USS Lake Champlain ( CV - 39 ) USS " Lake Champlain " ( CV / CVA / CVS - 39 ) was one of 24 s completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy . She was the second US Navy ship to bear the name , and was named for the Battle of Lake Champlain in the War of 1812 . Commissioned on 3 June 1945 , " Lake Champlain " did not participate in World War II , but did serve as a transport , bringing troops home from Europe as part of Operation Magic Carpet . Like many of her sister ships , she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war , but was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s , and redesignated as an attack carrier ( CVA ) . She participated in the Korean War but spent the rest of her career in the Atlantic , Caribbean , and Mediterranean . In the late 1950s , she was redesignated as an antisubmarine carrier ( CVS ) . She was the prime recovery ship for the first manned Mercury and for the third manned Gemini ( Gemini V ) space missions . " Lake Champlain " had a unique modernization history . She was the only ship to receive the SCB - 27 conversion , which was a rebuild of the superstructure , flight deck and other features , but not also receive the SCB - 125 conversion , which would have given her an angled flight deck and hurricane bow . Therefore she had the distinction of being the last operational US aircraft carrier with an axial flight deck . " Lake Champlain " was decommissioned in 1966 and sold for scrap in 1972 . Construction and commissioning . " Lake Champlain " was one of the " long - hull " ships . She was laid down in a drydock at the Norfolk Navy Yard , Portsmouth , Virginia on 15 March 1943 . The hull was launched from drydock on 2 November 1944 . " Lake Champlain " commissioned on 3 June 1945 . The ship was sponsored by Mrs . Warren Austin , wife of Senator Austin of Vermont . Service history . Operation Magic Carpet . After shakedown and visits to New York and Philadelphia , " Lake Champlain " was assigned to " Magic Carpet " duty to repatriate US military personnel . She departed Norfolk for England on 14 October , and arrived at Southampton on the 19th where she embarked veterans and returned them to New York . She set a speed record , averaging 32 . 048 kn , for crossing the Atlantic on 26 November 1945 when she arrived at Hampton Roads , Virginia , having completed a run from Cape Spartel , Africa , in 4 days , 8 hours , 51 minutes . This record stood until surpassed by SS " United States " in the summer of 1952 . " Lake Champlain " was laid up in the reserve fleet at Norfolk on 17 February 1947 . Korean War . " Lake Champlain " was needed again for the Korean War . In August 1950 , she began her SCB - 27A modernization program at Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company . She recommissioned on 19 September 1952 . A shakedown cruise in Cuban and Haitian waters lasted from 25 November to 25 December 1952 . The carrier departed Mayport , Florida , for Korea on 26 April 1953 via the Red Sea , Indian Ocean , and South China Sea . " Lake Champlain " became the largest ship to date to transit the Suez Canal . She moored at Yokosuka , Japan on 9 June 1953 . As flagship of Carrier Task Force 77 ( TF 77 ) , she sailed from Yokosuka on 11 June and arrived off western Korea on 14 June . The carrier ' s air group immediately launched sorties cratering runways ; assaulting enemy troops ; attacking trenches , bunkers , gun positions ; and giving close air support to hard pressed ground forces . Her planes also escorted B - 29 Superfortress heavy bomber s on their way to enemy targets . " Lake Champlain " continued to strike at the enemy until the truce was signed on 27 July . Relieved by on 11 October , " Lake Champlain " headed toward the South China Sea arriving Singapore on 24 October . Bidding farewell to the Pacific Ocean on 27 October , she steamed toward home touching at Colombo , Port Said , Cannes , and Lisbon before arriving Mayport , Florida on 4 December 1953 . Postwar years . NATO , Middle East and reclassification . In the years that followed , " Lake Champlain " made several cruises to the Mediterranean , participating with NATO forces . On 25 April 1957 , she joined elements of the fleet in a high - speed run to the scene of tension in the Middle East , cruising in the vicinity of Lebanon and backing Jordan ' s stand against the threat of Communism . The tensions eased and " Lake Champlain " returned to Mayport 27 July . Converted to an antisubmarine carrier and reclassified ( CVS - 39 ) on 1 August , " Lake Champlain " trained off the eastern seaboard to master her new role . " Lake Champlain " was near the island of Majorca when the Spanish city of Valencia was devastated by floods on the night of 14 October 1957 . The American ambassador to Spain , John Davis Lodge , requested that " Lake Champlain " provide assistance for rescue operations . The ship ' s Chickasaw helicopters undertook numerous rescue missions , and the ship ' s crew fought in the " mud battle " that followed the disaster . She departed Bayonne , New Jersey on 8 February 1958 for another Mediterranean cruise returning to Mayport , Florida on 30 October . After a yard overhaul , she departed for the Mediterranean on 10 June and visited Spain , Denmark , and Scotland , before returning to Mayport on 9 August . The carrier operated off Florida and in the Caribbean until 15 June 1958 , when she sailed on another Mediterranean cruise returning to her newly assigned home port , Quonset Point , Rhode Island on 4 September . The carrier operated out of Quonset Point until 29 June 1960 , when she made a midshipmen ' s cruise to Halifax , Nova Scotia , returning on 12 August . Beginning on 7 February , she made a cruise to the Caribbean , returning on 2 March . Project Mercury . " Lake Champlain " was selected as the prime recovery ship for America ' s first manned space flight . She sailed for the recovery area on 1 May , and was on station on the 5th when Commander Alan Shepard was recovered , along with his spacecraft " Freedom 7 " , after splashdown some 300 mi ( 480 km ) down range from Cape Canaveral . Helicopters from the carrier visually tracked the descent of the capsule and were over it two minutes after splashdown . They skillfully recovered Shepard and the " Freedom 7 " capsule , delivering them safely to " Lake Champlain " s flight deck . During retrieval , the vessel was under the command of then - Captain Ralph Weymouth . There were some complications in retrieval , as the helicopters that were to retrieve Alan Shepard from the craft did not have the explosive squibs required to cut the Mercury craft ' s radio antenna . The Mercury craft ' s antenna was designed to help locate the craft if it landed out of visual tracking range . The antenna would have gotten in the way of retrieving Shepard from the craft if it had deployed ; fortunately , it had a malfunction and was unable to deploy . [ From personal accounts with the Captain ] Caribbean and Cuban Blockade . For the next year , the ship operated along the Atlantic coast and in the Caribbean . In June 1962 , she and her escorts embarked First and Third Class Regular NROTC Midshipmen for a summer training cruise from NAS Quonset Point to offshore training areas , Canadian Forces Base Halifax , Naval Station Guantanamo Bay , and Kingston , Jamaica , where she represented the US at the island ' s celebration of its independence on 3 August . The midshipmen acted as tour guides for visitors aboard and provided an honor guard ashore for then - VP Lyndon Johnson ' s speech in a local park . On 24 October , " Lake Champlain " joined in a classic exercise of sea power — the quarantine of Cuba , where the Soviet Union was constructing bases for offensive missiles . To block this grave threat , U . S . warships deployed throughout the western Atlantic , choking off the flow of military supplies to Cuba and enforcing American demands for the withdrawal of the Russian offensive missiles . After the American demands were substantially complied with , " Lake Champlain " sailed for home on 23 November via St . Thomas , Virgin Islands , and arrived Quonset Point on 4 December 1962 . For the next few months the carrier was in New England waters for operations and overhaul . In September 1963 , while she was on a cruise to Guantanamo Bay , her training schedule was interrupted when she was ordered to Haiti to relieve distress caused by Hurricane Flora . Her helicopters located homeless victims and flew them food and medical supplies . North Atlantic and Project Gemini . " Lake Champlain " returned to Quonset Point on 9 November for operations in New England waters . She visited Bermuda briefly in spring of 1964 and steamed to Spain in the fall for landings near Huelva . She sailed on 6 November from Barcelona for the United States , touched at Gibraltar and arrived at Quonset Point the 25th . The first half of 1965 found " Lake Champlain " performing training duties and conducting exercises up and down the East Coast . For FY 1966 , the Navy proposed a modernization program for " Lake Champlain " . Secretary of Defense Robert McNamara refused to authorize the proposal , citing the limited effectiveness of anti - submarine carriers . " Lake Champlain " completed her last major duty on 29 August 1965 when she served as the primary recovery ship for Gemini 5 . Shortly afterward , she sailed to Philadelphia Navy Yard , where she commenced inactivation . She was decommissioned on 2 May 1966 and was laid up in the Reserve Fleet . The 24 - year - old " Lake Champlain " was stricken from the Navy List on 1 December 1969 , and sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service ( DRMS ) for scrapping on 28 April 1972 .