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USS CONSTELLATION CV-64 aircraft carrier model
USS
Constellation is a Kitty Hawk class aircraft carrier.
Her keel was laid down on 14 September 1957 at the
New York Navy Yard. She was delivered to the Navy 1
October 1961, and commissioned on 27 October 1961.
The USS Constellation was the last conventional U.S.
aircraft carrier to be built at a yard other than
Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock Company.
In summer
1962, USS Constellation was transferred to the U.S.
Pacific Fleet. In November, she commenced workup
exercises for her upcoming maiden deployment to the
western Pacific as a component of the U.S. Seventh
Fleet.
Constellation's second deployment began on 5 May 1964.
She relieved Kitty Hawk in the Gulf of Tonkin off
Vietnam on 8 June, embarked Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 14.
On August
5, USS Constellation and USS Ticonderoga aircraft
carriers launched 60 sorties against four enemy bases and their
supporting oil storage facilities. Those attacks
reportedly resulted in the destruction of 25 PT-type
boats, severe damage to the bases, and almost complete
razing of the oil storage depot. The strikes lasted for
four hours. Constellation lost an A-1H Skyraider, whose
pilot, Lt. j.g. Richard A. Sather, became the first Navy
pilot to be killed in Vietnam, and an A-4E Skyhawk,
flown by Lt. j.g. Everett Alvarez who became the first
Navy POW.
The
aircraft carrier again deployed to the western Pacific
in
May, 1966. Her F-4B shot
down a MiG-17 fighter jet on July 13, marking the ship’s
first MiG kill of the war.
CV-64 made
her third deployment to Vietnam in 1967. The eight-month
deployment ended in December, having totaled losses of
16 aircraft.
The USS
Constellation aircraft carrier began her fourth
deployment to Vietnam on May 29, 1968. After
flying more than 11,000 missions and dropping almost
20,000 tons of ordnance, fifteen aircraft were destroyed, nine due to enemy
action.
The
aircraft carrier started her fifth
deployment to Vietnam on August 11, 1969. A major milestone in the carrier's life
happened when a F-4J marked the carrier's 100,000th landing.
On October
1, 1971, USS Constellation departed San Diego to begin
her sixth combat deployment to Vietnam. In this period,
TF-77 flew 423 strike sorties employing all-weather A-6A
systems backed up by A-7Es as pathfinders. During the
month, the Laser Guided Bomb was introduced by squadrons
aboard the Constellation.
On Jan.
19, 1972, the VF-96 F-4 Phantom scored a kill against a MiG-21. This accounted for the Navy's 33rd MiG
shot down in the Vietnam war.
May 10,
1972, was the most intensified air-to-air combat day of
the entire war. Navy flyers shot down eight MiGs. An F-4
Phantom II from VF-96 on board Constellation, while engaged in aerial combat over
Haiphong shot down three MiGs for the first triple
downing of enemy MiGs by one plane during the war. These
three MiG downings, coupled with their Jan. 19 and May 8
downing of two MiGs, made Lt. Cunningham and Lt. (j.g.)
Driscoll the first MiG aces of the Vietnam War. The nine-month deployment ended on July 1, the carrier
having spent 154 days off Vietnam. Seven aircraft were
lost.
On January
5, 1973, USS Constellation aircraft carrier began her
seventh deployment to Vietnam. The Vietnam cease-fire,
announced on Jan. 23 went into effect on the 27th.
Aircraft from Connie flew strikes against
targets in southern Laos. These combat support
sorties were flown in support of the Laotian government
which had requested this assistance and it had no
relationship with the cease-fire.
On January
31, 1975, CVA 64 departed San Diego for the
Puget Sound Naval Shipyard to undergo
on of the most extensive carrier overhauls ever
undertaken, enabling her to carry the Navy's newest air
supremacy fighter, the F-14A Tomcat, and the S-3A
Viking--a submarine hunter.
On July 1, 1975, the Connie,
along with all U.S. aircraft carriers, were redesignated
as "CV" from "CVA." This change was made to improve the
accuracy of designations in modern warfare. By removing
the letter A, which stood for attack, the new
designation CV could serve a multipurpose air, surface,
and ASW role, depending on the type of aircraft carried.
In
December 1982, CV 64 again sailed north to Puget Sound
Naval Shipyard in Bremerton, Wash., to begin a 14-month
complex overhaul. She was modified
to carry the Navy's newest strike fighter, the FA-18
Hornet. Connie was the first carrier to receive the new
aircraft. She was also fitted with the new Phalanx
radar-guided gattling-gun, two new flush deck catapults
and the NATO Sea Sparrow Missile System.
In
February 1990, CV 64 completed a $800-million Service Life Extension
Program, completed in Philadelphia Naval Shipyard
in March 1993, added an estimated 15 years to the
carrier's operational life. The overhaul saw upgrades to
virtually every system on the ship.
On July
31, 1994, Lt. Kara Hultgreen made her first qualifying
landing in an F-14A on board the Constellation, 110
miles southwest of San Diego. She thus became the first
fully qualified female Tomcat pilot.
Constellation entered the Persian Gulf on
Aug. 28. In 10 weeks she conducted more than 5,000
sorties and 1,256 OSW sorties, and expended nearly 44
tons of ordnance during nine combat engagements against
Iraqi targets. The
Carrier Air wing Two aircraft flew more than 1,500
sorties and expended more than 1 million pounds of
ordnance, including 408 Tomahawk cruise missiles.
August 7,
After nearly 42 years of service and 21 completed
deployments, USS Constellation was decommissioned in a
ceremony held at Naval Air Station North Island, San
Diego. August 8,
2014 she departed Bremerton, Wash.,
for a four-month voyage to International Shipbreaking
Ltd. dismantling and recycling facility in Brownsville,
Texas.
This primarily wood USS Constellation aircraft
carrier CV-64 model
is one of our fifth-generation models. It is the best in
the world by a wide margin. When you search the world
wide web, pay particular attention to the stern and the
superstructure. The parts on the mast are tiny and very
difficult to make and our gifted, honest craftsmen do
not omit them.
Our
model also stands grand and lively, not 'dead' like a plastic toy or a boring
decorative accessory. That art is considered by many
more challenging than the task of constructing a model
itself. A classic left brain/right brain issue.
37" long $3,790  Shipping and insurance in
the contiguous USA included.
Other places: $300 flat rate. This model is
in stock and can be shipped within five business
days.
27" long
$2,940
shipping
and insurance in the USA included.
Canada $150.
Other countries, $250 flat rate.
This model
is built per commission only.
We require only
a small deposit (not full amount, not even half) to start the
commission
process. $500  The
remaining balance won't be due until the model is
completed,
in several months.
We accept commissions to
build other aircraft carriers of the Kitty Hawk class:
the Kitty Hawk CV-63, America CV-66, and John F. Kenedy
CV-67.
For larger sizes, email us for a quote. ModelShipMaster.com
is the only one who can build massive models, as much as
the door of a full size truck can accommodate. Click here to
learn more:
very large ships.
Don't be fooled by some
model makers out there who freely claim their models "the very best",
"museum grade" or even "true museum quality." Their
ships are wrong on many counts. The hull is horrible.
Some parts are oversized yet other undersized. Plenty
are wrong; many are missing.
Learn more about the
USS Constellation here:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Constellation_(CV-64)
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