Christening ceremony for the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, New York City, April 1945

Description: 

Photograph. Shipyard workers and U.S. service men and high ranking officials at the christening ceremony for the aircraft carrier USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42); the ship is in dry dock. Official Caption: “Rome, 6/1/45--U. S. S. Franklin D. Roosevelt launched--Shipyard workers and U.S. service men and high ranking officials attend christening ceremonies for the U.S. aircraft Carrier Franklin D. Roosevelt in New York City on April 29, 1945. Mrs. Roosevelt, widow of the President after whom the vessel was named, and U.S. Secretary of the Navy James V. Forrestal addressed the participants. The U.S.S. Franklin D. Roosevelt is one of a class of three ships which are the largest ships of any type ever built in the U.S. It will carry more than 80 twin-engined planes of new types and an undisclosed but large number of anti-aircraft guns, ranging up to five inches (127 mm.) in size. At the launching ceremonies, Secretary Forrestal said that in February, 1942, the U.S. Navy had four Carriers in the Pacific, of which three were lost during the following year. Today, he said, the U.S. Navy has 26 large carriers and 65 escort carriers.--PNT Photo--Serviced by Rome OWI (A List out). Approved by appropriate military authority. 6490.” New York, New York. 29 April 1945

Image Information

Donor: 
Dylan Utley
Accession Number: 
2012.019.731
Date: 
04/29/1945
Location: 
Hometown: 
Branch: 
Theater of Service: 
Unit: 
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt (CV-42)
Campaign / Event: 
POW / KIA: 
Topical Subjects: 
Aircraft carriers--American--New York
Naval yards & naval stations--New York
Naval parades & ceremonies--New York
Collection Level: 
Items from the service of Isaac "Ike" Bethel Utley, who was born in Smith Mills, Kentucky on 3 March 1920. Ike enlisted in the Army Air Corps on 19 January 1942. He was shipped overseas to the European Theatre and worked with a supply division based out of the city of Naples with an office set up in a residential villa. Utley worked with the Office of War Information and used their photographs in news articles to inform soldiers of the progress of the war. At war's end, Utley returned stateside. A trunk full of over 800 photographs from the O.W.I. arrived on his doorstep from his office in Italy, sender unknown. This collection consists of those photographs.
Geography: 
New York
Latitude: 
40.700
Longitude: 
-74.000
Thesaurus for Graphic Materials: 
Aircraft carriers--American--New York
Naval yards & naval stations--New York
Naval parades & ceremonies--New York