Franklin D Roosevelt (CV 42) - Naval Cruise Book

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E I i -. - V ff - -ti 'af 'f ug -- -- ------ - V ..f f-.:.f. , . l The United States Ship Franklin D. Roosevelt The awesome U. S. naval construction program of World War ll produced a fleet of the finest ships to ever sail in any Navy in the world. These included the IOWA class battleships, ESSEX class carriers, BALTIMORE class heavy cruisers, and FLETCHER class destroyers. lt was a logical progression then that produced a pedigree of combatant ships in the latter part of the war. One of these ships was the large battle carrier to be christened FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT. Ordered on January 21, 1943 and laid down at the New York Navy Yard December 19, 1943 as the USS CORAL SEA, she was the second ship of the MIDWAY class. Capitalizing on wartime experience, she was constructed with the most advanced damage control innovations possible, including an armored flight deck and extensive internal subdivision not found on any carrier or other combatant before or since. Her original length was 968 feet, which with an extreme beam at the waterline of 121 feet, and a maximum draft of 34 feet gave a full load displacement of 60,100 tons. Her twelve Babcock and Wilcox boilers fed four General Electric engines developing a total of 212,000 shaft horsepower for a design speed ot 33 knots. With the death of President Franklin D. Roosevelt on April 12, 1945, Secretary of the Navy James Forrestal requested of President Truman that the hull of the carrier CORAL SEA CCVB 425 bechristened in honor of the former President. With the approval of President Truman, Mrs. John H. Towers, the ship's sponsor and wife of VADM John H. Towers, Deputy Commander in Chief, Pacific Fleet, christened the FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT on April 29, 1945. She was commissioned on Navy Day, October 27, 1945. The principal speaker at the ceremonies was President Harry Truman. Her first Commanding Officer was Captain Apollo Soucek. At this time the ship was armed with eighteen single 5 inch 54 caliber gun mounts, twenty-one quadruple 40 mm anti-aircraft mounts, and numerous 20 mm guns. The ship's complement was 379 officers and 3,725 enlisted men with the air wing embarked. She was equipped with two hydraulic catapults forward.

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.1 .. , , , 1 ., 1,-n,,t, , A .. H , ,- 1 . ,, L.,- -inf' '21-1Zf1-if,-':'e,,,g, Q .f .. - 1,-,ri-5-- -',-f-1 -- -n'f34,g,,.gg- ' -' ' ' ' 3 H111-W 'I Leaving the New York Navy Yard, ROOSEVELT moved to her first homeport of Norfolk, Virginia where outfitting and trials were completed. On December 12, 1945 the first arrested carrier landing onboard FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT was made by her Air Officer, CDR Robert E. C. Jones, flying an F6F Hellcat. On August 8, 1946, ROOSEVELT began an odessey which she would repeat twenty times before she was retired. Leaving Norfolk enroute to her first Mediterranean deployment she would soon make her first impact on world diplomacy. Stationed off Athens, Greece she would be the primary element of a U. S. Naval force which would influence the failure of communist attempts to control the government of Greece. She was host to thousands of visitors during her many Mediterranean port calls. She returned to Norfolk bn October 4, in time to participate in Navy Day celebrations in New York later in the month. In port Norfolk on October 30, for a leave and upkeep period, she departed and made the first catapult launch from an aircraft carrier of a service type jet aircraft, a P80A, on November 2, 1946. The same day LT COL Marion Carl made the first carrier arrested landing of a jet aircraft in the same P80A. She was underway again on February 3, 1947, to participate in Atlantic Fleet exercises in the Caribbean during which the first fleet use of a helicopter from a carrier was completed with the transfer of mail to the submarine GREENFISH operating in the same task force. March 18 she entered the Norfolk Naval Shipyard for alterations and repairs, including the addition of an enlarged and enclosed bridge area. The yard period completed on July 14, she conducted refresher training in the Caribbean before departing September 13, 1948, in company with Destroyer Squadron Twelve, on her second Mediterranean deployment. While Navy transport planes were assisting in breaking the Berlin blockade, FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT served on this deployment as an international deterrent. Strong carrier task forces built around her and other carriers moved in the Mediterranean making their presence felt. In exercises, often in combination with naval forces of our allies, demonstrations of strength served to discourage communist advances in countries bordering the Mediterranean. ROOSEVELT completed her second deployment with her arrival back in Norfolk on January 23, 1949. Through 1950 FRANKLIN D. ROOSEVELT made three short cruises to the Caribbean in preparation for her third Mediterranean deployment. Once again departing Norfolk she began her third cruise January 10, 1951. She visited Oran, Augusta, Naples, Rhaleron Bay and Malta before returning to Norfolk May 17, 1951. After a short four month turnaround period she once again departed Norfolk, this time for her fourth Mediterranean deployment, on September 3, 1951. Among the ports visited on the cruise were Lisbon, Portugal and Augusta. With her return to Norfolk February 4, 1952, her fourth deployment was concluded. , . l ii I ig- I I I M