Tag Archives: USS Bennington (CVA-20)

San Fran Triple Flats

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San Francisco Naval Shipyard: a trio of Essex-class carriers, left-to-right, USS Hancock (CVA-19), USS Oriskany CVA-34), and USS Bennington (CVA-20), 3 October 1957.

Denham/NARA # 80-G-K-23227.

Of note, Oriskany is in drydock in the middle of her SCB-125A modernization, which took place from 1 October 1956 to 29 May 1959. She was the last of her class to gain her angled deck, steam catapults, and hurricane bow and would have an exceptionally long life– the last Essex to operate as a combat carrier.

Decommissioned on 30 September 1976, she would languish in mothballs through the Lehman “600 Ship Navy” period even though she had grass growing on her decks, and be stricken in 1989, just four months before the Berlin Wall came down.

Don’t forget the reason for the holiday weekend

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Too often, in our rush to squeeze in summer activities this three day weekend, we forget the reason we are observing it.

Here we see the Essex-class attack carrier USS Bennington (CVA-20) as she passed Battleship Row in Pearl Harbor on 31 May 1958, Memorial Day.

Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Catalog #: USN 1036055

Note Bennington’s airwing of FJ3 Fury, F2H Banshee, and F9F Cougar fighters, AD-6 Skyraider attack aircraft, and AJ2 Savage bombers. Her gig is racing to drop a wreath over Arizona’s deck. Official U.S. Navy Photograph. Catalog #: USN 1036055

Just under the surface to her port is the wreck of the Pennsylvania-class battleship USS Arizona (BB-39) in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on Memorial Day, 31 May 1958. Note the outline of Arizona‘s hull and the flow of oil from her fuel tanks.

Bennington‘s crew is in formation on the flight deck, spelling out a tribute to Arizona‘s crewmen who were lost in the 7 December 1941 Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor.