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Displacement: 45,000 tons
Length 968 feet
Beam 113 feet
Draft 35 feet
Speed 33 knots
Ships Complement 4,104
Franklin D. Roosevelt (CVB-42) was launched 29 April 1945 by New
York Naval Shipyard as Coral Sea (CVB-42); sponsored by Mrs. John
H. Towers, wife of the Deputy Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet;
renamed Franklin D. Roosevelt 8 May 1945; and commissioned 27 October
1945, Captain A. Soucek in command. She was reclassified CVA-42
on 1 October 1952.
During her shakedown cruise, Franklin D. Roosevelt called at Rio
de Janeiro 1 to 11 February 1946 to represent the United States
at the inauguration of the Brazilian president, Eurico G. Dutra,
who came aboard for a short cruise. Fleet maneuvers and other training
operations in the Caribbean preceded her first deployment to the
Mediterranean, from 8 August to 4 October during which she was a
part of a U.S. Navy force which visited Athens to bolster the government
of Greece during its successful fight against the Communist. She
received thousands of visitors during her calls to many Mediterranean
ports, giving Europeans an opportunity to view this impressive addition
to America's seapower for peace. The first opportunity for general
visiting by the American public came at New York City during Navy
Day celebrations of late October.
Franklin D. Roosevelt operated off the east coast until July 1947
when she entered Norfolk Naval Ship Yard for a prolonged overhaul,
during which she received improvements to her equipment and facilities.
On 13 September 1948 the carrier sailed from Norfolk for a second
tour of duty with the Mediterranean forces, from which she returned
23 January 1949. During the next 5 years, Franklin D. Roosevelt
took part in intensive operations off the Virginia Capes, along
the east coast, and in the Caribbean, and made four tours of duty
in the Mediterranean.' Assigned to extensive conversion at Puget
Sound Naval Ship Yard, the carrier sailed from Norfolk 7 January
1954. Too large to pass through the Panama Canal, she rounded Cape
Horn, and arrived at the shipyard 5 March. She was decommissioned
there 23 April 1954.
Fitted with an angled flight deck, steam catapults, and a hurricane
bow, Franklin D. Roosevelt was re-commissioned 6 April 1956, and
on 16 June arrived at San Francisco to load stores for her voyage
around the Horn to Mayport, Fla., arriving at her new home port
8 August. She sailed the Caribbean training pilots in the use of
the morror landing system and general carrier operations until her
emergency deployment to the eastern Atlantic between 7 November
and 9 December at the time of the Suez Crisis.
In February 1957, Franklin D. Roosevelt sailed to the Gulf of Maine
for cold-weather tests of catapults, aircraft, and other carrier
equipment, including the "Regulus" guided missile. In
July she sailed for the first of three postconversion cruises to
the Mediterranean completed through 1960. Her assignments in the
Mediterranean added NATO exercises to her normal schedule of major
fleet operations, and found her each year entertaining a distinguished
list of guests. A constant emphasis on her stateside operations
was development of advanced tactics and procedures.
**Special thanks to the United States Navy for making this information
and photos available to us!**
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