship and rechristened her Bon Homme Richard in Franklin's honor: the phrase is the French idiom for "Poor Richard," as in his famous almanac. She was a tired and weathered Indiaman of 152 feet, with 40 guns mounted in hulls never designed for them.
Captain John Paul Jones took command and made her ready for war. On 19 June 1779 she sailed from L'Orient, France, leading a seven-ship squadron on a mission to harass British shipping lanes off the English and Scottish coasts. For three months the squadron raided and skirmished. On the night of 23 September 1779, off Flamborough Head on the Yorkshire coast, Bon Homme Richard intercepted the powerful British frigate HMS Serapis, commanded by Captain Richard Pearson. The first exchange of broadsides was catastrophic for the Americans: two of Bon Homme Richard's own guns burst, killing their crews, and the newer British frigate held the superior position. Jones' only answer was to close the distance, grappling the two hulls together so the Serapis could not bring her broadside to bear. His Marines took to the rigging and sniped the British gun crews below.
"I have not yet begun to fight."
Captain John Paul Jones, 23 September 1779, in reply to a British demand for surrender
The battle lasted more than three hours in the dark. At its height, with the Bon Homme Richard on fire and taking on water through her shot-opened hull, the British hailed across asking whether the Americans had struck their colors. Jones' reply was defiant and became the most enduring words in American naval history. The Bon Homme Richard and her crew prevailed. The ship was so extensively damaged she was ordered scuttled the following day, sinking with her colors still flying. The surviving crew claimed the Serapis and sailed her to Texel, Holland, arriving 3 October 1779.
USS Bon Homme Richard (LHD-6)
A third ship carried the name into the 21st century. USS Bon Homme Richard (LHD-6), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship, was commissioned on 16 August 1998 at Naval Station North Island, San Diego. She served with the Pacific Fleet for more than two decades, deploying to the Western Pacific and taking part in humanitarian and combat operations. On 12 July 2020, while moored at Naval Base San Diego, a fire broke out in her well deck and burned for four days. The damage was assessed as beyond economical repair, and she was decommissioned on 14 April 2021. Three ships, three centuries, the same name.
The following history is adapted from The Last CVA by Lt. Pete Clayton, USN, The Hook (Tailhook Association), Winter 1998, reproduced with permission.
Only one aircraft carrier in naval history has the distinction of serving in three wars as an attack carrier, and that is the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31). Bonnie Dick, as she affectionately became known, joined Task Force 38 in time to fly strikes against the Japanese home islands at the end of World War II, made two cruises to the Far East during the Korean War, and finished her proud career with six combat deployments to Vietnam. In logging a total of fifteen overseas deployments during her twenty-six-year career, she operated aircraft as varied as Hellcats and Avengers to Crusaders and Skyhawks. Combining her Korean and Vietnam box scores, her planes shot down more MiGs than any other carrier. She was the fourteenth Essex-class carrier and the last of these famous sisters to be completed in time for service in World War II.
Built by the New York Navy Yard, she was authorized by Congress on 9 July 1942. Laid down 1 February 1943, she was launched 29 April 1944, sponsored by Mrs. John S. McCain, wife of Vice Admiral John S. McCain, USN, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air). Bon Homme Richard was commissioned at the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 26 November 1944 under the command of Captain A.O. Rule, Jr., USN. Her original armament was twelve 5-inch 38-caliber guns, ten 40mm quadruple mounts, and numerous 20mm installations.
Upon completion of fitting out and running the degaussing range at Bayonne, she reported to ComAirLant on 14 January 1945. Training exercises were conducted in the Chesapeake Bay with Carrier Air Group Sixteen and, following an inspection on 22 January, the ship departed for a shakedown cruise to the Gulf of Paria, Trinidad. CVG-16 had been reformed from the original CAG-16 with approximately forty percent combat-experienced personnel; flight operations quickly reached the efficiency of carriers operating in the combat zone. The ship returned to the Bayonne Navy Yard via Norfolk for post-shakedown availability, and on 19 March, with CVG-16 embarked, was underway for the Panama Canal.
Transiting the canal without incident, Bon Homme Richard was ordered to San Diego to load additional aircraft and personnel for transport to Pearl Harbor. She departed San Diego on 1 April, arriving at Pearl four days later. From 6 April to 22 May she conducted training exercises in the Hawaiian area with CVG-16, CVG(N)-91, CVG-88, and CVG-2 embarked for various periods, and had seven additional 40mm quad guns installed during this time. CVG-16 was detached on 5 May and ordered to Saipan, and on 21 May CVG(N)-91 reported aboard. With this assignment of a Night Air Group, the ship became a CV(N) — USS Enterprise, then the only night carrier with the fast carrier task force, had been damaged during operations in support of the Okinawa campaign. CV(N)-31 departed Pearl Harbor on 22 May for Ulithi, flying 379 night sorties and 113 day sorties en route under ideal training conditions.
The Pacific Fleet's newest carrier joined Task Force 38 on 4 June and proceeded to fly CAPs and launch day and night strikes. Task Force 38 was completing Okinawa operations, and in the three remaining days Bon Homme Richard flew CAP and launched strikes against Okino Daito Jima. The ship then proceeded to the new fleet anchorage at Leyte Gulf, remaining from 13–30 June. She sortied from Leyte Gulf on 1 July for air strikes and surface bombardments of enemy installations on Hokkaido, Honshu, and Shikoku in the Japanese home islands. During the period of operations with the Third Fleet she sustained no damage from enemy action. The ship's guns fired on enemy aircraft only once — on 9 August 1945, when a Japanese Grace attacked the force and was shot down by the CAP.
CVG(N)-91 accounted for nine confirmed enemy aircraft destroyed, plus two probables. The outstanding individual score was that of Ensign P.T. McDonald, VF(N)-91, who on a dusk CAP on 13 August shot down four aircraft and damaged a fifth. He was eventually credited with four kills and an assist, a tally still carried in the kill markings painted on his aircraft. With the cessation of hostilities on 15 August, planes from the carrier flew no offensive strikes but were launched purely as a defensive measure.
From 31 August through 15 September the ship operated off the south and east coast of Honshu, flying CAP, airfield reconnaissance, prisoner-of-war camp reconnaissance, and supply drop missions. Following the formal surrender on 2 September, Bon Homme Richard entered Tokyo Bay on the 16th and dropped anchor after being continuously underway for seventy-eight eventful days. On 20 October, after nearly seven months away from the shores of the United States, she passed back under the Golden Gate Bridge escorted by her own air group and those of USS Yorktown. Between 8 November 1945 and 16 January 1946 Bonnie Dick made two Magic Carpet trips to the Far East, bringing 7,817 troops home for separation. She was decommissioned at Puget Sound on 9 January 1947 and placed in the 19th Reserve Fleet at Bremerton alongside five of her sisters: USS Essex (CV-9), USS Yorktown (CV-10), USS Ticonderoga (CV-14), USS Lexington (CV-16), and USS Bunker Hill (CV-17).
Shortly after Communist forces invaded South Korea in June 1950, Bon Homme Richard was taken out of the Reserve Fleet for reactivation at Puget Sound. She was recommissioned as CV-31 on 15 January 1951, with Fleet Admiral Chester Nimitz delivering the keynote address, under the command of Captain Cecil B. Gill, USN. After a thirty-day yard availability and underway acceptance tests, she moved to Bangor, Washington to load ammunition, then departed for NAS Alameda on 23 February and commenced underway training on 5 March.
While at sea on 15 March, the carrier recovered her first aircraft since recommissioning — an AD-4Q flown by her new CAG, Commander Harold N. Funk, Commander CVG-102. Fifteen days later the 1,000th aircraft landed on her flight deck, an F9F-2 flown by Lt. Phillip of VF-781. Training completed, she returned to Puget Sound for post-shakedown repairs and then to NAS North Island, where she loaded CVG-102: VF-781 (F9F-2 Panthers), VF-783 (F4U-4 Corsairs), VF-874 (F4U-4 Corsairs), VA-923 (AD-2 Skyraiders), VC-3 (F4U-5NL), VC-11 (AD-4W), VC-35 (AD-4N), VC-61 (F9F-2P), and two HO3S-1 helicopters of HU-1. CVG-102's fighter and attack squadrons were recalled reserve units gathered from reserve bases across the nation.
Departing San Diego on 10 May, Bon Homme Richard steamed to Pearl Harbor for final flight operations training, including night launches in preparation for heckler attacks with Task Group 77. On 28 May she was diverted from Yokosuka and, after launching sixteen pool F4Us for NAS Atsugi, proceeded to the action area. Passing through the Van Diemen Strait, she entered the East China Sea on 29 May and the following day joined Task Force 77 — which included USS Philippine Sea (CV-47) and USS Boxer (CV-21) — near the 39th Parallel.
At 1501 on 31 May 1951, Bonnie Dick launched four F9F-2 Panthers for her first strike in the Korean War. The armed reconnaissance group covered highways and railroads from Wonsan to Songjin, killing 100 enemy troops and destroying seven oxcarts, and assisted in naval gunfire support for USS New Jersey (BB-62). One plane was lost on the launch but the pilot was recovered. For the next seventeen days, planes of Bon Homme Richard ranged over North Korea hitting rail lines, highways, bridges, truck convoys, trench and mortar positions, warehouses, and troop barracks. On 6 June, 149 offensive sorties and 11 defensive sorties were flown from her decks — the cruise high mark. She moored in Sasebo from 18–30 June, then returned to the task force. For the first two months off Korea her aircraft made 1,433 offensive and 1,306 defensive sorties.
Four more line periods followed through the autumn. On 24 August her planes moved north to the Yalu River to cooperate with USAF bombers hitting targets at Rashin and Najin. During a third tour eleven planes were lost, three pilots killed, and four injured. From 19 September to 18 October a total of 1,119 offensive and 299 defensive sorties were flown, with emphasis on cutting rail lines and destroying marshalling yards to slow supplies from Manchuria. On 9 October, CVG-102 Skyraiders and Corsairs executed coordinated attacks on a vital mining center some 35 miles from Songjin, decimating the ore plants and destroying or damaging thirty-one buildings. Some 4,600 runs were made during the twenty-nine days, effectively cutting Communist rail lines many times.
During the fifth and final tour, 31 October through 30 November, Bonnie Dick's pilots came into contact for the first time with the Russian-built MiG-15. On 27 November, Skyraiders and Corsairs flying protective cover for a downed Essex pilot were jumped by MiG-15s. The battle was inconclusive, no kills on either side; one AD came back with damage. Bon Homme Richard returned to San Diego on 17 December, remaining through the holidays before journeying to Bremerton for overhaul and a return to San Diego for training prior to a second Korean tour.
Standing out of San Diego on 20 May 1952 with CVG-7 embarked, Bon Homme Richard stopped at Pearl Harbor and Yokosuka before joining Task Force 77 on 23 June. Preparations began immediately for a major strike at the heretofore politically protected North Korean hydroelectric power plants. An early morning attack had to be cancelled because of excessive cloud cover, but by afternoon sufficient wind had moved the cover and exposed the plants. Bonnie Dick's aircraft joined those of USS Boxer, Philippine Sea, and USS Princeton, along with USAF bombers, to hit the Kyosen No. 2 Hydroelectric plant some 30 miles northwest of Hamhung — nine AD-4s (VA-75), nine F4Us (VF-74), and eleven F9F-2s (VF-71 and VF-72). A second strike of six ADs, six F4Us, and seven F9F-2s then eliminated Fusen No. 2 plant, which was considered permanently out of commission. The following day CVG-7 struck the Kyosen No. 4 plant, reporting complete destruction, then hammered the railroad marshalling yard near Tanchon. The campaign against the hydro complex continued through early July, alongside strikes on transportation, supply warehouses, and troop barracks in the Wonsan valley.
In late July, her aircraft joined a combined armed-forces strike on the North Korean capital of Pyongyang — Navy carrier-based aircraft alongside land-based Marine and Air Force squadrons, Australian Air Force, and Royal Navy aircraft. CVG-7 flew flak suppression for the strike group, then hit the marshalling yards. On 26 July, early-morning hecklers caught a supply train in a tunnel, trapped it by cutting the rails at both ends, and called in a patrolling destroyer to finish the job. The Puryong No. 2 hydroelectric plant was next attacked, leaving only one wall of the powerhouse standing. A strategic zinc and lead plant some 25 miles north of Tanchon was also heavily damaged. Some 840 offensive and 671 defensive sorties were flown during the line period.
En route to Yokosuka for a rest, she was suddenly called back to the task force to replace USS Boxer, which had been seriously damaged by a hangar deck fire. She raced back and launched the following day against Hamhung, Pukchong, and Sindok lead and zinc mines. On 13 September, a major strike near the Manchurian border dropped some 700 bombs on supply facilities, transportation and industrial targets, and bivouac areas. On 14 September, a jet reconnaissance flight discovered a 130-foot Communist naval vessel in the vicinity of Wonsan and sank her with rockets.
That October brought the "Kojo Amphibious Feint." For four days commencing 12 October, CVG-7 aircraft blasted targets of military significance in the Wonsan–Kojo area. One of the largest naval forces since World War II hammered a 25-mile arc about Kojo, suggesting an invasion. On 16 October, assault boats were launched and proceeded to within a thousand yards of shore before turning back to their mother ships, completing the deception. With four CVAs (9, 21, 31, and 37) and two CVEs finishing an aerial umbrella, Navy pilots flew a reported 700 sorties on 12 October alone — their all-time daily record for the Korean War. Bon Homme Richard detached from TF-77 on 18 December and, after a short stop at Yokosuka, was underway for the United States, arriving at Alameda on 8 January 1953. She and CVG-7 received the Navy Unit Commendation for the deployment. Decommissioned on 15 May 1953 at Hunter's Point, she began a major modernization program that would transform her into a different ship entirely.
Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 was one of three Essex-class conversions under the SCB-27C program accomplished in a single shipyard availability, along with USS Shangri-La CVA-38 and USS Lexington CVA-16. (USS Intrepid, Ticonderoga, and Hancock were the other three 27-Charlies, whose modernizations were accomplished in two separate yard availabilities, their angled decks and hurricane bows added subsequent to an earlier steam catapult installation.) Bonnie Dick's alterations were extensive: two C-11 Mod-1 steam catapults; a 10-degree angled flight deck with four new Mk7 Mod1 arresting gear engines; a hurricane bow with secondary conning station; a redesigned island with enlarged primary flight control; increased beam; hangar deck fire division doors; an aircrew escalator from main deck to flight deck; five 5-inch-50 caliber twin mounts in place of the 40mm battery; a comprehensive JP-5 fuel system; special weapons (nuclear) handling and storage; and upgraded deck-edge elevators. Combined, these brought her full load displacement to 42,600 tons, an increase of over 5,000 tons. She was redesignated CVA-31 and recommissioned 6 September 1955.
Embarking ComCarDiv-7 and CVG-21, Bonnie Dick left for her first peacetime WestPac deployment 16 August 1956. Air Group 21 brought a unique mixture of aircraft, including the radical twin-engine F7U-3 Cutlass, which operated as an attack aircraft with VA-212, Bonnie Dick's only Cutlass deployment. The Skyraider component was VA-215 (AD-6s). The mixed bag of fighters included VF-211 (FJ-3s) and VF-213 (F2H-3s), which with the Cutlass made an unusual collection. VFP-61 was equipped with F2H-2P Banshees, and VAH-6 AJ-2s provided in-flight refueling. Returning to the United States 28 February 1957, the ship entered dry dock at the San Francisco Bay Naval Shipyard.
Completing repairs, Bonnie Dick became the first carrier to launch aircraft and have them recovered by another carrier on the opposite coast after a non-stop cross-country flight. On 7 June, two VX-3 F8U-1s flashed across the United States in three hours and twenty-eight minutes to USS Saratoga off the coast of Florida. Two A3Ds also made the trip without refueling. President Eisenhower, embarked in Saratoga, witnessed this demonstration of naval airpower.
After a brief five-month turnaround, Bonnie Dick left Alameda 10 July 1957 for a second peacetime deployment. Exchanging CVG-5 for CVG-21, she became the first Essex-class carrier to deploy with the F4D-1 Skyray (VF-141) and the A3D-2 Skywarrior (VAH-2). VF-51 (FJ-3s) flew as companion fighters while VA-54 supplied the Skyraider contingent and VFP-61 switched to F9F-8P Cougars. During the cruise, the ship accumulated her 9,000th arrested landing and was visited by Generalissimo Chiang Kai-shek and Madame Chiang while operating in the Formosa Strait. Returning to Alameda 11 December, Bonnie Dick moved to Puget Sound for a four-month overhaul that included unshipping the 3-inch 50 twin gun mounts and extending the No. 1 aircraft elevator centerline forward to accommodate the Skywarrior.
Bon Homme Richard's next deployment brought CVG-19 aboard, the beginning of a long association. Bonnie Dick would make six deployments with aircraft carrying CVG-19's NM on their tails. This first CVA-31/CVG-19 cruise embarked VF-191 (F11F-1s), VA-192 (FJ-4Bs), VF-193 (F3H-2s), and VA-195 (AD-6s). She departed 1 November 1958, and in February Captain David McCampbell, World War II Medal of Honor recipient and the Navy's leading ace with 34 kills, became her ninth commanding officer. The ship returned to Alameda 18 June 1959.
The second CVA-31/CVG-19 cruise, beginning 1 November 1959, saw VA-192 and VA-195 transition to A4D-2 Skyhawks while VA-196 retained AD-6 Skyraiders. VFP-63 brought the ship's first F8U-1P Crusader; VAW-11 Det provided airborne early warning with AD-5Ws. En route to WestPac, Bonnie Dick conducted carrier qualifications for Marine Air Group 13. In February, while berthed at Yokosuka, Captain Harold S. Bottomley, a Navy Cross winner from Midway, relieved Captain McCampbell. In mid-March the ship took part in Operation Bluestar, the largest amphibious operation in the Pacific since WW II, then stopped at Hong Kong and steamed south through the Malacca Strait to Bombay, the first carrier visit there since WWII. She returned to Alameda 14 May 1960.
A third CVA-31/CVG-19 cruise departed San Diego 26 April 1961. VF-191 had transitioned to F8U-1 Crusaders, greatly enhancing the ship's fighter cover. VAW-11 provided both early warning (with Willy Fudds) and electronic warfare (with AD-5Qs). The ship conducted operations in the South China Sea and recorded her 71,000th landing before returning to San Diego 13 December 1961. A fourth cruise departed 17 July 1962; during this deployment VF-193 and VA-196 earned CNO Aviation Safety Awards and VF-193 was awarded the Battle "E" by ComNavAirPac. The ship returned to San Diego 11 February 1963, then proceeded to Puget Sound for a four-month overhaul that included replacing the SPS-8 radar with a more powerful SPS-30.
The Concord Squadron
Following her ORI off Hawaii and arrival at Subic Bay on 23 February 1964, Bonnie Dick's task group assumed the name Concord Squadron and headed through the Strait of Malacca for the Indian Ocean on a goodwill cruise. Radm R. B. Moore flew his flag in Bon Homme Richard; the supporting ships were USS Frank Knox (DD-742), USS Shelton (DD-790), USS Blue (DD-744), and the oiler USS Hassayampa (AO-145). The crossing of the equator on 8 April required 2,500 Pollywogs to pass the ordeal of the Ancient Order of the Deep. Port calls were Diego-Suarez, Madagascar (14-17 April); Mombasa, Kenya (20-23 April); and the Port of Aden (27-29 April). On 2-3 May the Shah of Iran flew aboard for a naval gun firing demonstration by the escorts. The Concord Squadron returned to Subic Bay 16 May.
On 28 August, as the 1964 cruise neared its scheduled completion, the return to San Diego was delayed when North Vietnamese torpedo gunboats attacked USS Maddox (DD-731) and USS Turner Joy (DD-951). Bon Homme Richard was ordered to the area to commence strike operations against North Vietnam.
Bon Homme Richard was now in her third war. She remained on Yankee Station for forty-five days following the Gulf of Tonkin attacks, then headed for San Diego on 6 November, arriving the 21st after a ten-month cruise, the longest of her career.
A bare five months to the day after she returned, Bonnie Dick was underway 21 April 1965 for her final deployment with CVW-19. Arriving in the Philippines 18 May, the ship reported to CTF-77 and commenced special operations from Yankee Station the 26th. Combat operations were conducted from both Dixie and Yankee Station until 2 October, when she entered Subic Bay, but before mooring was completed she was ordered underway again on a special mission. Task group operations ran 9-28 October. During these at-sea periods Bonnie Dick participated in exercises Checkertail and Autumn Flower and provided support for Operation Dagger Thrust. After a Hong Kong R&R visit 4-11 November, strikes resumed from both Yankee and Dixie Stations through 16 December. She returned to Subic Bay on 18 December, departing for Hong Kong, Yokosuka, and home. San Diego appeared 13 January 1966 as Bonnie Dick completed her 267-day cruise.
On 26 January, Bon Homme Richard entered the Long Beach Naval Shipyard for a $22 million, eight-month overhaul, the largest ever undertaken by the shipyard without decommissioning a ship. It gave her a ship-wide chilled air-conditioning system (the first Essex-class carrier so equipped), a major aircraft intermediate maintenance department, a data processing center, a new ordnance control center, and renewal of the wood flight deck with aluminum-clad hickory inserts in the landing area. After completing the overhaul she suffered a catastrophic casualty to her No. 2 main engine HP turbine en route to San Diego and was forced to return to Long Beach for repairs. The replacement turbine came from USS Bunker Hill, inactive since WW II and moored at San Diego as an electronics test ship. She left the shipyard 2 November 1966.
Conducting a compressed three-month workup with Air Wing 21, returning to Bonnie Dick after ten years' absence, she departed San Diego for her third Vietnam combat cruise 25 January 1967. CVW-21 was to have a MiG-killing spree not equaled during the war. VF-24 (F-8Cs) and VF-211 (F-8Es) would prove the most lethal fighter team of the conflict. It was Bonnie Dick's last Spad cruise, with VA-215 aboard (A-1Hs and Js). VA-76 (A-4Cs), VA-212 (A-4Es), and VAH-4 Det 31 (A-3Bs) filled out the attack element.
The first two MiGs were shot down on 1 May 1967, appropriately, May Day, during a strike on Kep Airfield, 35 miles north of Hanoi. Lcdr. Moe Wright got the first of four VF-211 kills. During the same strike Lcdr. Ted Swartz, flying a VA-76 A-4C, made a rocket run on Kep and encountered two MiGs, shooting one down with an unguided Zuni air-to-ground rocket, becoming the first Navy pilot in Vietnam to destroy a MiG from an A-4 or with an unguided weapon. The main strike force of Skyhawks led by Lcdr. Paul Hollandsworth destroyed five more MiGs parked at Kep. On 19 May, Bonnie Dick pilots shot down four MiG-17s in aerial combat: Cdr. Paul Speer and Ltjg. Joe Shea of VF-211, and Lcdr. Bobby Lee with Lt. Phil Wood of VF-24 each scored one victory. On 21 July, CVW-21 fighters knocked down four more MiGs over the Ta Xa oil storage depot, 25 miles northeast of Hanoi.
A strike group from Bonnie Dick hit the heart of North Vietnam when CVW-21 struck a thermal power plant 1.1 miles from the center of Hanoi on 19 May, the first carrier force to hit that strategic target. Repeated strikes on the Hanoi thermal plant, coupled with strikes on plants at Haiphong, Thanh Hoa, and Bac Giang, at one point reduced North Vietnam's electric power production capacity to fifty percent. During the deployment CVW-21 flew a record 73 major strikes, one on average every other day, with attack carrier pilots flying 8,879 combat sorties, peaking at 133 on 5 May, and 10,865 arrested landings. The final MiG score: fifteen MiG-17s destroyed (nine in aerial combat plus five on the ground, with one probable) and twelve more damaged. Bon Homme Richard and CVW-21 became the Navy's first ace carrier/ace squadron team of the Vietnam War. San Diego welcomed Bonnie Dick home 25 August 1967. On 29 January 1968, Vice Admiral Allen M. Shinn, ComNavAirPac, came aboard to present the Navy Unit Commendation to Bon Homme Richard and Air Wing 21.
The five months between cruises passed quickly as the attack carrier made a short workup, this time with Air Wing 5, another early Bonnie Dick air wing returning after more than a decade. Shortly before her 27 January 1968 departure from San Diego, North Korea seized USS Pueblo in international waters near Wonsan. Bonnie Dick was directed to Subic Bay after a shortened Hawaii stay, arriving on Yankee Station with TF-77 on 21 February. During the siege of Khe Sanh in March, CVW-5 Crusaders from VF-51 (F-8Hs) and VF-53 (F-8Es), and Skyhawks from VA-93 (A-4Fs), VA-94 (A-4Es), and VA-212 (A-4Fs), hit a concentration of over 12,000 North Vietnamese troops surrounding 5,000 Marines at Khe Sanh. During the summer VF-51 and VF-53 bagged three MiGs. The first went to Cdr. Lowell F. "Moose" Myers of VF-51, a MiG-21 near the coastal city of Vinh on 26 June, his 181st combat mission. "I've been training for it for twelve years and practiced it a thousand times," he said. "It was the biggest thrill of my life." Cdr. Guy Cane of VF-53 described his kill on 29 July: "It was just like a real old-fashioned WW I donnybrook. I went after the MiG and fired a missile. It detonated just short of his tailpipe and the MiG went into a nose-down, diving spiral." Less than a week later Lt. Norman McCoy of VF-51 and Lt. George H. Wise of VF-53 teamed up to bring down another MiG. On 17 August a night strike discovered fifty enemy trucks in a large convoy; Bonnie Dick jets destroyed or damaged forty-three. She left the line for Subic Bay and then Yokosuka in September; en route home she encountered a fierce typhoon and arrived at San Diego 10 October 1968.
Before sailing on her fifth Vietnam combat tour 18 March 1969, the ship and Air Wing 5 received another Navy Unit Commendation for the 1968 cruise. For this second consecutive CVW-5 cruise, VF-51 and VF-53 had both transitioned to the F-8J; VA-22 and VA-144 joined the Skyhawk lineup, while VA-94 (A-4Es) remained from the previous cruise. When a Navy EC-121 was shot down by North Korea on 15 April, Bonnie Dick was ordered from Subic Bay to Yankee Station to assume duty for the carrier diverted to Korean waters. She returned to Subic Bay after thirty-four days at sea, returning to Yankee Station 2 June for strike operations until the 26th, then Sasebo, Japan. A thirty-day line period followed in August. After a September Sasebo visit and five days in Hong Kong commencing the 17th, she was back on Yankee Station for two weeks before entering Subic Bay in October for two days prior to being relieved by USS Coral Sea CVA-43. She arrived at North Island 29 October 1969.
On 2 April 1970, barely five months after her return, Bonnie Dick sailed west for her sixth and final deployment. The CVW-5 makeup was intact from the previous cruise, the single change being VA-144's transition to A-4Es. She arrived at Pearl Harbor 13 April after a three-day ORI off Hawaii, then continued to Subic Bay, arriving 26 April. She was on the line 2 May for the first of five line periods. In June she returned to Subic for four days before moving back to Yankee Station; on 22 June she set sail for Hong Kong for a week of rest. By 1 July she was again off Vietnam conducting air operations until the 28th. After special operations 17-31 August, she visited Singapore, then returned to Subic Bay before the final line period beginning 28 September. Bonnie Dick set her bow into the wind on 22 October, headed for home. On 12 November she pulled into San Diego for the last time. Phase 1 of inactivation commenced 15 December. On 11 February 1971, with dependents and automobiles embarked, Bonnie Dick was underway for Puget Sound Naval Shipyard. She arrived in Drydock No. 6 on 16 February and commenced Phase 2 of inactivation. USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31 was decommissioned 2 July 1971, the last attack carrier to carry the CVA designation.
Stricken from the Naval Vessel Register in 1989 and sold for scrapping three years later. An A-4 Skyhawk that flew from her decks is on display at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum in Washington, D.C. In 1993, Gladstones 4 Fish on the Pacific Coast Highway in Los Angeles installed tables, chairs, serving carts, and bar tops cut from her flight deck planking.
Before the breakers finished the job, the recycling yard in Long Beach held an open house, letting former crew back aboard one last time. By several accounts, the ship had sat mostly powerless and dark for months by then; for the open house the yard workers got the hangar bay lights and passageway lighting running again, and the old carrier briefly felt like herself. A group of veterans held an informal memorial there for shipmates who had died aboard her. Within days, the crews began taking her apart for good.
The guest speaker at the decommissioning ceremony was Rear Admiral George S. Morrison, who had commanded Bon Homme Richard from 23 November 1963 to 25 November 1964, a tenure spanning the First Concord Squadron and the ship's initial movement toward Vietnam. RADM Morrison is better known today as the father of Jim Morrison, lead singer of The Doors. Jim Morrison died in Paris the following morning, 3 July 1971. Bremerton runs nine hours behind Paris; the two events unfolded within a few hours of each other.
One relic predates the ship entirely. Aboard the preserved carrier USS Yorktown (CV-10) at Patriots Point in Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, visitors who make it down to the keel will find a plaque designating the ship as USS Bon Homme Richard. The Yorktown's keel was laid under that name in 1941; when USS Yorktown (CV-5) was lost at Midway in June 1942, the Navy transferred the name forward, and the Bon Homme Richard designation passed to the next available hull: the ship that became CV-31.
The section title "The Last CVA" is borrowed from Lt. Pete Clayton's account of the decommissioning, published in The Hook (Tailhook Association), Winter 1998. CVA was the Navy's hull classification for attack carrier. By 1971 all remaining Essex-class ships had been redesignated CVS or decommissioned; Bon Homme Richard was the last of them to carry the CVA designation.
Sources: Decommissioning Ceremony Program, USS Bon Homme Richard CVA-31, 2 July 1971 · Lt. Pete Clayton, USN, "The Last CVA," The Hook (Tailhook Association), Winter 1998 · USS Bon Homme Richard CV/CVA-31 Cruises and Air Wing Records.