The Ship
Side view of Cowpens, showing her unusual side-mounted smokestacks and her flight deck, which did not run the full length of the hull.
Stern view of Cowpens, illustrating how little room an aircraft had on her narrow deck.
Cowpens underway, somewhere in the Pacific. From this angle you can see her narrow flight deck and small island. (U.S. Navy)
The Moo faces the wrath of Typhoon Cobra, December 18, 1944. The top-heavy ship came close to capsizing, and most aboard described the experience as more terrifying than combat. “The waves were like mountains and the ship pitched and rolled like a wild horse,” said one sailor. (U.S. Navy)
The Moo arrives in San Francisco, March 24, 1945, for a much-needed overhaul after steaming more than 143,000 miles. Workmen on the Golden Gate Bridge (visible in background) cheered the ship as she passed underneath. (U.S. Navy)
A close-up of the Moo’s combat tally painted on her island sometime in the spring of 1945, including her bovine logo. By war’s end, Cowpens had destroyed 93 planes in the air and another 512 on the ground—and sank 16 ships. The scoreboard also records five kills for the pilots’ “train game.” (U.S. Navy)