USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) slides down the building ways, as she is launched at the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York, on 29 April 1944.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives (photo # 80-G-K-3888).

Aerial view of the Brooklyn Navy Yard, BuAer photo # 290081, received 2 December 1944. There are five aircraft carriers in sight (refer to NS023501a): (1) Reprisal (CV-35) under construction in Dry Dock #6; (2) Coral Sea, later Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) under construction in Dry Dock #5; (3) Kearsarge (CV-33) under construction; (4) Oriskany (CV-34) under construction; and (5) USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31), commissioned 26 November 1944.

Naval Historical Center photograph.

USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) anchored in New York Harbor, with supply barges alongside, 9 January 1945. Photographed from a Naval Air Station, New York, aircraft, flying at an altitude of 300 feet.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97341).

USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) tied up at Carrier Pier # 2, Naval Air Station, Alameda, California, on 27 October 1945. USS Commencement Bay (CVE-105) is in the right background.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97340).

A great aerial view of USS Bon Homme Richard, possibly taken circa 1951–1953. Location unknown.

San Diego Bay, 1951. USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) picked up Carrier Air Group 102 (CVG-102) and departed San Diego for the Far East on May 10, 1951 on her first Korean cruise. The deployment lasted more than seven months — Bonnie Dick returned to San Diego on December 17.

USS Yarnall (DD-541) hauls away to starboard after "topping off" from the oiler USS Manatee (AO-58), during replenishment operations off Korea, circa August 1951. USS Leonard F. Mason (DD-852) is approaching from astern to fill her bunkers next. USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31) is refueling on the oiler's opposite side. Photograph was released by Commander Naval Forces Far East under date of 7 August 1951.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (photo # NH 97348).

An aerial view of Bon Homme Richard's stern, 28 March 1952.

Aerial view of USS Bon Homme Richard, possibly taken while approaching Pearl Harbor at the end of her second and final Korean War cruise, May 10, 1952 – January 8, 1953. Carrier Air Group 7 (CVG-7) deployed with Bonnie Dick.

Recommissioning at Hunters Point, San Francisco Naval Shipyard, 6 September 1955, after modernization.

Source: San Francisco Naval Shipyard – Hunters Point, Historical Shipyard Photographic Collection 1904–74 NARA Pacific Region (San Francisco). Photo # NY1-3532-L-9-55.

A three quarter view of Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) underway on sea trials after reconversion at Hunters Point Naval Shipyard in San Francisco, 15 September 1955 (photo # USN-680661).

Starboard side view, 6 October 1955.

Source: San Francisco Naval Shipyard – Hunters Point, Historical Shipyard Photographic Collection 1904–74 NARA Pacific Region (San Francisco). Photo # NY1-3892-L-10-55.

Undated, post SCB-125 overhaul which added her angled flight deck.

A great view of USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) as she departs San Francisco for WestPac, November 1, 1958 with Carrier Air Group 19 (CVG-19) aboard.

At North Island, San Diego, Calif., late 1950s-early 1960s.

USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) steams with an "honor guard" of four destroyers, as a Change of Command ceremony takes place on her fight deck, 28 November 1962. Captain E.P. Kline relieved Captain G.C. Bullard as the carrier's Commanding Officer during the ceremony, which took place while she was operating in the Western Pacific with the Seventh Fleet. The destroyers, all units of Destroyer Squadron Nineteen, are (at left): USS Ernest G. Small (DDR-838) and USS Turner Joy (DD-951); (alongside the carrier): USS Black (DD-666) and USS Dennis J. Buckley (DDR-808).

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97346).

USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) operating in the Gulf of Tonkin, November 2, 1964.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 97344).

Underway, mid-to-late 1960s.

Official US Navy Photograph of the attack aircraft carrier USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31,) making a hard turn as she steams in the Gulf of Tonkin. From the USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) Photo Lab.

Although this photo is dated November 2, 1964 during Bonnie Dick's first Vietnam cruise, air wing composition and communications equipment hint that the ship's third Vietnam deployment (January 26 – August 25, 1967) is a more likely time frame.

USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) catapults an A-4E Skyhawk attack plane assigned to VA-212 "Rampant Raiders," during operations off Vietnam, March 1967. Photographed by JOC R.D. Moeser, USN.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1142110).

USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31) and USS Parsons (DDG-33), foreground, steam in company with an amphibious squadron, background, as they make their way from the Gulf of Tonkin to Yokosuka, Japan, following the end of one of their on-line periods off Vietnam. Believed to have been taken in late July 1970.

This was Bon Homme Richard's last deployment, April 20–November 12, 1970 and included five combat periods: May 2–25, June 2–13, July 2–28, August 18–September 1, and September 28–October 20.

(Thanks to Robert Hurst, who provided part of the information.)

Two views of USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31), as seen from USS Bausell (DD-845) during WestPac 1970 (possibly in October, during Bonnie Dick's last on-line period.)

This photo of ex-USS Bon Homme Richard was taken in mid-1992 in San Pedro, California, at the location where she would be scrapped. The picture shows her still intact just before the scrapping process began.