Marina in San Diego in San Diego County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)

United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial

Aircraft Carrier Memorial - west face image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

1. Aircraft Carrier Memorial - west face

Inscription.
West face:
[Seals of the Department of the Navy: U.S. Navy and U.S. Marine Corps]
“The air fleet of an enemy will never get within striking distance of our coast as long as our aircraft carriers are able to carry the preponderance of airpower to sea," Rear Admiral W. A. Moffett, USN, 1922

The advent of the aircraft carrier revolutionized modern naval warfare. This memorial was conceived by aircraft carrier veterans to honor this nation’s carriers and the personnel who proudly served aboard them. Powered by the human soul, these ships changed the course of history.

This site is known as the Old Navy “Fleet Landing”… where countless thousands of servicemen boarded boats that transferred them to their ships.

The names of all U.S. Navy aircraft carriers and their hull numbers are inscribed hereon … from the smallest to the largest. Every “flattop” is of equal distinction - none above the other. The personnel who manned, fought and in some cases perished aboard these ships were and are a part of the finest Navy and Marine Corps in the world.

Dedicated this
Seventeenth day of February
Nineteen hundred and ninety three

South face:
CV – Fleet Carriers: CV 1 Langley * CV 2 Lexington * CV 3 Saratoga * CV 4 Ranger * CV 5 Yorktown * CV 6 Enterprise * CV 7 Wasp *CV 8 Hornet * CV 9 Essex* CV 10 Yorktown *CV 11 Intrepid * CV 12 Hornet * CV 13 Franklin* CV 14 Ticonderoga * CV 15 Randolph * CV 16 Lexington *CV 17 Bunker Hill * CV 18 Wasp * CV 19 Hancock * CV 20 Bennington * CV2 1 Boxer * CV 31 Bon Homme Richard * CV 32 Leyte * CV 33 Kearsarge * CV 34 Oriskany * CV 36 Antietam * CV 37 Princeton *CV 38 Shangri-la * CV 39 Lake Champlain * CV 40 Tarawa *CVB 41 Midway *CVB 42 Franklin D. Roosevelt * CVB 43 Coral Sea *CV 45 Valley Forge *CV 47 Philippine Sea * CVA 59 Forrestal * CVA

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60 Saratoga * CVA 61 Ranger * CVA 62 Independence * CV A63 Kitty Hawk * CVA 64 Constellation * CVAN 65 Enterprise * CVA 66 America * CVA 67 John F. Kennedy * CVAN 68 Nimitz *CVAN 69 Dwight D. Eisenhower * CVAN 70 Carl Vinson * CVAN 71 Theodore Roosevelt * CVAN 72 Abraham Lincoln * CVAN 73 George Washington * CVAN 74 John C. Stennis * CVAN 75 Harry S. Truman * CVAN 76 Ronald Reagan *

[IX] - Training Carriers:
IX 64 Wolverine* IX 81 Sable
East face:
CVL - Light Carriers CVL 22 Independence* CVL 23 Princeton* CVL 24 Belleau Wood* CVL 25 Cowpens* CVL 26 Monterey* CVL 27 Langley* CVL 28 Cabot* CVL 29 Bataan* CVL 30 San Jacinto* CVL 48 Saipan* CVL 49 Wright*

CVE - Escort Carriers CVE 1 Long Island* CVE 9 Bogue* CVE11 Card* CVE 12 Copahee* CVE 13 Core* CVE 16 Nassau* CVE 18 Altamaha* CVE 20 Barnes* CVE 21 Block Island* CVE 23 Breton* CVE 25 Croatan* CVE 26 Sangamon* CVE 27 Suwanee* CVE 28 Chenango* CVE 29 Santee* CVE 30 Charger* CVE 31 Prince William* CVE 55 Casablanca* CVE 56 Liscomb Bay* CVE 57 Coral Sea/Anzio* CVE 58 Corregidor* CVE 59 Mission Bay* CVE 60 Guadalcanal* CVE 61 Manila Bay* CVE 62 Natoma Bay* CVE 63 Midway/St.

United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - south face image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

2. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - south face

Lo* CVE 64 Tripoli* CVE 65 Wake Island* CVE 66 White Plains* CVE 67 Solomons* CVE 68 Kalinin Bay* CVE 69 Kasaan Bay* CVE 70 Fanshaw Bay* CVE 71 Kitkum Bay* CVE 72 Tulagi* CVE 73 Gambier Bay* CVE 74 Nehenta Bay* CVE 75 Hoggatt Bay* CVE 76 Kadashan Bay* CVE 77 Marcus Island* CVE 78 Savo Island* CVE 79 Ommaney Bay* CVE 80 Petrof Bay*

North face:
CVE - Escort Carriers, cont. CVE 81 Rudyerd Bay* CVE 82 Saginaw Bay* CVE 83 Sargent Bay* CVE 84 Shamrock* CVE 85 Shipley Bay* CVE 86 Sitkoh Bay* CVE 87 Steamer Bay* CVE 88 Cape Esperance* CVE 89 Takanis Bay* CVE 90 Thetis Bay* CVE 91 Makassar Strait* CVE 92 Windham Bay* CVE 93 Makin Island* CVE 94 Lunga Point* CVE 95 Bismarck Sea* CVE 96 Salamaua* CVE 97 Hollandia* CVE 98 Kwajalein* CVE 99 Admiralty Islands* CVE 100 Bougainville* CVE 101 Matanikau* CVE 102 Attu* CVE 103 Roi* CVE 104 Munda* CVE 105 Commencement Bay* CVE 106 Block Island* CVE 107 Gilbert Islands* CVE 108 Kula Gulf* CVE 109 Cape Gloucester* CVE 110 Salerno Bay* CVE 111 Vella Gulf* CVE 112 Siboney* CVE 113 Puget Sound* CVE 114 Rendova* CVE 115 Bairoko* CVE 116 Badoeng Strait* CVE 117 Saidor* CVE 118 Sicily* CVE 119 Point Cruz*

United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - east face image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

3. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - east face

CVE 120 Mindoro* CVE 122 Palau*

LHA/LPH – Amphibious Assault Ships LHA 1 Tarawa* LHA 2 Saipan* LHA 3 Belleau Wood* LHA 4 Nassau* LHA 5 Pelelieu*
LPH 2 Iwo Jima* LPH 3 Okinawa* LPH 7 Guadalcanal* LPH 9 Guam* LPH 10 Tripoli* LPH 11 New Orleans* LPH 12 Inchon
LHD 1 Wasp* LHD 2 Essex* LHD3 Kearsarge

Erected 1993 by Aircraft Carrier Memorial Association.

Topics. This memorial is listed in these topic lists: Air & Space • Waterways & Vessels. A significant historical year for this entry is 1922.

Location. 32° 42.812′ N, 117° 10.388′ W. Memorial is in San Diego, California, in San Diego County. It is in Marina. It can be reached from North Harbor Blvd north of West G Street when traveling west. The memorial is accessible from the "The Greatest Generation Walk" - on the Embarcadero promenade, southeast of the USS MIDWAY Museum and north of the USS SAN DIEGO Memorial and Tuna Harbor marina at West G Street. Touch for map. Memorial is in this post office area: San Diego CA 92101, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Regionally, this memorial is in the Peninsular Ranges.

It is also in the American Borderlands

United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - north face image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

4. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial - north face

and on the Pacific Coast.

Globally, it is in North America,

on the Ring of Fire,

on the Pacific Rim,

in the Western Hemisphere,

in the Western World,

and in the Anglosphere.

Historically, it finds itself in what was once New Spain

and also Mexico’s Alta California.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker: Pearl Harbor Memorial (within shouting distance of this marker); USS San Diego Memorial (about 400 feet away, measured in a direct line); Clifton A.F. Sprague, Vice Admiral, USN (about 400 feet away); First Air Combat Victory of Vietnam War (about 500 feet away); F-4 Phantom II Fighter (about 500 feet away); Tuna Fleet Service, World War II (1941-1945) (about 500 feet away); Embracing Peace (about 700 feet away); A National Salute to Bob Hope and the Military (about 800 feet away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in San Diego.

Also see . . .
1. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial. NavSource website entry (Submitted on December 1, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland.)

2. William A. Moffett. Wikipedia entry (Submitted on May 23, 2021, by Larry Gertner of New York, New York.)

Statues depicting Navy "airmen"</b>: a young recruit and an older naval aviator image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

5. Statues depicting Navy "airmen": a young recruit and an older naval aviator

- adjacent to the U.S. Aircraft Carrier Memorial

United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

6. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker

The "Homecoming" statue</b> - on the Embarcadero, south of the USS Aircraft Carrier Memorial" image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

7. The "Homecoming" statue - on the Embarcadero, south of the USS Aircraft Carrier Memorial"

- with the USS Midway (CV-41), now retired and serving as a naval museum, in the background.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

8. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker

Picture on the base of the marker.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

9. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker

Picture on the base of the marker.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

10. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker

Picture on the base of the marker.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

11. United States Aircraft Carrier Memorial Marker

Picture on the base of the marker.

The young recruit image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

12. The young recruit

The seasoned aviator image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Denise Boose, June 21, 2015

13. The seasoned aviator

USS Ronald Reagan (CVAN 76)</b> - pierside at Naval Air Station, North Island image. Click for full size.

Photographed by Richard E. Miller, December 7, 2011

14. USS Ronald Reagan (CVAN 76) - pierside at Naval Air Station, North Island

the newest carrier ("CVAN") listed on the Memorial - as viewed from the Embarcadero, across the San Diego Bay.

Credits. This page was last revised on October 28, 2024. It was originally submitted on December 1, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. This page has been viewed 2,065 times since then and 123 times this year. Photos: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on December 1, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 6. submitted on July 11, 2015, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. 7. submitted on December 3, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13. submitted on July 11, 2015, by Denise Boose of Tehachapi, California. 14. submitted on December 2, 2012, by Richard E. Miller of Oxon Hill, Maryland. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.