"Magnum Force" Escort Carriers
Tue Oct 12, 2010 10:30 pm
At the climax of the Clint Eastwood movie "Magnum Force", Eastwood's character "Dirty Harry" Callahan is confronting the corrupt police officers at a shipyard where three Escort Carriers are being scrapped. Does anyone know which carriers they were? I'm certain they were Commencement Bay class ships, as almost all the other escort carriers were scrapped by the early 60s. Checking out Navsource.org leads me to believe they could have been any one of the following:
Commencement Bay (CVE-105), stricken 4/1/71
Vella Gulf (CVE-111), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 10/22/71
Rendova (CVE-114) , stricken 4/1/71 -- was located in Reserve Fleet San Francisco Group
Baedong Strait (CVE-116), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 5/8/72
Saidor (CVE-117), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 10/22/71
Rabaul (CVE-121), stricken 9/1/71, sold for scrapping
I couldn't get information on Cape Gloucester (CVE-109)
The one that is most likely in the films is Rendova, as that was in San Francisco, where the movie was being filmed. One would assume that Commencement Bay would be the second ship, as it was stricken on the same day as Rendova. That leaves the third ship a mystery.
It's possible they may have been Bogue-class CVEs, as a few of them were converted to aircraft transport ships and were stricken around the same time.
Commencement Bay (CVE-105), stricken 4/1/71
Vella Gulf (CVE-111), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 10/22/71
Rendova (CVE-114) , stricken 4/1/71 -- was located in Reserve Fleet San Francisco Group
Baedong Strait (CVE-116), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 5/8/72
Saidor (CVE-117), stricken 12/1/70, sold for scrapping 10/22/71
Rabaul (CVE-121), stricken 9/1/71, sold for scrapping
I couldn't get information on Cape Gloucester (CVE-109)
The one that is most likely in the films is Rendova, as that was in San Francisco, where the movie was being filmed. One would assume that Commencement Bay would be the second ship, as it was stricken on the same day as Rendova. That leaves the third ship a mystery.
It's possible they may have been Bogue-class CVEs, as a few of them were converted to aircraft transport ships and were stricken around the same time.
Re: "Magnum Force" Escort Carriers
Wed Oct 13, 2010 9:04 pm
i thought 1 was the lexington. i had no knowledge that they were baby flat tops 
"man's got to know his limitations" quote from callahan!! my son calls clint eastwood "squint littlewood" ahh.... kids ya gotta love em!! 
"man's got to know his limitations" quote from callahan!! my son calls clint eastwood "squint littlewood" ahh.... kids ya gotta love em!!
Re: "Magnum Force" Escort Carriers
Wed Oct 13, 2010 10:22 pm
Checking again with IMDB.com, someone did identify the carriers, they are:
Baedong Strait - CVE-116
Rabaul - CVE-121
Baedong Strait was delivered too late to see action in World War II, but was involved in the Korean conflict, mostly operating Marine Corsair squadrons, and then as an ASW carrier in the latter part of the conflict. Rabaul was never commissioned, going straight from delivery into the reserve fleet.
I'll have to go back and see the movie. I could have sworn there was a third escort carrier involved.
Baedong Strait - CVE-116
Rabaul - CVE-121
Baedong Strait was delivered too late to see action in World War II, but was involved in the Korean conflict, mostly operating Marine Corsair squadrons, and then as an ASW carrier in the latter part of the conflict. Rabaul was never commissioned, going straight from delivery into the reserve fleet.
I'll have to go back and see the movie. I could have sworn there was a third escort carrier involved.