USS Constellation The sheer size of a supercarrier cannot be appreciated until one stands "underneath". The enormous sponsons enable a ship with a 130' beam to carry a flight deck 252' wide. As I looked up, the enormous bulk of the ship loomed over me. Now I know why they call them supercarriers. And the USS Constellation and her sister ship Kitty Hawk, both conventionally powered, are the oldest supercarriers in active service. Launched in 1961, USS Constellation CV-64, with the exception of her extensive three year SLEP ("Service Life Extension Program") refit starting in 1990, has been active for almost 40 years. The SLEP refit extended her service life by 15 years, so she'll be retired early in the next century. Homeported in San Diego, Constellation put into San Francisco early in April '99. I photographed her over two days. I chose the best photos for display and concentrated on the sorts of details of interest to ship modelers. Alas, I was not able to photograph her port side, except by looking down from the flight deck. Inexplicably, the Captain declined my request to borrow his launch so that I could photograph "Connie's" outboard side. C'est la vie. The best photos are the ones snapped from the flight deck. There are also many excellent shots of the island/command bridge.
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