If there was a real Enterprise CV-6 museum...

Food for thought. 

  Would your Enterprise have had a “typical career “for an aircraft carrier of her class? Or would she have followed the example of the USS Midway and served far longer than her “class-mates”?

If the first, then keeping her in WWII colors and displays would make sense. If the latter you would have an open field  

  The USS Midway has a selection of aircraft that are reprehensive of the many types that served on her or during her era, as well as plane tugs and deck displays.  

The access from the pier, ticket booths,  the changes to the antennas, the addition of signal flags, rope barricades, docents, general public parents- kids, veterans, restaurant on the fantail etc. all would lend a lot of color and interest to your model . 

 1-         http://www.midway.org/Aircraft-Museum  

2-      Also at Google Images: USS Midway Museum aircraft.

I'm such a Homer

Being originally of 1930's technology and smaller than post WWII carriers I'd not think Enterprise would have been a strong candidate for modernization except maybe as a helicopter carrier. And since helicopter development was still in its infancy, probably not a realistic scenario. So, yeah probably Pacific War theme.

One thought I had was park an SBD on the forward elevator with a sign "Elevator rides from hangar deck in the airplane! $1.00!" :-)

In 1945 (or thereabouts)? How about 10 cents!

It's a neat idea. That's a ship that really should have been preserved. Before we get too angry about that story, though, it's worth remembering that the U.S. has done better at preserving historic warships than any other country has.

From what I can see on navsource, the ship was basically mothballed until 1958, i.e. it didn't go through any rebuilds after the war.

Because of that, I'd put it in the same category as the Kidd, something close to her WW2 fit.

jtilley

In 1945 (or thereabouts)? How about 10 cents!

It's a neat idea. That's a ship that really should have been preserved. Before we get too angry about that story, though, it's worth remembering that the U.S. has done better at preserving historic warships than any other country has.

 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_museum_ships

GMorrison

From what I can see on navsource, the ship was basically mothballed until 1958, i.e. it didn't go through any rebuilds after the war.

Because of that, I'd put it in the same category as the Kidd, something close to her WW2 fit.

 

You're Kidd-ing, right? MUWAHAHAHAHA! 

Yeah, that sounds most logical. Probably wouldn't bother changing her much from OOB. I figure if she sat in mothball for ten years probably a lot of late war armaments might have been cannabalized making it easier to restore her to mid 1942 configuration. 

Either way, it's a fantasy ship so wherever I go with it, should be good. :-)

To do a CV 6 1945 appearance will take some considerable modification to the Merit kit.

The kit, based on the Merit Yorktown, is designed to represent Enterprise as she looked in the fall of 1942.

Although not modernized anything like the Essex-class ships were done through the 50s-60s, Enterprise went through a major overhaul in Bremerton throughout much of 1943.  The ship that returned to the war was of a significantly different appearance from what the model represents.

The hull, island, AA guns, etc., would require a good amount of scratch work, or after market add-ons to appear as the Enterprise could have looked as a post-war museum ship.

It can be done, but it will take some research and work.

Have fun with your project.

I like the first option.

CapnMac82

This has caused me to have rather a pleasant mental exercise gaming out which city would have won the fistfight to tie Big E to their quayside. No particular reason, but, I'm imagining one of the Great Lakes cities might have secured the rights. Ok, so, after that, my brain melted a bit after picturing a dio of Big as a museum ship, with a coat of Lakes snow aboard being shoveled off. But that also reminded me that in those mid-50s days, historical accuracy oft played second fiddle to accuracy. So, a Big E museum would likely have a Mustang, a Thunderbolt, and at least one Texan abord. Might have had a Bearcat or a Tigercat, too. Finding a Wildcat or Buffalo my have been a bit out of reach for a museum.

 

I initially thought Pearl Harbor would be a most appropriate location historically, but to maximize tourism attendance, the obvious choice would be San Diego. 

The Pride of Buffalo, the Curtiss P-40.

What a great "What if" question for a modeling subject!

If I were to do one, her home port would either be Norfolk or Baltimore Harbor. I'd have her displayed at dockside with a visitors center and gift shop, a mini-park with a display incorporating a memorial to those officers and enlisted of her crew lost in the war, at least one of her massive propellors and one of her anchors. Her flight deck would have a B-25C Mitchell in markings for a Doolittle Raider (a nod to her lost sister, USS Hornet, and Enterprise's own part in escort and providing air cover for the Doolittle raid striking force) Other planes would include an SBD Dauntless, TBD Devastator, F4F Wildcat (Midway) F4U Corsair radar-equipped night fighter (first night combat air patrols in naval aviation history were launched from Enterprise) F6F Hellcat, TBM Avenger and the Curtiss Helldiver.(1943-1945 period) On the hangar deck, the Curtiss and Boeing biplane fighters and bombers would be exhibited, for better protection of their fabric covered surfaces against weather and the elements. Also would incorporate deck tractors, at least 1 of the jeeps used aboard ship as tugs and maintenance vehicles, and a portable deck crane. She'd have the naval paint measures she was painted with at the time of the Okinawa offensive (her last campaign before war's end) and would retain as much of her radar, comms, and armament fit as possible.)

I've often thought her scrapping was one of the singularly great travesties of naval ship historic preservation, especially given the Big E's status as the single most decorated warship in U.S. Navy history.

Keep us posted- I'd love to see this modeled!

Randy

I would probably have put her in Alameda Naval Airstation, a major port for carriers during the prewar years, WWII, and continuing through the 1970's.  San Francisco has always been friendly to the carrier fleet.  Alameda would have been ideal.

I am thrilled to see the Hornet there, and Enterprise would have been a natural for that site.  I would not agree with placing her in an East Coast or Great Lakes site because her glorious wartime career was served in the Pacific.

Bill

Trying to get another warship in the bay area would have been a trick. Which Battleship was rejected? Iowa?

Steve

There was a push to have the Missouri as a museum ship there.  Also, the Iowa was at the mothballed fleet off of Suisun in San Pablo Bay.  But, I remember the mid 1960's, when the Carrier Fleet at Alameda was an impressive force.  USS Enterprise, Coral Sea, Midway, Ranger, Kitty Hawk, Oriskany, and Hancock were homeported there. The Bay Area could easily take a ship like the Enterprise (CV 6).

Bill

modelcrazy

Which Battleship was rejected? Iowa?

First the Missouri (1996), then the Iowa (1998).

No the Missouri was not rejected by SF. We really wanted her, but the Navy chose Pearl.

The Iowa is different and carries some baggage because of the way the Navy covered itself in shame after the turret explosion. I think most of us would like to have had her, down in the more industrial southern waterfront, but it was not meant to be. That happened in 2006, not 1998.

GM,

I concur! I am a displaced native from the Bay Area now in CT.  I also seem to remember a drive to keep the carrier know as "San Francisco's own", the Coral Sea.

I still stand by my recommendation that Alameda would have been a great site for any Enterprise museum.

Bill

I'm involved on a big project to convert the old Hunters Point Shipyard into a residential neighborhood, along with the old Candlestick Park site. As everyone knows, the Park site is really windy in the afternoon because of the westerlies that come down the Brisbane notch. But the shipyards are behind the point and have great weather.

Drydock No. 4 and the big regunning crane will remain, surrounded by waterfront restaurants and parks.

I remember the first time I ever saw the Enterprise (CVAN 65).  She was in drydock at Hunter's Point, next to my father's carrier, USS Hancock (CVA 19).  The Hancock looked like a toy in comparison.  Great memories!

Bill

I watched one night game at the old Candlestick Park. I practically froze - in early August. In those days they awarded the Croix de Candlestick medal to anybody who stayed to the end of an extra-inning night game.

I first saw the Enterprise when she was undergoing a refit at Newport News Shipbuilding. I had my family with me; we were driving over the James River Bridge when I spotted that distinctive island shape looming over the shipyard. I said, "Look! There's the U.S.S. Enterprise." My stepson, who was thirteen at the time, said, "Is that the one from Start Trek?"

Oh, well....

I remember taking my twins to see a night game between SF and Houston on July 4 when they were 5 years old.  I spent over $300 that night on sweaters, scarves, and hot chocolate. We were in the upper deck at Candlestick for a better view of the postgame fireworks. We froze, but we had a great time! As Mark Twain once said, "The coldest I have ever been was a hot summer night in San Francisco!"

Bill

During construction, the Owner of the Giants Horace Stoneham used to stop at the jobsite every morning on his way to work at Seals Stadium.

One morning on his visit, he was speaking to a construction worker.

"What do you think of this location?".

"It's great, but every afternoon around one the wind really kicks up".

Somehow fitting that Nixon threw out the first pitch on opening day. My dad was there.

Just a last note before we totally hijack this very interesting thread- thank you Straycat great idea.