USS Coral Sea (CV/CVB/CVA-43) , a Midway -class aircraft carrier, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of the Coral Sea. She earned the affectionate nickname " Ageless Warrior " through her long career. Initially classified as an aircraft carrier with hull classification symbol CV-43 , the contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding of Newport News, Virginia on 14 June 1943. She was reclassified as a "Large Aircraft Carrier" with hull classification symbol CVB-43 on 15 July 1943. Her keel was laid down on 10 July 1944. She was launched on 2 April 1946 sponsored by Mrs. Thomas C. Kinkaid, and commissioned on 1 October 1947 with Captain A.P. Storrs III in command.
Before 8 May 1945, the aircraft carrier CVB-42 had been known as USS Coral Sea ; after that date, CVB-42 was renamed in honor of Franklin D. Roosevelt, the late President, and CVB-43 was named Coral Sea .
Early Milestones
The ship promptly began a series of career milestones when, on 27 April 1948, two P2V-2 Neptunes, piloted by Commander Thomas D. Davies and Lieutenant Commander John P. Wheatley, made jet assisted take-offs (JATO) from the carrier as it steamed off Norfolk, Virginia. This was the first carrier launchings of planes of this size and weight. Coral Sea sailed from Norfolk, Virginia on 7 June 1948 for a midshipmen cruise to the Mediterranean Sea and Caribbean Sea, and returned to Norfolk, Virginia 11 August.
After an overhaul period, Coral Sea was again operating off the Virginia Capes. On 7 March 1949, a P2V-3C Neptune, piloted by Captain John T. Hayward of VC-5, was launched from the carrier with a 10,000-load of dummy bombs. The aircraft flew across the continent, dropped its load on the West Coast, and returned nonstop to land at the Naval Air Station Patuxent River, Maryland. Following training in the Caribbean Sea, Coral Sea sailed 3 May 1949 for her first tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea with the Sixth Fleet, returning 28 September.
Operations in the 1950s
On 21 April 1950, the first carrier takeoff of an AJ-1 Savage heavy attack bomber was made from Coral Sea by Captain John T. Hayward of VC-5. The remainder of the pilots of the squadron completed carrier qualifications on board Coral Sea in this aircraft on 31 August, marking the introduction of this long-range attack bomber to carrier operations. At this time, Coral Sea returned to the Mediterranean Sea for duty with the Sixth Fleet from 9 September 1950 to 1 February 1951.
An overhaul and local operations upon her return, as well as training with Air Group 17, prepared her for a return to the Mediterranean Sea once more on 20 March 1951. As flagship for Commander, Carrier Division 6, she took part in a North Atlantic Treaty Organization Exercise Beehive I. She returned to Norfolk, Virginia 6 October for local and Caribbean Sea operations, next sailing for the Mediterranean Sea on 19 April 1952. While on service with the Sixth Fleet, she visited Yugoslavia, and carried Marshal Josip Broz Tito on a one-day cruise to observe carrier operations. The ship was reclassified as an "Attack Aircraft Carrier" with hull classification symbol CVA-43 on 1 October 1952 while still at sea, and she returned to Norfolk, Virginia for overhaul 12 October.
Coral Sea trained pilots in carrier operations off the Virginia Capes and Mayport, Florida, and in April 1953 she embarked the Judiciary Committee of the United States House of Representatives for a three-day cruise. On 26 April, the carrier sailed for a tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea. This cruise was highlighted by a visit to Spain, and participation in NATO Exercise Black Wave with Deputy Secretary of Defense R.M. Kyes on board as an observer. Returning to Norfolk, Virginia on 21 October, she carried out tests for the Bureau of Aeronautics and trained members of the Naval Reserve at Mayport, Florida, and Guantanamo Bay.
Coral Sea returned to the Mediterranean Sea from 7 July to 20 December 1954, and during this tour was visited by Generalissimo Francisco Franco as she lay off Valencia, Spain. On her next tour of duty in the Mediterranean Sea from 23 March to 29 September 1955, she called at Istanbul, and participated in NATO exercises.
Sailing from Norfolk, Virginia 23 July 1956 for Mayport, Florida, to embark Carrier Air Group 10, Coral Sea continued on to the Mediterranean Sea on her next tour. She participated in NATO exercises, and received Paul, King of the Hellenes, and his consort, Friederike Luise Thyra of Hannover on board as visitors in October. During the Suez Crisis, Coral Sea evacuated American citizens from the troubled area, and stood by off Egypt until November.
She returned to Norfolk, Virginia 11 February 1957. She cleared that port on 26 February and visited Santos, Brazil; Valparaíso, Chile; and Balboa, Canal Zone, before arriving at Bremerton, Washington, on 15 April. Coral Sea was decommissioned at the Puget Sound Naval Shipyard on 24 May 1957 to receive a major conversion (SCB-110A), which included an angled deck, relocation of her elevators to the deck edge, new steam catapults, an enclosed hurricane bow, hull blisters, removal of the armor belt and several anti-aircraft guns, and other changes. Upon completion, she was recommissioned on 25 January 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 (Western Pacific cruise).
Vietnam and operations in the 1960s to early 1970s
Installation of the Pilot Landing Aid Television (PLAT) system was completed on Coral Sea on 14 December 1961. She was the first carrier to have this system installed for operations use. Designed to provide a videotape of every landing, the system proved useful for instructional purposes and in the analysis of landing accidents, thereby making it an invaluable tool in the promotion of safety. By 1963, all attack carriers had been equipped with PLAT and plans were underway for installation in the CVSs and at shore stations.
Following the Gulf of Tonkin Incident in August, Coral Sea departed on 7 December 1964 for duty with the Seventh Fleet. On 7 February 1965, aircraft from Coral Sea , along with those from Ranger and Hancock , blasted the military barracks and staging areas near Dong Hoi in the southern sector of North Vietnam. The raids were in retaliation for a damaging Viet Cong attack on installations around Pleiku in South Vietnam. On 26 March, the Seventh Fleet units began their participation in Operation Rolling Thunder, a systematic bombing of military targets throughout North Vietnam. Pilots from Coral Sea struck island and coastal radar stations in the vicinity of Vinh Son. Coral Sea remained on deployment until returning home on 1 November 1965.
The Coral Sea made another Westpac/Vietnam deployment from 29 July 1966 to 23 February 1967.
In the summer of 1967 the city of San Francisco adopted the ship as "San Francisco's Own." This might seem ironic given the strong anti-military sentiment in the Bay Area, and the fact that this occurred during the Summer of Love. Despite this, the city and the ship enjoyed a formal, official relationship. However, there were probably many times the crew did not enjoy the attitudes of Bay Area residents at all. The feeling was mutual.
The ship continued to make WestPac/Vietnam deployments until 1975: 26 July 1967 to 6 April 1968; 7 September 1968 to 15 April 1969; 23 September 1969 to 1 July 1970; 12 November 1971 to 17 July 1972; 9 March 1973 to 8 November; and from 5 December 1974 to 2 July 1975. Operations by United States Navy and United States Marine Corps aircraft in Vietnam expanded significantly throughout April 1972 with a total of 4,833 Navy sorties in the south and 1,250 in the north. Coral Sea , along with Hancock , was on Yankee Station when the North Vietnamese spring offensive began. They were joined in early April by Kitty Hawk and Constellation . On 16 April 1972, aircraft from Coral Sea , along with those from Kitty Hawk and Constellation , flew 57 sorties in the Haiphong area in support of U.S. Air Force B-52 Stratofortress strikes on the Haiphong petroleum products storage area in an operation known as Freedom Porch.
After refitting, from 1970 through to 1971, and during Reftra down to San Diego, the Coral Sea on its return trip to Alameda caught fire in the communications department. The fire spread so fast that Captain William H. Harris commanded that the carrier be put just off shore between San Mateo and Santa Barbara in order to abandon ship if the fire could not be put under control. Several communications personnel were trapped and Radiomen Bob Bilbo and Bill Larimore pulled many shipmates out of the burning and smoke filled compartments.
Operation Pocket Money, the mining campaign against principal North Vietnamese ports, was launched 9 May 1972. Early that morning, an EC-121 aircraft took off from Da
Aircraft Carrier Photo Index: USS CORAL SEA (CVB-43)
Please report any broken links or trouble you might come across to the Webmaster. Please take a moment to let us know so that we can correct any problems and make your visit as ...
USS Coral Sea CVA-43 Association - Links
USS Coral Sea Tribute Page http://www.usscoralsea.net. USS Coral Sea Marines http://www.usscoralseamarines55-57.com/ Online Library of Selected Images:USS Coral Sea (CVB-43, later ...
USS CORAL SEA CV-42, CVB-43, CVA-43 and CV-43 HISTORY, AND THOSE ...
uss coral sea cv-42, cvb-43, cva-43 and cv-43 history, and those aircraft carriers operating with coral sea during her tour of service and a tour of duty in the u. s. navy (august ...
USS Coral Sea (CV-43) - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
USS Coral Sea (CV/CVB/CVA-43), a Midway-class aircraft carrier, was the second ship of the United States Navy to be named for the Battle of the Coral Sea.
USN Ships--USS Coral Sea (CVB-43, later CVA-43 and CV-43)
This page features selected views of USS Coral Sea.
USS Coral Sea CVA-43 Association - Home Port
History of the ship and crew, reunion news, and contact information.
USS Coral Sea Tribute Site - Home Port
This site is a tribute to the aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea CV-43.
Home [usscoralseamarines55-57.com]
USS Coral Sea Marine Detachment Seagoing Marines USS Coral Sea
U.S. Navy - A Brief History of Aircraft Carriers - USS Coral Sea (CVB ...
USS Coral Sea (CVB 43) history and photos.
World Aircraft Carriers List Photo Gallery: USS Coral Sea (CV 43)
World Aircraft Carriers List Photo Gallery USS Coral Sea (CV 43) "Coral Maru"....."The Ageless Warrior"