What is everyones favourite carrier of all time?

RE: Carriers

here we go – thanks for the pointer

rabie :9
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RE: Carriers

There is a saying that says the three most perfect things in life are:

A perfectly executed landing
A really substantial bowel movement
A mind-blowing orgasm

Apparently a nightime deck landing in a heavy sea is the only opportunity you’ll ever have to experience all three simultaneously.

Moggy C

RE: Indian Alizes

>retired when they got their sencond batch of harreris and
>the old ww2 carreir went form cats and sea hawks to ski jump
>and harreirs i think.
>
>just after pics really and its never discusssed
>
>rabie :9

Rabie, the IN kept its Alizes operating from shore bases for some time after the Vikrant (the IN’s first carrier) retired its cat and installed the ski-jump. The Alizes continued to be used for off-shore patrol, tracking fishing-boats, applications like that. Can’t remember the year they finally retired.

You’re right, the Alize (like the Gannet) is inadequately covered … I found just one (b&w) pic at Bharat Rakshak, which is usually a good source for Indian pics and info (and even this one has more Sea Hawks in it than Alizes!):

http://www.bharat-rakshak.com/NAVY/Images/Historic-16.jpg

Hope it come through. Regards,

Snoopy

RE: Indian Alize

cheers – this and the ganet are two great and very forgooten plane

rabie :9

Indian Alize

Here you go guys, a pic of an Indian Navy Alize. This one is now at the Naval Aviation museum in Goa! There is a facinating collection there in cluding a Sea Harrier!

“We the unknowing who have been doing so much for so long with so little, now attempt to do the impossible with nothing”!

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RE: Thanks

retired when they got their sencond batch of harreris and the old ww2 carreir went form cats and sea hawks to ski jump and harreirs i think.

just after pics really and its never discusssed

rabie :9

Thanks

Thanks Ja — interesting info. I’m sure there’s a heap more to read up on the Akagi — now where did I put that library card?

Rabie — the Indian Navy was operating the Breguet Alize till not too long ago — can’t remember the year they retired, but they were still in use in approx 1989-90 or so.

Regards,

Snoopy

RE: What is everyones favourite carrier?

Snoop, Akagi had two hanger decksthat were open at the bow, thus giving three points for take off, each upper deck was shorter than the lower one and landings always happened on the top deck. During the war though, the lower decks were closed offdue to sea spray making the deck slipery! As a concequencs the top deck was extended andactually hung over both the bow and the stern by near on 10 feet!

Ise and Hyuga were built in the mid 20’s with eight 14′ guns, the hanger replaced the last set of guns whilest still giving a six gun broad side of considerable power! I agree that they weren’t a replacement but did manage to keep Japanese air power on the high seas! One must wonder if the Russians studied this when they built the Moskva class ships!

As for flying at sea, it is a challenge that only the superior can handel 😛

“We the unknowing who have been doing so much for so long with so little, now attempt to do the impossible with nothing”!

RE: What is everyones favourite carrier?

The USS Lexington, CV-16, is a vintage wartime aircraft carrier. Commissioned in 1943, she served the United States longer and set more records than any other carrier in the history of naval aviation.

The ship was the oldest working carrier in the United States Navy when decommissioned in 1991. The Lexington, an Essex-class carrier, was originally named the USS Cabot. During World War II, the final work on it was being completed at Massachusetts’ Fore River Shipyard when word was received that the original carrier named Lexington, CV-2, had been sunk in the Coral Sea. A campaign was launched to change the new carrier’s name to Lexington, and the rest is history. The USS Lexington was commissioned on February 17, 1943.

After training maneuvers and a shakedown cruise, the Lexington joined the Fifth Fleet at Pearl Harbor. During World War 11, the Lexington participated in nearly every major operation in the Pacific Theater and spent a total of 21 months in combat. Her planes destroyed 372 enemy aircraft in the air and 475 more on the ground. She sank or destroyed 300,000 tons of enemy cargo and damaged an additional 600,000 tons. The ship’s guns shot down 15 planes and assisted in downing five more.

The Japanese reported the Lexington sunk no less than four times! Yet, each time she returned to fight again, leading the propagandist Tokyo Rose to nickname her “The Blue Ghost.” The name is a tribute to the ship and the crew and air groups that served aboard her.

After the war, the Lexington was briefly decommissioned (1947-1955). When reactivated, she operated primarily with the Seventh Fleet out of San Diego, California. Although not involved in actual combat, the Lexington kept an offshore vigil during tensions in Formosa, Laos, and Cuba. In 1962, the Lexington sailed into Pensacola, Florida, and began training operations, eventually being officially designated CVT-16, Navy Training Carrier.

The USS Lexington was decommissioned on November 26, 1991.

I jioned the U.S. Navy in 1984 originally to be a sonar tech. I was 6′ tall when I joined and grew another 5″ in the first 2 years… I grew myself out of the submarine service. The most technically challenging thing I could do in the surface fleet was electronics warfare (EW) so that is what I cross-rated to. I got out in 1991…

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RE: What is everyones favourite carrier?

did the japanese not have a carreir that had a left handed ilsand and a right islaneded carrier designed to work in co-operation. sounded great but never worked (pilots drift left naturally apparently).

i also really like the gannet and the french alize (nver ever see that do you)

rabie :9

RE: What is everyones favourite carrier?

Ok Snoopy…I’ll grant you that…I can polish Seafires too 🙂

RE: What is everyones favourite carrier?

Sorry Ja, I’ve got to agree with Ashley, although I was in the odd position ten years ago of having been accepted as a potential pilot for both the RAF and FAA. I was desperate to fly fast jets and really only applied for the Fleet Air Arm in case the RAF turned me down, so when faced with a choice there was only ever going to be one option.

Let’s face it, carrier pilots have got to be nuts – who in their right mind wants to try landing on an airfield that’s bouncing up and down and running away from them? 😉

Ja’s favourite carriers – more info, please!

>
>Mine is the IJN Akagi, the reason I like it is because it
>hade three flying off decks, two seperate hangers and a port
>side island, not to mention being able to carry near on 100
>a/c. Very few carriers could match this, …
>
> …
>
>Second favourite would be the IJN Ise, a battle ship
>converted aft of the second mid set turrets to carry a
>hanger and 22 a/c either float planes of standard!
>
>

(Ah, a WW2 _Pacific_ theatre enthusiast at last!)

Ja, about the Akagi, I’ve read a bit about it but hadn’t heard this one before — how did they build _three_ flying-off decks? I have an impression there was a hangar deck which may have extended further out, at bow and stern, than the flight deck … but _three_ flying-off decks??

And about the Ise, didn’t she have a sister-ship, the IJNS Hyuga? Were they identical, do you know? And weren’t they really interim solutions, built in a rush after the Japanese lost four carriers at Midway? (Not that that invalidates their position as anyone’s favourite!!)

And Ashley — there were plenty of Seafires in the Pacific and CBI theatres, honest!!

Regards,

Snoopy

Naaaah…not me…

…personally I like keeping my feet dry…preferably in a Spitfire 😉