SCB-125

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USS Bon Homme Richard displaying the hurricane bow and angled deck of the SCB-125 conversion.
Top views of USS Intrepid after SCB-27C (left) and SCB-125 (right).

SCB-125 was the

angled flight deck and other enhancements (such as with catapults and elevators) aimed at improving flight operations and seakeeping
.

Principal alterations

The SCB-125 modifications included

  • Angled flight deck
  • Enclosed hurricane bow
  • Mirror landing system
  • Mark 7 arresting gear
  • Primary Flight Control moved to aft end of island
  • Air conditioning
  • No 1 (forward) elevator lengthened (SCB-27C ships only)
  • No 3 (aft) elevator moved from centerline to starboard deck edge (on SCB-27A ships; had been part of SCB-27C refits)

Program history

The SCB-125 upgrade program was first applied to the final three Essex-class carriers to undergo the SCB-27C modernization while they were still in the midst of their original refit. Ultimately every SCB-27 ship would undergo the SCB-125 modification with the exception of Lake Champlain.

Despite the drastic alteration of the carriers' appearance, the SCB-125 refit involved relatively little modification of the ships' existing structure compared to SCB-27, and took around six to nine months as against the approximately two years of the earlier program. The original SCB-27A vessels, which were fitted with a pair of

steam catapults
fitted to their SCB-27C sister ships due to machinery space limitations. The SBC-27As also did not receive the enlarged No. 1 (forward) elevator installed in the 27C ships as part of SBC-125.

The first three 27C ships (Hancock, Intrepid and Ticonderoga) had had their No 3 elevators moved from the centerline to the starboard deck edge, in a position relatively far aft. The next three (Shangri-La, Lexington and Bon Homme Richard), which underwent 27C and 125 concurrently, had the elevator relocated to a deck-edge position farther forward, and this location was used for the 27A ships as they in turn underwent SCB-125.

Oriskany, the prototype for the SCB-27 conversion, was the final Essex to undergo SCB-125 conversion and as such, received further enhancements. As a result of the addition of aluminum flight-deck cladding, Mk 7-1 arresting gear and more-powerful C 11-1 steam catapults to the standard SCB-125 modifications, Oriskany alone was referred to as a SCB-125A vessel.[1] These changes also made Oriskany the only SCB-27A vessel to receive steam catapults.

Modified vessels

Source: www.history.navy.mil [2]

  Program Shipyard Work Began Recommissioned
USS Shangri-La (CVA-38)
   SCB-27C/125   Puget Sound   Oct 1952   Jan 1955
USS Lexington (CV-16)1   SCB-27C/125   Puget Sound   Sep 1953   Aug 1955
USS Bon Homme Richard (CVA-31)   SCB-27C/125  
Hunters Point
   May 1953   Sep 1955
USS Bennington (CVA-20)   SCB-125  
New York
   Jun 1954   Apr 1955
USS Yorktown (CVA-10)   SCB-125   Puget Sound   Mar 1955   Oct 1955
USS Wasp (CVA-18)   SCB-125  
Hunters Point
   Mar 1955   Dec 1955
USS Randolph (CVA-15)   SCB-125   Norfolk   Aug 1955   Feb 1956
USS Essex (CVA-9)   SCB-125   Puget Sound   Aug 1955   Jan 1956
USS Hornet (CVA-12)   SCB-125   Puget Sound   Jan 1956   Aug 1956
USS Hancock (CVA-19)   SCB-125  
Hunters Point
   Apr 1956   Nov 1956
USS Kearsarge (CVA-33)   SCB-125   Puget Sound   Jul 1956   Jan 1957
USS Ticonderoga (CVA-14)   SCB-125   Norfolk   Aug 1956   Apr 1957
USS Intrepid (CVA-11)   SCB-125  
New York
   Sep 1956   May 1957
USS Oriskany (CVA-34)
   SCB-125A  
Hunters Point
   Jan 1957   May 1959

1 Lexington was redesignated CVA upon completion of SCB-27C/125

References

  1. ISBN 0-87021-739-9
    .
  2. ^ "U.S. Navy Ship Types - SCB-125 modernization of Essex/Ticonderoga class aircraft carriers". U.S. Navy Historical Center. 2001-10-09. Archived from the original on 2012-07-18. Retrieved 2006-12-05.


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