F-8K Crusader and F-14A Tomcat on the deck of the USS Yorktown at sunset. I was done shooting for the evening when the sky turned quickly from a dull grey to this amazing cotton candy blue and pink. I had to work quickly to get this shot knowing I only had a few minutes before I lost the sky completely.
That’s just how it is sometimes: you’re working slow and methodically and the next thing you know you’re running around at breakneck speeds reshooting shot after shot that you just completed because God hands you a beautiful gift of a sky.
An aircraft carrier like the USS Yorktown is not a small ship and it does not turn without effort, yet a small wheel at its helm as seen here is all that is required to turn the mighty ship. The Yorktown is now a decommissioned museum ship docked at Patriot’s Point in Charleston, South Carolina but it is still a sight to behold. There is an efficiency and purpose to every piece of her.
The USS Clamagore is a Balao class submarine currently docked as a museum at Patriot’s Point, Carolina. Built in 1945, it was still in training when WWII ended.
Its crew complement consisted of 10 officers and 70 enlisted men – some of whose quarters you see here (yes, that’s a torpedo on top of the bunk on the right).
Of note: the Clamagore is one of nine boats to undergo the Guppy III conversion, which extended the boat’s length and created space for a new sonar system. Clamagore is also the only surviving GUPPY III boat in United States.
An America flag waves above an F-14 Tomcat as it sits aboard the Essex class Aircraft Carrier USS Yorktown at Patriot’s Point near Charleston, South Carolina. I don’t know about you, but I spent many an afternoon as a kid watching this aircraft in Top Gun waiting for the words “We’re going ballistic Mav!”.
An F/A-18 Hornet fighter-bomber aboard the USS Yorktown at Patriot’s Point, South Carolina. The Hornet is a single-seat multirole aircraft whose missions include ground support, strike, and air support. It also has the distinction of serving the US Navy’s Blue Angels.
The photo was taken on the flight deck of the Essex Class USS Yorktown which was commissioned in 1943 and served the United States Navy until 1970. It has since been converted to a museum and is open to the public.
© Copyright Ali Elhajj 2014-2020
