Service History
Boxer was commissioned on 16 April 1945 under the command of Captain D. F. Smith. She subsequently began sea trials and a shakedown cruise. Before these were complete, the Empire of Japan surrendered on V-J Day, marking the end of World War II before Boxer could participate. She joined the Pacific Fleet at San Diego in August 1945 and the next month she steamed for Guam, becoming the flagship of Task Force 77, a position she held until 23 August 1946. During this tour, she visited Japan, Okinawa, The Philippines, and China.
She returned to San Francisco on 10 September 1946, embarked Carrier Air Group 19 flying the F8F Bearcat. With this complement, Boxer began a series of peacetime patrols and training missions off the coast of California during a relatively uneventful period during 1947. In spite of manning difficulties brought on by the demobilization of the US military after World War II, Boxer remained active in Pacific readiness drills around the West Coast and Hawaii. In 1948, she conducted a number of short cruises with US Navy Reserve personnel. On 10 March 1948, an FJ-1 Fury launched from Boxer, the first such launch of a jet aircraft from a carrier, which allowed subsequent tests of jet aircraft carrier doctrine. For the remainder of 1948 and 1949, she participated in numerous battle drills and acted as a training carrier for jet aircraft pilots.
She was dispatched to the Far East on another tour on 11 January 1950. She joined the 7th Fleet in the region, making a goodwill visit to South Korea and entertaining South Korean president Syngman Rhee and his wife Franziska Donner. and at the end of the tour returned to San Diego on 25 June 1950, the same day as the outbreak of the Korean War. At the time, she was overdue for a maintenance overhaul, but she did not have time to complete it before being dispatched again.
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