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The museum ship that almost was
USS Cabot was laid down on March 16, 1942 by the New York Shipbuilding Company, as the light cruiser CL-79 Wilmington. It was soon decided to complete her as an Independence class light aircraft carrier, and on June 6, 1942 she was renamed CV-28.
Commissioned July 24 1943, USS Cabot served in the Pacific though out the remainder of WWII. The ship took part in nearly every major campaign, earning 8 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation. On November 25, 1944, the ship was struck by a kamikaze and near-missed by another, causing damage and killing or wounding 62 men.
Post war the vessel was transferred to the East Coast, and went into reserve at Philadelphia February 11, 1947.
The light carrier was reactivated on October 27, 1948, for use as a training ship by the Naval Air Reserve. She operated out of Pensacola and then Quonset Point, cruising the Caribbean several times and taking one tour of European waters in early 1952.
In January 1955 the vessel was again placed in reserve at the Philadelphia Navy Yard. She was re-designated as AVT-3 in 1959, for Auxiliary Aircraft Landing Training Ship number 3.
PICTURES OF USS CABOT IN US NAVY SERVICE
The ship sat in mothballs for 12 years, until 1967. The ship was refitted and loaned to Spain for 5 years, where she served as the Dedalo, Spain's first aircraft carrier and flagship of the Spanish Navy. In 1972, at the end of the 5 year loan period, Spain chose to purchase and retain the vessel rather than return her to the US. In Spanish service the ship carried 20 ASW choppers, and 4-6 Harrier attack aircraft stored on the flight deck. The Dedalo continued to serve as fleet flagship until 1988, when Spain's first all-new carrier, the Principe de Asturias, took her place. When the new ship was fully worked up, the Dedalo was slated for disposal.
PICTURES OF ex-USS CABOT SERVING AS DEDALO IN SPANISH SERVICE
I private organization in the US approached the Spanish Government about preserving the vessel as a museum, due to her excellent war record, lengthy post-war service, and significance as the last surviving light carrier. Donations poured in from across the USA and to a lesser extent Spain. The Spanish Navy agreed to the plan, and on August 1989 ownership of the vessel was transferred to the U.S.S. Cabot-Dedalo Museum Foundation, Inc receiving the ship in exchange for providing the transfer crew transportation back to Spain.
Plans were made to permanently moor the ship Kenner, Louisiana. The Foundation removed the Cabot's screws, winterized her engines, and stripped the ship of most of her operational equipment. In 1993 the Board of Commissioners of the Port of New Orleans agreed to let the Foundation temporarily moor the ship at the Press Street Warf on the East side of the Mississippi until the permanent wharf in Kenner was ready. However, the Mayor of Kenner reviews the Foundation's business plan, was unimpressed, and withdrew his offer of a free mooring spot. The Board of Commissioners told the Foundation they could either move the vessel, or start paying mooring fees. At this point the management of the Foundation vanished from sight, and the ship was for all intensive purposes abandoned. Letters went unanswered, and in March 1994 the city sued to have the now rat-infested ship evicted. Two year later, in April 1996, there was still no response, and the US Coast Guard sent notification to the Foundation that "The dilapidated condition of the wharf and the unsatisfactory condition of the vessel's moorings pose an immediate threat to the safety of the port "and that the vessel would have to be moved to a safer berth before hurricane season. Again, there was no response, to the Coast Guard boarded the vessel, upgraded the moorings, removed drums of chemicals and oil, and began assessing civil penalties against the Foundation. The Coast Guard presented a bill to the Foundation for this work, along with a 7-figure estimate to exterminate the rats, and finally the Foundation's management surfaced: they declared bankruptcy.
PICTURES OF ex-USS CABOT AT NEW ORLEANS
Almost a year later the bulk carrier M/V Tomis Future collided with the carrier. That vessel's owner called a tug to moor his ship, and to secure the Cabot against the wharf for 24 hours. The Coast guard notified the Foundation that they would have to hire a tug to stand by the Cabot and more her within three days. The Foundation did not respond, and the Coast Guard hired a tug to secure the ship, and then move her 40 miles downstream to Violet, LA, at a cost of over a half a million dollars. In October 1997 the Coast guard again moved the vessel, this time to Port Isabel, Texas. The Foundation claimed that they had sold the ship, though the exact identity of the new owners was left rather vague. The ship took on a list, and the company Marine Salvage was contracted by the owners of the ship to correct the list and provide for her care. But the new owners proved to be the old owners, and Marine Salvage went unpaid.
The US Marshal Service seized the vessel as lawsuits piled up. Marine Salvage, the Coast Guard, the Board of Commissioners, the company charged with maintaining the vessel while all this was sorted out…total leans against the vessel were far, far greater than the value of the ship.
In 1999 the ship was auctioned for $185,000 to a ship breaker, far less than the scrap value of the ship, but all other potential bidders being scared off by the legal mess. The money was split between the creditors. The breaker planned to tow the ship to India, but the EPA stepped in and barred the export of the ship. So she was towed to Brownsville, TX, to a special slip built by Maruti Steel, Inc. Preservation groups tried to collect enough money to buy the ship back, but were unable to raise anywhere near enough money. The ship sat until November 2000, when work began breaking her up. 40mm gun mounts, antennas, and the island were sold to various aircraft carrier museums, while some miscellaneous artifacts were removed and deposited with museums or the Curator Branch of the Naval Historical Center, US Navy. By mid 2002, she had been completely demolished.