Historic Pictures of the Spirit of 76 A-7 Corsair II flying above the Oriskany.

Gordon Doody flies the A-7 Corsair II Spirit of 76 above the USS Oriskany CVA 34 in these pictures.

The USS Oriskany's keel was laid down on May 1, 1944 in the New York Shipyard.  She was Launched in 1945 and was completed and commissioned on September 25, 1950.  The USS Oriskany is an Essex Class Aircraft Carrier and had a displacement of 27,100 tons.  The Oriskany's Length was 888 feet and it was 147 feet wide.  The USS Oriskany had a top speed of 33 knots and had a crew of 3460 men.  This Aircraft Carrier was capable of carrying a totally of 80 aircraft.  The Oriskany was called the "Big O" and had fought in both the Korean and Vietnam wars.  She was decommissioned on July 25th, 1989.  The USS Oriskany was the Aircraft Carrier that was used in filming the movie, "The Bridges at Toko-Ri" with William Holden, a movie about VA-192 the World Famous Golden Dragons.  That was my squadron when I was stationed on the USS Kitty Hawk in 1977 and 1978 aboard the USS Kitty Hawk.  We flew the A-7E Corsair II Jet Fighter.  I was also a member of VA-125 the Dambusters from Lemoore California flying the A-7A and A-7B Corsairs.  C. Jeff Dyrek, Webmaster.   Click Here for a Complete list of US Navy Aircraft Carriers. 

Gordon Doody 
VA-125, VA-215

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