[Congressional Record Volume 141, Number 154 (Friday, September 29, 1995)]
[Senate]
[Pages S14770-S14771]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




                         U.S.S. ``CHANDELEUR''

 Mrs. FEINSTEIN. Mr. President, fifty years ago, the ship's 
company of the Navy seaplane tender U.S.S. Chandeleur, AV-10, together 
with the aviators of the ship's squadrons, proudly participated in the 
acceptance of the surrender of the Japanese military forces in Honshu, 
the central island of Japan, at ceremonies in the harbor of Ominato, 
the final end of the global warfare of World War II.
  They had earned this honor by 3 full years of combat and hard work in 
service to the U.S. fleet, materially contributing to the victory in 
the Pacific.
  The U.S.S. Chandeleur was built in South San Francisco and 
commissioned in San Francisco on November 19, 1942. It sailed 
immediately for combat operations in the Pacific, not to return to the 
Golden Gate until November 1945.
  During that period, she served as an advanced mobile operating base 
for several squadrons of seaplanes engaged in bombing, reconnaissance, 
patrol, search and rescue, and other vital services, extending the 
``eyes'' of the fleet commander far beyond the horizons. The aircraft 
would not have been able to sustain continual operations without her 
support. The U.S.S. Chandeleur was truly a part of the victory in the 
Pacific. 

[[Page S 14771]]

  For her valiant services, U.S.S. Chandeleur was awarded six bronze 
engagement stars for operations at Guadalcanal, Bougainville, Saipan, 
Palau, Okinawa, as well as air operations off the coasts of China, 
Korea, and Japan, and participation in the early occupation of Japan.
  During these operations, the ship and crew survived a number of 
withering attacks by Japanese vessels and aircraft, including a near 
miss by a Kamikaze bomber off Okinawa, sustaining multiple battle 
casualties and deaths of her crew members and air crews.
  Soon after her return from the Pacific, U.S.S. Chandeleur was 
``mothballed'' at the Philadelphia Navy Yard, and later scrapped, but 
the ship's company and aviators have remained close.
  They have gathered periodically in reunions widely separated across 
the United States, from Boston to San Diego. For their 27th reunion on 
the 50th anniversary of the victory they so valiantly helped to bring 
about, they have gathered in the ship's ``native'' city, San Francisco, 
where they will be together at the Marine Memorial Club from September 
27 through October 1, 1995.
  It is fitting that on the 50-year anniversary of this historic 
mission that the ship's companies and aviators gather once again in the 
ship's home city of San Francisco. And, on behalf of the United States 
Senate, I would like to extend my most sincere welcome to those 
gathering to remember the valiant mission of the U.S.S. 
Chandeleur. 

                          ____________________