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Wood base comes with solid brass pedestals and brass name plate
- please see very bottom image -

Elevators are "dual built" so they can be either up (as in top image)
or partially up (as in this image) for maximum scenario set-ups.
Note aircraft below the elevator on the hanger deck.
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All hangers are built "open" for maximum see through effect.

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Signal flags are added to the lanyards as per client request.

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Aircraft are shipped "loose" to permit varied set-ups.

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64 aircraft included as shown above;
custom models  have squadrons as per your chosen circa
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Photography by Action Asia Photo
© 2002-8 Action Asia Photo - All Rights Reserved
www.actionasiaphoto.com

Commissioned from 1937 to 1941, the Yorktown Class aircraft carriers comprised CV-5 Yorktown, CV-6 Enterprise and CV-8 Hornet. They were designed to the maximum size allowable under London Treaty restrictions. This caused then to be built with inadequate underwater protection, a problem addressed in the later Essex Class. CV-8 Hornet had minor improvements over her two sister ships, including an improved anti-aircraft battery.

CV-7 Wasp was the only vessel of her class built, and was not part of the Yorktown Class.

Yorktown was lost at the Battle of Midway in June 1942, and Hornet four months later in the Battle of Santa Cruz. Enterprise received an updated AA battery of twenty 40mm guns at Puget Sound in late 1943 (amongst other improvements) and was the sole survivor of the class - escaping disaster in the Pacific time and time again so that she became  nicknamed "Lucky E".

Named to commemorate six US warships which had previously borne the name, CV-6 USS Enterprise was commissioned in 1938 and was the only carrier in her class that survived the conflict in the Pacific. She engaged in every major carrier action, except one (Coral Sea) and became the most decorated ship of WWII. The ship was re-fitted in 1943, decommissioned in 1947 and then "moth-balled".
* Reclassified as an Attack Aircraft Carrier and redesignated CVA-6, October 1952, while in reserve.
* Reclassified as an Antisubmarine Warfare Support Aircraft Carrier and redesignated CVS-6, August 1953, while in reserve. Efforts to save the ship as a memorial at Washington DC failed due to lack of funds. Sold in July 1958, she was scrapped at Kearny, NJ, from late 1958 to early 1960.

Battle of Santa Cruz

The Battle of Santa Cruz took place on October 26, 1942 as a result of a Japanese desire to take back Henderson Airfield on Guadalcanal from the US Marines (who had gained control of it) by attacking the US fleet that was supporting the Marines.

The Japanese fleet consisted of the four heavy and light aircraft carriers CV Shokaku, CV Zuikaku, CVE Junyo and CVL Zuiho, 4 battleships, 9 cruisers, 25 destroyers and 11 submarines. On the US side was a fleet about half that size with only two aircraft carriers (CV-6 Enterprise and CV-8 Hornet), 1 battleships, 6 cruisers and 14 destroyers. However, never at anytime during the battle did the surface ships of the opposing sides ever make contact. Hence it was mostly a battle of the airplanes from both sides trying to destroy the opposing fleets.

At the start of the battle the Japanese had 199 operational aircraft (80 Zero fighters, 61 Val dive bombers, 1 Judy experimental dive bomber and 57 Kate torpedo planes) while the US had 134 aircraft (62 F4F Wildcat fighters, 25 SBD-3 Dauntless dive bombers, 23 SBD-3 scouts and 24 TBF-1 Avenger torpedo planes).

During the course of the battle, planes from the Japanese carriers made at least eight attacks on the US ships, damaging both carriers, the battleship, one cruiser and two destroyers - at a cost of about 100 planes. Hornet and a destroyer were so extensively damaged that they were abandoned and sunk. Enterprise was damaged by four bombs - two very near misses and two hits. Three waves of aircraft from Hornet and Enterprise succeeded in damaging two of the Japanese carriers, two destroyers and sinking a light cruiser - with the loss of 74 planes. Basically, both sides lost half their aircraft and had to withdraw their mauled carriers. The last of the carrier battles around Guadalcanal, the Battle of Santa Cruz set the conditions for the coming surface fleet actions in the Naval Battles of Guadalcanal the following month.

Although the carrier battle had been costly with the American ship losses higher than the enemy's, the Marines on Guadalcanal retained control of Henderson Airfield and bought time to prepare for the final battles of Guadalcanal.