Beschreibung:

.45 caliber, 5" barrel, S/N 733368. According to Springfield Research Service this pistol was issued to the U.S.S. Suwannee (CVE27) 7-22-43. Brushed blue finish with checkered Coltrock grips. Factory letter states that this was sold to the U.S. government & shipped to the Springfield Armory in Springfield, MA on June 28, 1941 in a shipment of 3,150. Top of slide forward of the rear sight has a nice "P"; left flat of triggerguard with a VP and a "T" stamped over the VP in an upside-down triangle. RS in a box on the left side of frame below the slide release. A "P" below the mag release. Blue barrel. Magazine is a blue commercial marked mag which is acceptable. Commissioning 1. The USS Suwannee was a member of the Sangamon class or escort aircraft carriers. Originally, she was known as the SS Markay, built for the Keystone Tankship Corp. by the Federal Shipbuilding and Drydock Co. of Kearny, N.J. Her keel was laid down on June 3, 1938; she was launched March 4, 1939. She was purchased by the U.S. Navy on June 26, 1941 and renamed the Suwannee. She was commissioned on July 16, 1941, and served as an oiler with the designation AO-33. Underway After the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, the Suwannee was selected for conversion to an escort aircraft carrier and sent to Newport News, VA, for re-fitting. She was commissioned as a carrier (AVG-27) on Sept. 24, 1942, with Capt. Joseph J. Clark in command. The Suwannee was to see action almost immediately. On Nov. 8 1942, she was part of the center attack group off the coast of Casablanca, Morocco, supporting the landings of Operation Torch. For the next several days, the Suwannee aircraft conducted combat air patrols (CAP), anti-submarine patrols (ASP) and bombing missions on enemy positions. Her aircraft would fly 255 sorties between Nov. 8 and 11 with the loss of three planes in combat. On Nov. 11, one of her aircraft would find and sink a French submarine attempting to attack the American Task Force. After her duties as part of Operation Torch were completed, the Suwannee was ordered to the Pacific Ocean. She arrived at New Caledonia on Jan. 4, 1943. For seven months, she served as an escort for transports and supply ships traveling the Guadalcanal and other islands in the Solomon Islands chain. From Nov. 19-23, 1943, the Suwannee provided aerial support for the successful U.S. invasion of Tarawa in the Gilbert Islands. In early February 1944, she would take part in the assault of several islands in the Marshall Island chain, bombing Roi and Namur and the Kawjaelin atoll. From Feb. 16-25, she was provided air support for the invasion of Eniwetok. In April, she was deployed to the waters off of New Guinea to support the landing there. In June 1944, the Suwannee was sent to the Marianas Island to provide air coverage for the landings on Saipan and Guam. On June 19, she became one of a handful of U.S. ships to sink submarines in both the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans when one of her aircraft sank the Japanese submarine I-184. In mid-October, the Suwannee was deployed to Leyte Gulf as part of a large force supporting the U.S. invasion of the Philippines. She provided air coverage for the assault force, flying CAP and ASP and attacking Japanese air bases in the Visayans until Oct. 25. On the 25th, the Suwannee was part of a skeleton force of 15 escort carriers and 22 destroyers and destroyer escorts left in the Philippine Sea after the majority of the U.S. fleet deployed after two Japanese strike forces. Those two forces were bait; a third large Japanese force of four battleships, eight cruisers and 11 destroyers entered the Philippine Sea through the San Bernardino Strait and vastly outgunned the remaining U.S. contingent. In spite of the heavy odds against them, the U.S. force would hold out long enough to force a Japanese withdrawal. At 7:40 am on Oct. 25, the Suwannee task force, known as Taffy 1, was attacked by the first wave of kamikaze suicide strikes launched by the