"Stand by for heavy rolls"!

[Beamer]

Man, and I thought the sh!tty Kitty (Kitty Hawk) was old. That thing pulled alongside us once and we all wondered when the Navy started painting ships rust red...

I walked under the ole sh!tty kitty when she was in Bremerton back in 98. Pretty wild. I worked for a company that supported the navigation systems and I had to gather data from some bottom equipment. That is the wildest thing you can ever imagine, walking under an aircraft carrier.

As for the Coral Sea, the desire to keep her going was very high on board. We were all pretty proud of keeping her operational. I made another cruise on the Saratoga and it sucked butt. I rode the Conny out of Philly in 92 and saw the Coral Sea sitting in the grave yard next door. It was a sad site. I transferred to AIMD just before she made her last cruise in 89, but wished I could have been there.


Mike

 

[TurboDave]

She went down fighting, aren't their any other countries that purchase these ships.

Yes, many countries have!! Pakistan, Turkey, Greece, Taiwan, Spain, Thailand are some of our best customers. Just not this particular class of destroyers for some reason. I haven't been able to figure out why they destroyed this entire class of destroyers, and after only 20 years of service.
I can only wonder if they were conceived as a stopgap until the new class of guided missle destroyers came along that they're building feverishly now. It's a huge class of 62 ships, and almost complete, and have names of predecessors.

 

[TurboDave]

I made 2 cruises on the USS Coral Sea. 1985/86 and 1987/88

That was CV-43, yes 43. Midway class, and the smallest operational carrier at the time. We had waves many times that would splash above the flight deck. I worked the deck as a troubleshooter my 2nd cruise at night. Try launching and recovering aircraft at night in the middle of the nowhere and at darken ship. Tat is a dangerous job. You better have you poop together.

Definately some great times. As I tell everyone when I talk about my service... 8 1/2 years, don't regret going in and don't regret getting out.


Thanks to all of those that have served ! ! !


Mike

The Coral Sea was sold for scrap in 93, making her the largest warship ever scrapped.

Here ya go:

 

[TurboDave]

Man, and I thought the sh!tty Kitty (Kitty Hawk) was old. That thing pulled alongside us once and we all wondered when the Navy started painting ships rust red...

Ya, she's still layed up in Bremerton.

 

[$uckin6]

wow! where did you get such great pictures at or did you take them yourself,i have always been a ww2 freak, just wondering is that the same coral sea that saw action in ww2 ?

 

[Beamer]

wow! where did you get such great pictures at or did you take them yourself,i have always been a ww2 freak, just wondering is that the same coral sea that saw action in ww2 ?

Yes it is !

But that picture above is of the USS Kitty Hawk. The picture yet above that of the carrier being scrapped is of the USS Coral Sea. That is quite a sad site. Where I slept at is gone. I slept directly under the #3 wire on the O2 level. The flight deck was the O3. Yes, just beams and an iron deck between my sleeping quarters and aircraft crashing down directly above me. You would be surprised how you can condition yourself to sleep through noises, but still wake up for the general quarters drills.

Commissioned in 1943. The Coral Sea had a straight deck back when built. Actually when built, she was not to be an aircraft carrier, but a battleship and has a double hull. They laid the flight deck down during the build. An angle deck was added some time in the 60's, I believe.


Mike

 

[Bad Boyz]

I was on the FDR CVA 42.Actually somewheres on the FDR was a plague that said it was the Coral Sea CV42.FDR was our president at that time.Well he died and the Navy decided to change the name of the Coral Sea to the FDR CV42.Later on both ships became cva.A standing for angle.I slept under #3 wire on the o2 level.Pretty noisy back there

 

[TurboDave]

wow! where did you get such great pictures at or did you take them yourself,i have always been a ww2 freak, just wondering is that the same coral sea that saw action in ww2 ?

The pictures are from various data base sources that I study.

This Coral Sea was commissioned in 1947 so saw no WWII action.

The first CORAL SEA was CVE 57 which was later renamed ANZIO

 

[TurboDave]

I was on the FDR CVA 42.Actually somewheres on the FDR was a plague that said it was the Coral Sea CV42.FDR was our president at that time.Well he died and the Navy decided to change the name of the Coral Sea to the FDR CV42.Later on both ships became cva.A standing for angle.I slept under #3 wire on the o2 level.Pretty noisy back there

Yes, she was renamed FDR after launching.

Here ya go:

 

[TurboDave]

Yes it is !


Commissioned in 1943. The Coral Sea had a straight deck back when built. Actually when built, she was not to be an aircraft carrier, but a battleship and has a double hull. They laid the flight deck down during the build. An angle deck was added some time in the 60's, I believe.


Mike

USS Coral Sea CV-43, CVB-43, CVA-43

Awarded: June 14, 1943, Keel laid: July 10, 1944, Launched: April 2, 1946, Commissioned: October 1, 1947, Decommissioned: April 30, 1990, Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va. Propulsion system: 12 boilers Propellers: four Aircraft elevators: three Arresting gear cables: four Catapults: three Length: 997,4 feet (304 meters) Flight Deck Width: 237,9 feet (72.5 meters) Beam: 121 feet (36.9 meters) Draft: 38,1 feet (11.8 meters) Displacement: approx. 64,000 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Planes: approx. 65 planes Crew: Ship: approx. 2,533 Air Wing: 2,240 Armament: 2 Mk-25 launchers for Sea Sparrow, 2 Phalanx CIWS Mk-15

 

[$uckin6]

well thank you gentlemen for your service to our beloved country, i just fear that the youth is starting to forget about the sacrifice and lives that were lost in order to maintain our freedom and rights as Americans, thanks again and God bless.

 

[Beamer]

USS Coral Sea CV-43, CVB-43, CVA-43

Awarded: June 14, 1943, Keel laid: July 10, 1944, Launched: April 2, 1946, Commissioned: October 1, 1947, Decommissioned: April 30, 1990, Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va. Propulsion system: 12 boilers Propellers: four Aircraft elevators: three Arresting gear cables: four Catapults: three Length: 997,4 feet (304 meters) Flight Deck Width: 237,9 feet (72.5 meters) Beam: 121 feet (36.9 meters) Draft: 38,1 feet (11.8 meters) Displacement: approx. 64,000 tons full load Speed: 30+ knots Planes: approx. 65 planes Crew: Ship: approx. 2,533 Air Wing: 2,240 Armament: 2 Mk-25 launchers for Sea Sparrow, 2 Phalanx CIWS Mk-15

For some reason, I thought it was commissioned in 43, but close enough.

There is some wrong info there. There were definately 4 arresting cable, and only 3 catapults. Her angle deck only had one cat, unlike most others having 2.

Dave, you definately have the ability to dig up some very interesting info.

Here is a picture from my 87-88 cruise book.

Mike

 

[TurboDave]

For some reason, I thought it was commissioned in 43, but close enough.

There is some wrong info there. There were definately 4 arresting cable, and only 3 catapults. Her angle deck only had one cat, unlike most others having 2.

Dave, you definately have the ability to dig up some very interesting info.

Here is a picture from my 87-88 cruise book.

Mike

It's probably the way the stupid formatting came out on my post, but if you read REAL carefull (take note of the colon seperators) you see it says that there are 4 cables and 3 cats.

 

[Beamer]

It's probably the way the stupid formatting came out on my post, but if you read REAL carefull (take note of the colon seperators) you see it says that there are 4 cables and 3 cats.

Ah-Ha

I see it now. Very good. It was very sad for me to look at that picture of her all torn apart.

Thanks for the info sharing


Mike

 

[Squid4life]

It was very sad for me to look at that picture of her all torn apart. Thanks for the info sharing.
Mike

Yeah, that pic is pretty depressing, and I have never served aboard her. Seeing any ship like that dismantled, used for target practice, made in to an artificial reef, etc is pretty sad. I know they can't serve forever, but for those who have been on ships they understand the work that went into them, the pride and "ownership" of the ships you served on etc, it is a little different I think. Nice pics though, thanks for sharing!

 

[jdpolzin]

Wow, those are some pretty amazing shots and footage. Lot of history under the seas out there. Makes you wonder how long it'll be until these wrecks are pulled of the sea floor by other countries are commercial scrappers that have the money for it. Or future generations that have the technology to study these ships when they are considered "ancient".

 

[TurboDave]

Wow, those are some pretty amazing shots and footage. Lot of history under the seas out there. Makes you wonder how long it'll be until these wrecks are pulled of the sea floor by other countries are commercial scrappers that have the money for it. Or future generations that have the technology to study these ships when they are considered "ancient".

Virtually all the ships that I studied were sunk in over 1,000 fathoms (1 fathom = 6 feet) of water, most in excess of 2,000 fathoms or way more. Trust me, there's nothing worth enough money on them to justify the cost of bringing up a bunch of steal and aluminum from such extreme depths. They're always stripped clean of the electronics/weapons system so as to be environmentally friendly.

 

[slow305]

If anyone is ever out in the San Fransisco Bay Area, thee USS Hornet is docked out there. That's the CV-12 Hornet. It was the ship that picked up the Apollo 11 astronauts after splashdown. I haven't been there since right after it pulled into Alameda in 1998, but I've heard they opened up blow decks and the galley. It is pretty cool to see how sailors lived (and still live) for months at a time in a sardine can like that.

 

[jdpolzin]

Virtually all the ships that I studied were sunk in over 1,000 fathoms (1 fathom = 6 feet) of water, most in excess of 2,000 fathoms or way more. Trust me, there's nothing worth enough money on them to justify the cost of bringing up a bunch of steal and aluminum from such extreme depths. They're always stripped clean of the electronics/weapons system so as to be environmentally friendly.

It's amazing how deep our seas are! I'm a PADI certified diver and have always been interested in ships and the ocean. My grampa and I have driven all over the place to see different ships docking. This was when he was much younger and i was just a little guy. There's so much history in the ocean. It's amazing!

 

[groumoutis]

If you want to see something really sad, go to the Navy yard in Philly. My second to last week in the Navy my ship sent a few of us up there from Norfolk to do a strip ship and take parts off of the ships that were going to be scuttled.

Just thinking about the fact that I was one of the last sailors on that ship was sad. Just the fact my Navy career was ending at the same time as the ships! Of course I only did 9 years of service.

One of the ship's weatherdeck was so rusted it was like walking on a sponge that didn't spring back into shape. A lot of them still had useful equipment on them. One still had most of the MR shop with a 6 foot bed lathe and a vertical mill. I would love to have that stuff in the garage. As an A-Ganger I took some parts off of a rather brand new Rix 5r5 high pressure air compressor. Those things are crazy expensive but not cost effective to remove I guess.