Spacecraft Recovery
21 July 1961: Liberty Bell 7 (efforts to recover the capsule
failed)
General Characteristics:
Awarded: 1940
Keel laid: May 10, 1943
Launched: June 28, 1944
Commissioned: October 9, 1944
Decommissioned: February 13, 1969
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va.
Propulsion system: 8 boilers
Propellers: four
Aircraft elevators: three
Arresting gear cables: four
Catapults: two
Length: 888.5 feet (270.8 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 191.9 feet (58.5 meters)
Beam: 101 feet (30.8 meters)
Draft: 30.8 feet (9.4 meters)
Displacement: approx. 40,600 tons full load
Speed: 33 knots
Planes: 80-100 planes
Crew: approx. 3448 as CVS: 115 officers and 1500 enlisted
Armament:
1945: 12 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns, 72 40mm guns and 56 20mm guns
1953: 8 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns and 28 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns
1956: 8 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns, 8 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns and Regulus I missiles
1968: 4 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns
More information on the USS Randolph from the United States Navy.
Stricken from the Navy List 1 Jun 1973. Sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping 1 Apr 1975.
