"Big T" as her crew called her, was the first of the so-called "long hull" essex class carriers. As such, these ships were sometimes referred to as the Ticonderoga class. Ticonderoga arrived in the Pacific in September of 1944 and saw action for the first time on 5 November, 1944.

Struck by two Kamikazes on January 21, 1945, she was repaired and overhauled at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard and served the rest of the war and beyond until November 1973.

USS Ticonderoga CV-14 War Damage Report for January 21, 1945.