The USS Shangri-La was an Essex class aircraft carrier commissioned on September 15, 1944. The Shangri-La supplied combat air patrols and close air support for the 10th Army on Okinawa. While in the area the Shangri-La eventually became the flagship of the 2nd Carrier Task Force. The Shangri-La was decommissioned on July 30, 1971 and placed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet and berthed in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where she remained until she was finally sold for scrap and towed to Taiwan.