Spacecraft Recovery
19 December 1960: Mercury-Redstona 1A
General Characteristics:
Awarded: 14 June 1943
Keel laid: 14 Septemper 1943
Launched: 21 November 1945
Commissioned: 3 November 1946
Decommissioned: 15 Jananuary 1970
Builder: Philadelphia Navy Yard, Philadelphia, PA
Propulsion system: 150,000 SHP; Westinghouse Geared Turbines,
Propellers: four
Length: 888 feet (270.66 meters)
Beam: 93 feet (28.35 meters)
Draft: 28.58 feet (8.7 meters)
Displacement: 27,100 tons
Speed: 33 knots
Aircraft: 82
Armament: 12 x 5"/38AA, 32 x 40mm, 46 x 20mm
Crew: 3.348
More information on USS Valley Forge from the United States Navy.
USS Valley Forge was reclassified as an "Attack Aircraft Carrier" and redesignated CVA-45, 1 Oct 1952. Modified at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA, and reclassified as an "Antisubmarine Warfare Support Aircraft Carrier" (CVS-45), 1 Jan 1954. Converted to an "Amphibious Assault Ship (Helicopter)" at the Norfolk Naval Shipyard, Portsmouth, VA, Mar–Jul 1961. Reclassified LPH-8, 1 Jul 1961. Stricken 15 January 1970 and sold for scrapping to Nicolai Joffre Corp., Beverly Hills, CA, 29 Oct 1971.
