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Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer: Quoted: The Blue Ghost. Yup, I took many pics inside such as this one. http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/217/blueig.jpg I was there in December with couple of Pakistani Air Force officers I was training with. I really wanted to get into the flight operations area, but that is not open to the public. |
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Quoted:
Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer:
Quoted:
The Blue Ghost. Yup, I took many pics inside such as this one. http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/217/blueig.jpg I was there in December with couple of Pakistani Air Force officers I was training with. I really wanted to get into the flight operations area, but that is not open to the public. There is little security there, you could have sneaked in and started the ship up 
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Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer: Not with those two guys with me. It would have been labeled a terrorist incident. Quoted: Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer: Quoted: The Blue Ghost. Yup, I took many pics inside such as this one. http://img195.imageshack.us/img195/217/blueig.jpg I was there in December with couple of Pakistani Air Force officers I was training with. I really wanted to get into the flight operations area, but that is not open to the public. There is little security there, you could have sneaked in and started the ship up  |
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I briefly spent some time on it when it was still active in Pensacola, FL and designated CVT-16. It was used for training new pilots in carrier ops and was the last carrier in active service that had wooden flight decks, so I was told. We use to sleep in the safety nets as it was too hot to stay below (AC was none existent in many compartments). My spot was the 2nd net on the port side. You'd sleep suspended 65' over the water and be able to look down watch the dolphins riding the bow wave. Occasionally would watch a few hammerhead sharks that also were attracted to the bow for some reason.
Had a great time for the few weeks I was one her for a trip from Pensacola to Boston for a refit. Use to trap shoot off the fantail, just under the end of the flight deck. The Officers would bring out their shotguns and let anyone use them and the Rec. Fund would pay for the ammo and clays, The ship also had a damage control training compartment at the end of the hanger deck. They would light mattresses and pools of oil on fire, turn on the water in pipes that had been cut, split and damaged, sprung hatches, holes in the bulkheads, etc. Then they would send people in to train and qualify them for onboard firefighting and how to stop leaks. If you didn't get the leaks plugged, the water would reach 7-8' deep before they turned it off. It kind of stressed the importance of controlling the damage. The best part was that my Father, and 3 Uncles helped build her in 1943 at the Quincy MA shipyard, the same shipyard where Kilroy worked and became famous for the 'Kilroy was Here' marks he wrote in the compartments he inspected. |
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IIRC the original Lexington carrier was in the Saratoga class, right? The one sunk at Coral Sea. That class was bigger than the subsequent Wasp/Hornet/Enterprise/Yorktown class. Yes and being built on a battlecruiser hull, she was certainly longer than either the Hornet/Enterprise and Wasp that came after her. |
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A sight for sore eyes. I grew up with her as a member
of my community. I had a few tours onboard when they would open her for the public. Great history, and a great contribution to Naval aviation. I still have a peice of her wood flight deck they sold at the Naval Aviation Meuseum. Wish we could have kept her. |
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Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer:
Rolling out of bed would have sucked.. LOL..not at all. The nets, made out of steel cables, weren't flat across, but sagged in the center were we would sleep. It sounds uncomfortable, but it really wasn't. At night, no lights, nothing but stars and the sound of the bow wave, it was fantastic. |
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Quoted: IIRC the original Lexington carrier was in the Saratoga class, right? The one sunk at Coral Sea. That class was bigger than the subsequent Wasp/Hornet/Enterprise/Yorktown class. Midway... But that was the problem, the Japanese thought she was sunk at Coral Sea. My father was on the Saratoga when in got hit in 1945.
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Quoted:
Originally Posted By MG42––Slayer:
Rolling out of bed would have sucked.. LOL..not at all. The nets, made out of steel cables, weren't flat across, but sagged in the center were we would sleep. It sounds uncomfortable, but it really wasn't. At night, no lights, nothing but stars and the sound of the bow wave, it was fantastic. Sounds perfect. |
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I think I'm confusing it with the Yorktown Yeah, I think you are. The Yorktown was severely damaged at Coral Sea and the estimate was like several months of repair. The brass said "You've got X amount of days" as Midway's intelligence was building so 'round-the-clock repair ops began and IIRC she was ready in a few days. God, I remember when the movie "Midway" with Charlton Heston came out in the (then) new "Sensoround". I went to see it with my grandfather who was a WWII USMC vet. I was close with him. |
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When I was in the third and forth grade ('67-'68) and my dad (USMC Ret) was overseas in Vietnam, the kid across the streets dad was the Captain of the Lex. Sometimes he would take us with him to the boat, and let us hang out and mess around on it. There was always someone assigned to watch after us, but it was very cool none the less. Imagine getting to wonder around a carrier at that age. Among other things...I remember it was the first time I ever had all I could drink green cool-aide. Nice pics, and thanks for posting them |
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http://i50.tinypic.com/2vnm4j9.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/hx0mx0.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/fee3br.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/2ah5uns.jpg http://i49.tinypic.com/24q4nbm.jpg Wow, you really went all out, that is an amazing collection of photographs. It took me literally seconds to see them all. TRG |
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http://i50.tinypic.com/2vnm4j9.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/hx0mx0.jpg http://i46.tinypic.com/fee3br.jpg http://i47.tinypic.com/2ah5uns.jpg http://i49.tinypic.com/24q4nbm.jpg Wow, you really went all out, that is an amazing collection of photographs. It took me literally seconds to see them all. TRG the rest are on a crashed computer. head your ass south and come fix it if you want to see them all... |
here, enjoy yourself for a few more seconds, cybaby.
http://www.ar15.com/archive/topic.html?b=8&f=8&t=285872 |
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http://media.knoxnews.com/media/img/photos/2008/04/25/042708corpus1_t607.jpg http://www.dlsearsbooks.com/www/www_ships/ships_cv/lexington_cv16/lexington_cv16_images/lexington_cv16_01.jpg Same ship; the Essex Class Lexington CV 16 modernized with new island, angled flight deck, hurricane bow, removal of guns, etc. The original aircraft carrier Lexington CV 2 which was built on a converted battle cruiser hull. http://www.militaryfactory.com/ships/imgs/uss-lexington-cv2.jpg OMG! Are those Brewster Buffaloes on the front of the flight deck in that pic of the original Lexington? How big were the guns mounted in the turrets fore and aft? 8"? ETA––quick check on Wiki confirms those were 8" guns in those turrets. Christ, that's a heavy cruiser's main armament! |
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It's funny, I spotted that plane in the picture and immediately thought of you. <- Landlubber/ fan that enjoys your aviation threads. 
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http://img66.imageshack.us/img66/5070/thelexng0.jpg Has a pretty interesting museum on board, too... http://img216.imageshack.us/img216/8013/firearmssurrenderxg1.jpg Umm, its a museum ship
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