Lewin of Greenwich Naval History & Forum

USS Coral Sea pictured off Hampton Roads on December 10th 1947.

Various views of the MIDWAY after her rather "overdone" modernization; not a screaming success..

It did make for a interesting 1:1536 model tho, decades after I started her!..........DFO

An Grumman F6F-5P Hellcat assigned to VF-5B 'Jolly Rodgers' Sqdn pictured during flight operations on USS Coral Sea in 1948.

USS Midway preparing to launch target drones for gunnery exercises, during her cruise to Haiti,May 31st 1949.

USS Midway off Hunters Point Navy Yard...1971.

An original colour image of the launching of USS Midway (CVB-41), at Newport News Ship Shipbuilding & Dry Dock Company, Newport News, VA on March 20th 1945.....Commissioned 8 days after the end of World War II, Midway was the largest ship in the world until 1955, as well as the first U.S. Aircraft Carrier too big to transit the Panama Canal. She operated for 47 years, during which time she saw action in the Vietnam War and served as the Persian Gulf flagship in 1991's Operation Desert Storm. Decommissioned in 1992, she is now a museum ship at the USS Midway Museum, in San Diego and is the only remaining inactive U.S. Aircraft Carrier that is not an Essex Class Carrier.

USS Midway pictured at the post War Naval Review at New York in 1945.

Scrapping of the CORAL SEA.......... DFO

USS Coral Sea pictured in Puget Sound on February 15th 1960....Coral Sea was decommissioned at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on May 24th 1957 to receive a major conversion (SCB 110A), which included a longer angled deck canted 3 degrees more than the previous overhauls of her sister ships. As the centerline elevators were relocated to the starboard deck edge forward and aft of the island, Coral Sea became the first Carrier to mount an elevator on the port quarter resembling the more efficient deck layout of the Kitty Hawk-Class then under construction. Other improvements included new steam catapults, an enclosed hurricane bow, hull blisters, and removal of the armour belt and several anti-aircraft guns. Upon completion, she was recommissioned on January 25th 1960 and rejoined the fleet. During September 1960, she conducted training with her new air group along the West Coast, then sailed in September for a tour of duty with the Seventh Fleet in the Far East on her first WestPac. She recorded her 100,000th arrested landing in October 1961.

USS Midway pictured off Puget Sound Navy Yard on August 8th 1955.