Bunker Hill was the first commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts, within sight of the historic monument commemorating the namesake battle. The second ship to bear the name, today’s Bunker Hill was the first Ticonderoga Class Cruiser to be equipped with the Mk. 41 VLS, greatly improving the flexibility and firepower of the ship by allowing her to fire Tomahawk missiles. After commissioning, Bunker H
ill entered the Pacific Fleet via the Panama Canal and began short notice work-ups to deploy to the U.S. Bunker Hill made her first deployment in July 1987, nearly one year ahead of schedule during which she provided an anti-air warfare umbrella inside the Persian Gulf for Missouri and other US flagged tankers and ships transiting through the Strait of Hormuz. In August 1988, Bunker Hill shifted homeports from San Diego to Yokosuka, Japan joining the Midway Carrier Battlegroup for a four month deployment in the Seventh Fleet, for which she was awarded the Meritorious Unit Commendation. She was also awarded her first Battle Efficiency Award. In November 1990, Bunker Hill sailed in support of Operation Desert Shield and Operation Desert Storm and served as the multinational Air Warfare Commander (AAWC) and as one of the first ships to launch a Tomhawk Land Attack Cruise Missile against Iraqi targets. Following the conclusion of the Persian Gulf War, Bunker Hill participated in organizing and establishing Operation Southern Watch, the complex enforcement of the United Nations established no-fly zone over southern Iraq. Bunker Hill made a historical visit to the Russian city Vladivostok in 1993, and then one year later she made a port visit to Qingdao in the People's Republic of China. In March 1996, she took station south of Taiwan to monitor missile tests by the People's Liberation Army. In July 1998, Bunker Hill shifted homeports from Yokosuka, Japan back to San Diego. Most recently, Bunker Hill deployed with Abraham Lincoln Battle Group. She again participated in Operation Southern Watch and conducted boardings and inspections of over 40 merchant vessels in support of United Nations sanctions against Iraq. Bunker Hill also escorted Tarawa Amphibious Ready Group while conducting humanitarian operations off East Timor and training exercises in Kuwait. Bunker Hill acted as Air Defense Commander for the ARG where she designed and implemented innovative procedures for CG integration into an Amphibious Ready Group. Following the attack on Cole, Bunker Hill sortied from Bahrain to provide support and protection to seven USN and USNS ships based there and subsequently remained at sea for 67 consecutive days. Bunker Hill returned from deployment in February 2001. Since her commissioning, Bunker Hill has deployed ten times to the Persian Gulf and has earned nine Battle "E" Awards, including the Golden Battle "E" in 1996 and 2006 which is given when a ship receives five such awards consecutively. As announced in March of 2006, Lockheed Martin will be upgrading the Aegis defence system on 22 navy vessels; the Bunker Hill is the first slated for the upgrade. In January 2007, the warship was sent to the coast of Somalia to conduct antiterrorist operations as part of the USS Dwight D. Eisenhower task force. On 16 February 2007, Bunker Hill was awarded the 2006 Battle "E" award. In 2009, Bunker Hill Completed a successful Cruiser Modification period making her the first CG to do so and extending her war-fighting life. In January of 2010 she and her sailors deployed for four months to Haiti and South America for efforts in the Haitian Earthquake and goodwill. She returned to San Diego escorting the aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson and has since been attached to Carrier Strike Group One. Bunker Hill again left for deployment on November 30th, 2010, completing a successful 5th Fleet cruise and returning home on June 15th 2011. After a busy summer of preparation, she began another deployment on 30 November 2011.
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USS Bunker Hill (CV 17) "The Holiday Express"
The first ship to bear the name USS Bunker Hill (CV 17) was one of the ESSEX Class Fast Carriers. Commissioned May 20, 1943, she quickly earned the nickname "HOLIDAY EXPRESS" because many of her slashing attacks were made during the Christmas and New Year’s holidays. A significant improvement of the ESSEX Class ships over the other US carriers at the time, in addition to more guns and armament, was that they were equipped with a more heavily armored deck, plus a second armored deck on the hangar level designed to detonate armor-piercing shells and bombs before they reached the vital machinery and electronic spaces below. Bunker Hill was one of the few carriers to survive all the way through the Pacific Island Hopping Campaign to engage the largest battleship ever built - the YAMATO. In the attack on the Japanese super battleship, the YAMATO was hit by several bombs and almost a dozen torpedo strikes in the hull before she finally blew up and sank. Five of her escorts were sunk with her. But the victories of the HOLIDAY EXPRESS and her deadly airwing were soon to come to an end. On May 11, 1945 off the coast of Okinawa, two Japanese aircraft swept down on the Bunker Hill so quickly that her exhausted gunners barely had time to respond. The first aircraft released its 500 pound bomb which smashed through the flight deck and out the side, exploding just above the water. The aircraft crashed into the flight deck and skidded over the side, destroying nearly all the ready-deck aircraft. The second aircraft dove at the carrier at nearly a vertical dive, dropping its 500 pound bomb just before it hit the deck. The bomb smashed through the flight deck, but did not make it through the hangar deck where it exploded. The thickened armor protecting the machinery spaces below had proved effective. After several hours of fighting fires, Bunker Hill was able to sail under her own power to dock for repairs. A total of 346 men lost their lives, 43 were counted missing and 264 had been wounded, many with severe burns. Many of the ship’s pilots died either in their planes or inside the skin of the ship when the second bomb exploded. Bunker Hill was repaired just as the war had ended. Her final act of WWII was to bring thousands of servicemen home from the Pacific Theater. In 1947 she was decommissioned. In the years following her decommissioning Bunker Hill (CV 17) served as an Anti-submarine Warfare Support Carrier (CVS 17), an Aviation transport, and electronics test ship before being sold to Zidell Explorations, Inc, in 1973. During the few short years she was activated in WWII, Bunker Hill earned eleven battle stars and, in 1946, the President’s Citation.
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