USS Flagg

USS Flagg

Promotional image of USS Flagg
Affiliation G.I. Joe
Launched 1985
General characteristics
Class Nimitz class aircraft carrier
Length 1,092 feet (332.8 m)

The USS Flagg is a fictional U.S. Navy Nimitz-class aircraft carrier from the G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero toy line, comic and cartoon series. It is the G.I. Joe Team's primary sea going vessel, and is named for the team's original commanding officer General Flagg (who was slain in combat against Cobra).[1]

Classification

The hull classification symbol of this ship is often mistakenly identified as CV-66, but is actually CVN-99, as based on the artwork on the box and the instructions for the toy,[2] which call for the numbers on the command tower to be placed as 99. The numbers on the deck are upside down based on true configuration of the active carriers for the U.S. Navy.

Commanding officers

In both the toy and comic book series, the USS Flagg's commander is Vice Admiral Keel-Haul. However, Keel-Haul did not appear in the cartoon series, but a character Admiral Ledger was shown as commander of the USS Montana. There is no known explanation for the discrepancy.

Toy

The USS Nimitz, the basis for the USS Flagg

As a toy, it is the largest G.I. Joe playset, measuring in at just under 7'6". Had it been built to the scale of an actual Nimitz for 3 3/4" figures, the Flagg would have been over 65 feet long, and 13 feet wide. It featured an electronic public address system, which could broadcast a person's voice, and a two-piece utility vehicle that was part "low tow" tractor, and part fuel delivery trailer. The Flagg had radar, missile launchers, an "Admiral's Launch", an elevator deck, and an arrestor cable that fit snugly into the rear stabilizers of the Skystriker aircraft.[3] It came with the "Admiral Keel Haul" action figure.

When the Flagg was initially released, it was the largest playset aimed at boys existing at the time, and sold for a retail price of $109.99.[4] It is now traded among serious collectors for anywhere from a few hundred dollars for sets in poor condition (individual pieces/parts are vigorously traded/bought as well), to several thousand dollars ($8,000 as of 11.15.14) for a product still in its original, unopened box.[3]

Comics

Marvel Comics

The ship is used many times in the comic book series produced by Marvel Comics.

It survives a tsunami in the Gulf of Mexico, then serves as a staging area for the assault on the newly formed Cobra Island.[5] The ship again serves as a staging area when G.I. Joe assaults Cobra forces in the fictional country of Sierra Gordo.[6]

The Flagg is featured in G.I. Joe Special Missions #28 as the focus of a concentrated Cobra effort to destroy it. It suffers a missile hit straight to the steam lines, rendering all conventional aircraft unlaunchable. Thanks to the intervention of the Joe pilot Dogfight with his prop plane and the Joe spacecraft the Defiant, the Flagg is saved from further damage. The Defiant then lands on the Flagg, where both ships are featured in a fourth wall breaking 'farewell' scene as #28 was the last issue of the series.[7]

The ship is featured when Joes again assault a fictional country, the Middle Eastern area known as Benzheen. The craft deals with two crash landings, a Skystriker and a Stealth Fighter but all involved survive uninjured.[8]

Action Force

The Flagg makes a cameo appearance in issue #29 of the Action Force series, a slightly different Joe continuity also produced by Marvel Comics. Ace launches from it in order to take a fly-by of a suspected Cobra installation.[9] It makes another cameo in the next issue, as Ace lands his damaged Skystriker on it.[10]

Cartoon

Sunbow

The Flagg is featured in the Sunbow G.I. Joe series, when the plot calls for operations at sea, until it sinks under the Indian Ocean in the season 2 episode "Computer Complications" after a Cobra helicarrier crashes onto it. In the later episode "Raise the Flagg", the Joes and Cobra organize separate salvage attempts after discovering the existence of an anti-matter core in the helicarrier (which struck the portside of the Flagg). The teams' recovery crews also find out that one person survived the sinking - former Cobra mess hall chef BA LaCarre, who went insane because of the loneliness and named the wreck "LaCarre City" with a handful of reconditioned B.A.Ts to run it, as the antimatter core generates air and fresh water. Over the course of the episode, the Joes and Cobra operatives work together to bring the hulks back to the surface, where they suffer the bends as a result of the rapid ascent. At the end of the episode, a now-sane LaCarre asks General Hawk if he can join the Joes, while the Flagg is brought to the shipyards in Norfolk, Virginia, for full repairs.

G.I. Joe: Resolute

In the Resolute microseries, the Flagg is the Joe's main base. Storm Shadow infiltrates, kills Bazooka and bombs it, destroying the entire G.I. Joe armory and coming close to sinking the ship. As the support staff and computer equipment weren't hit, the Joes are still able to use it for their counterstrike. Eventually, the Commander panics and vaporizes the ship with his secondary HAARP weapon, but the crew had already evacuated.

G.I. Joes: Renegades

The USS Flagg made an appearance in the episode "Shipwrecked", when it offers assistance to the G.I. Joe Team, but Shipwreck politely declines.

G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra

The Flagg is featured in the 2009 film G.I. Joe: The Rise of Cobra, as a supercarrier with dual prows. Baroness was held in there under protective custody, until the scientists removed the nano-mites from her body. James McCullen (now Destro) and Rex Lewis (Cobra Commander) are also imprisoned there.

References

  1. ↑ G.I. Joe Vs Cobra: The Essential Guide p. 122
  2. ↑ "www.yojoe.com". www.yojoe.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  3. 1 2 Bellomo, Mark (2005). The Ultimate Guide to G.I. Joe 1982-1994. Krause Publications. p. 61. ISBN 978-0-89689-922-3.
  4. ↑ "www.wishbookweb.com". www.wishbookweb.com. Retrieved 2012-09-17.
  5. ↑ "G.I.Joe: A Real American Hero" #40-41 (October 1985)
  6. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #55-56 (1987)
  7. ↑ G.I. Joe Special Missions #28 (Mid November 1989)
  8. ↑ G.I. Joe: A Real American Hero #115 (August 1991)
  9. ↑ Action Force #29 (19 September 1987)
  10. ↑ Action Force #30 (September 1987)
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