Key Points and Summary – Commissioned too late for World War II, the USS Franklin D. Roosevelt quickly became a workhorse of the early Cold War.
-The Midway-class “Rosie” was the first U.S. carrier named for a president and the first to field a large, jet-powered air wing.
USS Midway Aircraft Carrier of Midway-Class. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
-Decommissioned in 1948 and given a $48 million rebuild, she emerged in 1952 with steam catapults, an angled deck, new radars, and expanded fuel capacity—perfect for the jet age.
-From evacuations after the Cuban revolution to NATO cruises, Regulus missile deployment, Harrier trials, and support to Israel in 1973, FDR quietly shaped modern carrier aviation.
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt Aircraft Carrier Heralded in ‘Rosy’ Times for Naval Aviation
This carrier had a long history and served valiantly throughout the Cold War. The USS Franklin D. Roosevelt had a penchant for complex missions.
Having been introduced in 1945, it missed World War II but made up for it during other operations to maintain peace in the 1950s, 1960s, and 1970s.
The “Rosie” was a Midway-class carrier that didn’t disappoint and maintained a long service record.
The Franklin D. Roosevelt was the first carrier named for a president rather than for a battle or a previous historic ship.
The Rosie was laid down in 1943 and launched in 1945, two months after the Japanese surrendered.
A christening by First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt was a jubilant event after it was first named the Coral Sea.
First Carrier With Jet-Powered Air Wing
The Rosie was the first aircraft carrier to feature a large air wing with jet-powered aircraft. This included the duty of the McDonnell XFD-1 Phantom.
The carrier was too big to transit the Panama Canal, so it spent most of its initial duty in the Atlantic and Mediterranean.
The original Roosevelt was deemed obsolete, and it needed a complete refit during 1948 when it was decommissioned.
Midway-Class Aircraft Carrier. Image Credit: Creative Commons.
The Rosie Gets a Huge Facelift
The Navy plowed $48 million into the World War II-era carrier – a large amount of money at the time.
Engineers and technicians installed one C-11-2 and two C-11-1 steam catapults.
The bridge was enlarged and modernized on the inside.
There was an updated mirror landing system and a 482-foot angled landing deck for more launch-and-landing sorties.
The mast even had two new radar systems. The elevators were reconfigured to raise and lower more weight to increase the number of airplanes and munitions it could lift.
The ship’s displacement went from 51,000 tons to 63,400 tons as more fuel capacity was added.
All of this work took four years, but after the modernization effort, the carrier was recommissioned in 1952.
Quick Look at the Roosevelt’s Features
USS Franklin D. Roosevelt had 12 boilers, four propellers, and three elevators.
Four arresting gear systems were onboard, plus two catapults. Its length was just a shade below 1,000 feet.
The flight deck width was 237 feet, and the beam was 121 feet. The carrier’s propulsion system allowed for a top speed of over 30 knots.
The Rosie was also big enough sometimes to support as many as 80 aircraft.
There were over 5,000 sailors on board, including the air wings.
The Rosie was soon thrown into several different missions – one example was rescuing Americans after the Cuban revolution.
Another Cold War mission had it venture into the vicinity of Greece to ensure the country did not go Communist at the dawn of the Cold War.
The carrier visited Athens to support the new anti-Soviet Union government.
During Atlantic Ocean port calls, the Rosie often docked, allowing European onlookers to catch a glimpse of the huge carrier.
Flight deck operations on the carrier were instrumental in allowing the Navy to collect data on how modern carrier-borne aircraft could land and launch.
For example, “the jet-propelled P-80A Shooting Star made two catapult launches, four free take-offs, and five arrested landings aboard Roosevelt as part of continuing tests into the carrier suitability of the aircraft,” according to NavySite.com.
One modern aspect of the Rosie was its deployment of Regulus guided missiles. This was a way to bring advanced weapons to the carrier strike group and keep the Soviets from encroaching on American carriers and escort ships.
The Roosevelt was also active in NATO exercises that gave alliance members confidence that the U.S. Navy would react quickly to Soviet naval incursions in Europe.
The carrier helped ferry aircraft to Israel during the Yom Kippur War in 1973. One interesting piece of naval lore was that the Rosie was instrumental in testing Harrier aircraft.
Harriers Were Readied For Combat on USS Franklin D. Roosevelt
“Another first was racked up by Roosevelt when, on 4 October 1976, the first overseas operational commitment on a carrier for the AV-8A Harrier began when VMA-231 embarked aboard for a Sixth Fleet deployment. On 13 January 1977, two other Harriers made bow-on approaches and landing aboard the carrier, marking the first time a fixed-wing aircraft had made a bow-on, downwind landing aboard a carrier at sea,” NavySite.com wrote.
An AV-8B Harrier aircraft, known for its vertical/short takeoff and landing capabilities, utilizes the airfield at the 140th Wing, Buckley Space Force Base, Aurora, Colorado June 10, 2025. Piloted by U.S. Marine Corps Capt. Ryan Gettinger, the aircraft was demilitarized and delivered to Wings Over the Rockies Air and Space Museum in Aurora. (Photo by U.S. Air National Guard Tech. Sgt. Chance Johnson)
A flight deck crewman directs the pilot of a U.S. Marine Corp AV-8B Harrier as it touches down on the flight deck of the USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) during flight operations at sea on Sept. 24, 2013. The Harrier is assigned to Marine Medium Tiltrotor Squadron 266 (Reinforced) and is embarked on board the Kearsarge as part of the 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit.
(DoD photo by Sgt. Christopher Q. Stone, U.S. Marine Corps. (Released))
Supplied Important Jet-Era Flight Data for NATO Operations
The Roosevelt did not have an extensive combat history, having no service in Korea or Vietnam. It was more about the Cold War against the Soviet Union, making quick deployments in the Atlantic to support NATO.
The ship was retired in 1977 and scrapped in 1978. This was not a celebratory decommissioning, but the Roosevelt showed that the Navy could re-fashion a World War II-era carrier and ready it for the modern age.
It showed that carriers could usher in the jet era of aerial combat.
The Navy was able to fly the flag high with the Roosevelt and project power when the U.S. armed forces badly needed it.
It will not go down as a battle-tested carrier, but it was still crucial to carrier aviation when the Navy needed vast amounts of flight data for jet aircraft that would be instrumental in future carrier strike group combat operations.
About the Author: Brent M. Eastwood
Author of now over 3,000 articles on defense issues, Brent M. Eastwood, PhD is the author of Don’t Turn Your Back On the World: a Conservative Foreign Policy and Humans, Machines, and Data: Future Trends in Warfare plus two other books. Brent was the founder and CEO of a tech firm that predicted world events using artificial intelligence. He served as a legislative fellow for US Senator Tim Scott and advised the senator on defense and foreign policy issues. He has taught at American University, George Washington University, and George Mason University. Brent is a former US Army Infantry officer. He can be followed on X @BMEastwood.
