Tag Archives: USS Coral Sea (CVB-43)

What a Difference 7 Years Makes

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While off the Virginia Capes on 7 March 1949, a twin-engine P2V-3C Neptune able to carry atomic ordnance lifted off from the brand new Midway-class supercarrier USS Coral Sea (CVB-43)— via an 8,000-pound thrust boost in the form of RATO tanks. With a mammoth 37-ton take-off weight, the aircraft was set for a 4,600-mile flight and reportedly lifted off with “room to spare.”

Piloted by the legendary Capt. (later VADM) John Tucker “Chick” Hayward (USNA ’25) of VC-5, the Coral Sea Neptune carried an 8,600-pound inert Little Boy “pumpkin” style A-bomb. Flying across the continent without refueling, the Neptune dropped its ordnance on the West Coast at Muroc, California (Edwards AFB), then returned nonstop to land at NAS Patuxent River, Maryland, vetting the concept of long-range carrier-based atomic bomb attacks.

A later test from Coral Sea’s sister, USS Franklin D Roosevelt (CVB-42) saw another similarly outfitted P2V-3C fly across the Gulf of Mexico to the Panama Canal and finish at Moffet NAS in San Francisco, a distance of 5,156 miles– not bad when the published range of the type was 3,935 miles.

USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) launches a Lockheed P2V Neptune bomber with JATO assist, during a Task Force 21 cruise, 2 July 1951

Keep in mind that the heavily modified Army B-25B Mitchells launched from USS Hornet in April 1942 on the Doolittle Raid each carried just four 500-pound conventional bombs, with a trim 18-ton take-off weight, on an (expected) 2,400-mile one-way trip that was lengthened at the last minute.

Doolittle Raid on Japan, 18 April 1942 View looking aft and to port from the island of USS Hornet (CV-8), while en route to the mission’s launching point. USS Vincennes (CA-44) is in the distance. Several of the mission’s sixteen B-25B bombers are visible. That in the foreground is tail # 40-2261, which was mission plane # 7, piloted by 2nd Lieutenant Ted W. Lawson. The next plane is tail # 40-2242, mission plane # 8, piloted by Captain Edward J. York. Both aircraft attacked targets in the Tokyo area. Lt. Lawson later wrote the book Thirty Seconds over Tokyo. Note the searchlight at left. Catalog #: NH 53293

An Army Air Force B-25B bomber takes off from USS Hornet (CV-8) at the start of the raid, 18 April 1942. Note men watching from the signal lamp platform at right. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives. Catalog #: 80-G-41196

Radial Engine Glory

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How about this great shot of two aircraft rarely seen operating side-by-side on a flattop, showing Navy and Marine F4U-4 Corsairs of VF-43 (F-3xx) and VMF-211 (AF-144) spinning up behind a big Douglas AD-4 Skyraider (SS-807) of composite squadron VC-33 aboard the supercarrier USS Coral Sea (CVB-43) circa 1952.

While both the Corsair and Skyraider used 18-cylinder radials, the Pratt & Whitney R-2800-18W on the F4U “only” coughed up 2,380 hp while the Wright R-3350-26WA Duplex-Cyclone of the AD-4 went at least 2,700 hp.

Cora was on deployment to the Mediterranean Sea with Carrier Air Group Four (CVG-4) from 19 Apr 1952 to 12 Oct 1952. The mixed jet-prop group at the time included the “Gladiators” of VF-62 (F2H-2 Banshees), the Corsair-equipped “Hornets” of VF-44, “Wake Island Avengers” of VMF-211, and “Challengers” of VF-43; the Skyraider-flying “Blackbirds” of VF-45 and dets of AD-4W, AD-4N, F2H-2Ps, and HUP-1s.

While on service with the 6th Fleet, she visited Yugoslavia and carried Marshall Tito on a one-day cruise to observe carrier operations. On her next Med deployment, she would host Generalissimo Franco on a stop in Spain.

VMF-211 was redesignated VMA-211 during that cruise, while Cora herself morphed on paper from CVB-43 to CVA-43.