USS Coral Sea (CV-43)

USS Coral Sea (CVB/CVA/CV-43), Midway-class aircraft carrier — "Ageless Warrior" · USN · 1947-1990

Third and last of the Midway-class carriers, USS Coral Sea was commissioned 1 October 1947 and named for the May 1942 battle in which opposing fleets fought entirely by aircraft and never sighted one another. Her 43-year career spanned nearly every Cold War flashpoint: evacuating Americans from Egypt during the 1956 Suez Crisis, launching the Flaming Dart reprisal strikes that opened the sustained air war over North Vietnam in February 1965, and mining Haiphong harbor during Operation Pocket Money in May 1972. In April 1986 her air wing flew against Libyan targets in Operation El Dorado Canyon, giving the F/A-18 Hornet its combat debut. Decommissioned 26 April 1990, she was the largest warship ever sent to the breakers.