Supercarrier Day: Naval Aviation in New York Harbor | Episode 147

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PAST PROGRAM | Virtual Programs

By sheer coincidence, October 8 marks the launching USS Saratoga (1955) and USS Constellation (1960), two of the largest ships ever built at the Brooklyn Navy Yard, which is why we’ve dubbed it “Supercarrier Day.” Aircraft carriers were once a common sight in New York Harbor, as they were built, repaired, and modernized in local shipyards, or they visited for fleet reviews or R&R, but it has been more than 15 years since a carrier visited the city. In this virtual program, we’ll look at important moments in the 100-year history of naval aviation in the region, including early experiments in carrier design, significant carriers of World War II, adapting carriers to the Jet Age, and why no nuclear-powered carriers have ever visited NYC.

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Special Tours Mark 75 Years Since the End of World War II at the Brooklyn Navy Yard

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World War II came to a close in 1945, and looking back 75 years, it is hard to believe that Americans on the cusp of war in 1940 were as removed from the Civil War as we are from World War II today. Imagine veterans of that war, fought with horses and muskets, still alive to share their memories in the Atomic Age.

Today, we have a dwindling number of World War II veterans, all now well north of 90 years old (unlike the Civil War, there were no 10-, 11-, and 12-year-old drummer boys or powder monkeys). So throughout 2020, we are offering special content on our World War II Tours of the Brooklyn Navy Yard on the first Sunday of each month that will focus on different aspects of the human story of the war, utilizing our vast archive or oral histories and other personal stories of life on the home front and on the front lines.>> Continue reading