Warbird Information Exchange

A theoretical question for those of you with knowledge of things nautical --

Suppose you had your very own Essex class carrier and complement of aircraft (flight and hangar decks) that you want to put on display in North America. You want to minimize salt water and air exposure since it is better to minimize/slow corrosion than to repair it.

So where do you berth the ship? Are any of the major rivers navigable for large capital ships far enough upstream to materially reduce the tidal salt water impact? Mississippi, Columbia, Delaware, Hudson, St Lawrence? The Essex draws 33' of water.

Didn't they have carriers on the Great Lakes?

Yes, but they were built there (converted from Great Lakes passenger steamers) and they were considerably smaller than a fleet carrier. I don't think the St. Lawrence Seaway would handle anything as large as a CV, even a WWII straight-decker.

I wish they'd preserved the Wolverine or Sable, but both were scrapped as soon as the war was over. At least we still have a few of the airplanes that served on them.

SN

The issue with Great Lake cities such as Detroit, Cleveland, Toledo, Buffalo etc. is not depth but length, because access to the lower Great Lakes is afforded by a series of locks, especially those circumventing Niagara Falls, which dictate a max length of 730 feet. This rules out the largest WWII-era ships.

August

I wish the effort to save the USS Cabot had been succesful. There are already four Essex class boats preserved, it would have been great to have a CVL as well. The Cabot was pretty much WWII rig, but alas, she is just a memory now.

_________________
Had God intended for man to fly behind inline engines, Pratt & Whitney would have made them.

CB

http://www.angelfire.com/dc/jinxx1/Desrt_Wings.html

That's what my friend was telling me after I posted. Hey, what do I know. I just remember singing about the Erie Canal in grade school!

Very large ocean going freighters and car haulers are routinely dragged up and down Old Man River every day, the bridge wing on an empty car hauler going downriver is one heck of a looonngg way to look up from Cafe` du Monde on the river walk or in front of St. Louis Cathedral in the quarter. You can get to just above Baton Rouge.

Ocean going ships also regularly visit Portland, Ore. a pretty fair way up the Columbia River.

_________________
Don't make me go get my flying monkeys-

Tell me about it!

http://www.warbirdinformationexchange.org/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?t=11905