Bell® UH-1N Huey, USS Saipan LHA-2. Fly off the USS Saipan LHA-2 in this UH-1N model. Each model is hand-crafted from carved wood and painted to provide a unique piece of the famous Bell UH-1 Huey. Length – 16 inches. Officially Licensed by Bell. The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger. Bell®, emblems, logos, and body designs are trademarks of Textron Innovations Inc. And are used under license by Squadron Nostalgia LLC. Saipan was laid down on 10 July 1944 by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, Camden, New Jersey, launched on 8 July 1945, sponsored by Mrs. McCormack, and commissioned on 14 July 1946, Capt. Commissioned eleven months after the close of World War II, Saipan trained student pilots out of Pensacola, Florida from September 1946 to April 1947[1] when, reassigned to Norfolk, Virginia as homeport, she departed the Gulf of Mexico; participated in exercises in the Caribbean; then proceeded to Philadelphia for overhaul. In February 1948, however, her work in jet operational techniques, carrier support tactics, and electronic instrument evaluation was interrupted briefly. From the 7th to the 24th, she was engaged in transporting the United States delegation to the Venezuelan Presidential inauguration and back. On her return, she conducted local operations off the Virginia Capes, and in April, after a visit to Portsmouth, New Hampshire, she resumed work for the Operational Development Force. On 18 April, she also relieved Mindoro as flagship of Carrier Division 17 (CarDiv 17). Fighter Squadron 17A[edit] On 19 April, she departed Norfolk for Quonset Point, Rhode Island, where, on 3 May, she embarked Fighter Squadron 17A. Three days later, all squadron pilots had qualified in FH-1 Phantom jets. The squadron had become the first carrier-based jet squadron. In December, she resumed local operations. On 24 December, she was ordered to embark two of the Navy’s latest type helicopter, the XHJS-1, and three Marine Corps HRP-1 helicopters and proceeded north to Greenland to assist in the rescue of eleven airmen downed on the ice cap. Departing Norfolk on Christmas Day, the CVL arrived off Cape Farewell on 28 December and prepared to launch the helicopters as soon as weather allowed. On 29 December however, a C-47, equipped with jet assist takeoff and skis, landed on the ice, took on the marooned airmen and made it out again. From 11-19 March, she conducted operations for the development force; then made a reserve training cruise to Canada. At the end of May, she again commenced work for the Operational Development Force. Three months later, she conducted her second reservist cruise of the year, then qualified Royal Canadian Navy pilots in carrier landings. From November 1949 to March 1951, Saipan remained on the east coast, operating from the Virginia Capes south. On 6 March 1951, she got underway as flagship, CarDiv 14, and sailed for duty with the Sixth Fleet. Deployed for three months, she plied the waters of the western Mediterranean until the end of May, then headed for home. On 8 June, she was back at Norfolk, whence she resumed operations in the western Atlantic from Greenland to the Caribbean. For over two years, Saipan continued Second Fleet operations, interrupting them for midshipman cruises during the summers of 1952 and 1953 and for an overhaul. In October 1953, she departed the east coast and steamed for the Panama Canal and the Pacific. On 30 October, she arrived at San Diego, whence she continued on to Pearl Harbor, Yokosuka, and duty off the coast of Korea in support of the uneasy truce agreement.