{"id":1709,"date":"2023-12-09T16:03:20","date_gmt":"2023-12-09T16:03:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1709"},"modified":"2023-12-09T16:03:20","modified_gmt":"2023-12-09T16:03:20","slug":"americas-essex-class-aircraft-carriers-the-armory-life","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/?p=1709","title":{"rendered":"America\u2019s Essex-Class Aircraft Carriers – The Armory Life"},"content":{"rendered":"


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By Peter Suciu<\/a><\/p>\n

T<\/span>oday, there are five aircraft carriers that have been preserved as \u201cmuseum ships,\u201d honoring those brave men who served on them in wartime. Four of those flattops are of the\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class that were built during the Second World War, going on to play a crucial role as floating airfields that helped the U.S. defeat the Empire of Japan.<\/p>\n

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The USS\u00a0Shangri-La<\/em>\u00a0(CV-38) while underway in the Pacific. Her crew is on the flight deck in August 1946 for this photo. Note use of the letter Z on the flight deck instead of her hull number. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In fact, a total of 24 of a planned 32\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class aircraft carriers were constructed between 1941 and 1950 \u2014 in both \u201cshort-hull\u201d and \u201clong-hull\u201d versions \u2014 and of those, 14 saw combat in World War II. More importantly, not a single one was lost to enemy action, even as several sustained crippling damage. The\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class served as the backbone of the United States Navy starting from mid-1943, and as the 20th century\u2019s most numerous class of capital ships, these continued to remain the workhorse carriers until the supercarriers entered the fleet.<\/p>\n

[To learn about America\u2019s first supercarriers, read\u00a0<\/em>Forrestal<\/a>-Class Aircraft Carrier<\/a>.]<\/em><\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0underway during her first Korean War deployment, circa August 1951-March 1952. Two F2H-2 Banshees are flying by in the foreground. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The final vessel of the class, USS\u00a0Lexington\u00a0<\/em>(CV\/CVA\/CVS\/CVT\/AVT-16), was only decommissioned in 1991 \u2014 five decades after the keel of USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV\/CVA\/CVS-9) was laid down.<\/p>\n

Origins of the\u00a0Essex<\/em>-Class Aircraft Carriers<\/h2>\n

Until 1938, the United States Navy had appeared to be keeping current with its near-peer adversaries \u2014 notably the Empire of Japan \u2014 in regard to naval arms expansion among the world powers. However, four years earlier the Japanese government had given formal notice that it intended to terminate the Washington Naval Treaty. Though its provisions remained in force formally until the end of 1936, these were not renewed.<\/p>\n

\"aircraft\n<\/picture>
A Grumman F6F-3 Hellcat is towed aft by a Jeep on the flight deck of USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV-9) in February 1944. Note the details of the ship\u2019s island and radar. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The United States gave Japan\u2019s rapid mobilization closer attention, and on May 17, 1938, the U.S. Congress passed the Navy Expansion Act, which authorized a dramatic increase in the strength of the fleet. That initially called for the construction of 10\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers along with 3,000 aircraft. Of course, carriers could not be built overnight, and it was 42 months before the lead vessel, USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV-9) would be commissioned.<\/p>\n

\"essex\n<\/picture>
After World War II, the USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV-9) and five other\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers entered the Puget Sound Navy Yard\u2019s \u201cmothball fleet.\u201d All but one would later return to service. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

As the clouds of war formed, officials within the Imperial Japanese Navy knew it couldn\u2019t win a long and protracted conflict with the United States. As Japan headed into a path to war, it formulated a plan to conduct a daring and potentially decisive strike that would cripple the United States Navy. That was the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor.<\/p>\n

\"f9f\n<\/picture>
A F9F Panther jet fighter is tied down on the USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0during a snowstorm off the coast of Korea. Bombs are loaded on the plane\u2019s wings in preparation for a resumption of air strikes. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, the U.S. Navy\u2019s aircraft carriers weren\u2019t in port on that fateful Sunday morning \u2014 and the Imperial Japanese Navy had to settle for an attack on the U.S. Navy\u2019s battleships. That was a setback for the United States, but most naval historians agree that it was a hollow victory for Japan. Just six months later, the U.S. Navy essentially evened the score at the Battle of Midway, in which four Japanese carriers were sunk with just the loss of one of the U.S. Navy\u2019s carriers.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0was reclassified as an anti-submarine warfare aircraft carrier\u00a0<\/em>(CVS-9) in 1960. It is shown underway during a 1967 NATO Mediterranean cruise. Image:\u00a0W.A. Jackman\/U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Japan couldn\u2019t hope to replace those carriers, but by then the United States Navy was already proving that it was the \u201cArsenal of Democracy.\u201d From the Japanese perspective, American carrier strength grew at an alarming rate.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
This is a drawing prepared by the Bureau of Ships for a camouflage scheme intended for\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class aircraft carriers. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

On the last day of 1942, just over a year after the attack on Pearl Harbor and six months after Midway, USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0joined the fleet. Within the next year, she was joined by six sister carriers. These ships proved vital to the War in the Pacific, and continued to play a significant role in the Cold War-era.<\/p>\n

Essex-Class Key Features<\/h2>\n

In 1937, with the lapse of the Washington Naval Treaty, the only restriction on the size of U.S. warships was what was imposed by Congress. As noted, U.S. lawmakers voted to fund the construction of the new class of aircraft carriers. The result was warships that displaced 27,100 tons, with a full load of 36,380 tons \u2014 while the vessels would have a full complement of 2,600 officers and men.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
On September 26, 1942, the USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0(CV-16) slides down the shipways during her launching at the Bethlehem Steel Company shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class was some 30 percent larger in size than the preceding\u00a0Yorktown<\/em>-class, and this set the standard for a new generation of fleet carriers. The designers also had a major factor working in their favor, namely the advances in steam machinery that meant they could make considerable weight savings in that area, while actually increasing the installed power by as much as 25 percent. The\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers were powered by four Westinghouse geared turbines sustained by eight Babcock and Wilcox boilers, which produced 110 MW (150,000 shp), which provided a maximum speed of nearly 33 knots.<\/p>\n

\"technical\n<\/picture>
This photo has been marked to show the various electronic masts, antenna and radar arrays on the USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new class of flattops was 15 meters (50 feet) longer at the waterline than the\u00a0Yorktown<\/em>-class, and three meters (10 feet) broader abeam \u2014 yet the carriers were still able to pass through the Panama Canal, which was an important consideration of the U.S. Navy\u2019s Two-Ocean Act of 1940.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
The USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0at sea with an overload of aircraft on her flight deck in May 1944. She is carrying at least 36 TBF, 14 F6F and 70 SB2C planes ahead of the Marianas Operation. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The 1942 aircraft complement consisted of 36 fighters, 37 dive-bombers and 18 torpedo-bombers. The entire hull structure protected the hanger against non-armor-piercing bombs, while the deck, flight deck and hanger were built on as part of the superstructure. The ships could also carry 240,000 gallons (908,500 liters) of aviation fuel.<\/p>\n

\"pilot\n<\/picture>
VF-83 being briefed in ready room aboard USS Essex (CV-9) prior to an Okinawa raid in April 1945. Image:\u00a0William G. Sanders\/U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The original design called for three catapults \u2014 two on the flight deck and a third on the hanger deck, but it was found not to be useful and was later deleted. Defensive armament of the carriers originally consisted of 12 127mm (5-inch) eight 40mm (1.57-inch) quadruple 56-caliber guns, and 46 20mm single 78-caliber guns.<\/p>\n

From the Arsenal of Democracy<\/h2>\n

The United States truly stepped up during the Second World War to become the \u201cArsenal of Democracy\u201d, building thousands of tanks and aircraft, but it also saw the greatest naval expansion in history.\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers were built at the Brooklyn Naval Yard, Newport News Shipbuilding & Drydock, the Philadelphia Navy Yard and the Norfolk Navy Yard.<\/p>\n

\"f6f-3\n<\/picture>
F6F Hellcat fighters and SBD Dauntless dive bombers<\/a> spotted on the flight deck of USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV-9) in March 1943 Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carried on the policy of naming the United States Navy\u2019s aircraft carriers after historic battles \u2014 which began with the\u00a0Lexington<\/em>-class. It also honored those pre-World War II carriers that were lost in actions in the early stages of the conflict, notably USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0(CV-2), which was sunk at the Battle of Coral Sea in May 1942, and USS\u00a0Yorktown<\/em>\u00a0(CV-5), which was lost at the Battle of Midway a month later.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
Aircraft wreckage on the flight deck of USS\u00a0Bunker Hill<\/em>\u00a0(CV-17) following hits by two Kamikazes off of Okinawa on May 11, 1945. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The new USS\u00a0Yorktown\u00a0<\/em>(CV-10) had been laid down as the\u00a0Bon Homme Richard,<\/em>\u00a0while USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0(CV-16) was laid down as the\u00a0Cabot.<\/em>\u00a0Each has the unique distinction of thus being named after a historic battle from U.S. history but also carries the name of a historic ship that took part in critical engagements in the Pacific Theater of Operations. Both of those vessels are among the four\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class preserved as museum ships.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Ticonderoga<\/em>\u00a0(CV-14) underway with \u201call fires out\u201d on January 21, 1945. It was hit twice by kamikazes. You can see the experimental camouflage used on the carrier. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

However, one of the flattops that had its name changed was USS\u00a0Princeton<\/em>\u00a0(CV-37), which was actually laid down as\u00a0Valley Forge<\/em>. The reasoning was that the Independence<\/em>-class<\/a> USS\u00a0Princeton<\/em>\u00a0(CVL-23) was sunk at the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October 1944, and a decision was made to honor the prior warship. Interestingly, though no carrier of the class ended up being named\u00a0Cabot<\/em>, CV-31 did receive the name\u00a0Bon Homme Richard<\/em>\u00a0while CV-45 was subsequently named\u00a0Valley Forge<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
Attack Carrier USS\u00a0Intrepid<\/em>\u00a0is enroute to Yankee Station on October 17, 1968. Image:\u00a0J.J. Brennan\/U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Another notable name choice was USS\u00a0Shangri-La<\/em>\u00a0(CV-38), which was named not for a battle but from a mythical place that appeared in the 1933 novel\u00a0Lost Horizon<\/em>\u00a0by James Hilton. Following the April 1942 \u201cDoolittle Raid\u201d on Japan that was launched from the\u00a0Yorktown<\/em>-class USS\u00a0Hornet<\/em>\u00a0(CV-8), President Franklin Roosevelt responded to a reporter\u2019s question that the raid had been launched from \u201cShangri-La.\u201d CV-38 went on to earn two battle stars for her role in the Pacific Theater in the Second World War. After being modernized, USS\u00a0Shangri-La<\/em>\u00a0went on to earn three more battle stars for service in the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

Most Significant Class of U.S. Warships<\/h2>\n

Naval historians have argued that the\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class was among the most significant class of warships in American naval history due to their serving as the backbone of the U.S. Navy in the Second World War. The flattops played a central role in the Pacific Theater from 1943 to the end of the conflict and were present at every major battle in the latter part of the war.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0(CV-9) is hit amidships by a Kamikaze off the Philippines on November 25, 1944. The photo was taken from the USS\u00a0Langley<\/em>\u00a0(CVL-27). Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The carriers successfully performed a number of missions that included air superiority to the U.S. fleets, attacks on the Imperial Japanese Navy\u2019s fleet, supporting landings, transport of aircraft and troops, and notably the bombing of the Japanese home islands. The\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers survived not only bombs, torpedoes, and kamikaze attacks but also typhoons.<\/p>\n

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As previously noted, not a single\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carrier was lost to the enemy.<\/p>\n

\"fire\n<\/picture>
Flames billow up on the flight deck of the USS\u00a0Essex<\/em>\u00a0after a McDonnell F2H-2 Banshee crashed during Korean War combat operations on September 16, 1951. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Many further played a key role in Operation Magic Carpet, which brought home millions of service members from distant theaters at the end of the war. In addition, eleven of the carriers went on to participate in the Korean War, while 13 of the 24 that were built also participated in the Vietnam War.<\/p>\n

\"recovery\n<\/picture>
NASA personnel and U.S. Navy sailors recover the Gemini 3 capsule on the USS\u00a0Intrepid<\/em>. It was the first manned mission in the Gemini project. Image:\u00a0NARA<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

In peacetime, several\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class aircraft carriers also played a role in the U.S. space program \u2014 serving as recovery ships for unmanned and manned spaceflights. That included the Mercury, Gemini and Apollo programs. The first steps back on Earth of the returning astronauts Neil Armstrong, Buzz Aldrin, and Mike Collins following the Apollo 11 moon mission in July 1969 was on the deck of USS\u00a0Hornet<\/em>\u00a0(CV\/CVA\/CV-12), another of the Essex-class carriers preserved as a museum ship.<\/p>\n

Essex<\/em>-Class Museum Ships<\/h2>\n

Today, it is possible to walk the flight decks of four of the\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class carriers that have been preserved as museum ships.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0(CVS-16) underway on July 15 1963. On deck are 26 T-28 training planes. Naval Academy midshipmen were aboard to observe carrier qualifications. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

USS\u00a0Yorktown<\/em>\u00a0(CV\/CVA\/CVS-10), which was decommissioned in 1970, is now preserved at the Patriots Point Naval & Maritime Museum in South Carolina. Reactivated during the Korean War, she became an anti-submarine carrier during the Vietnam War \u2014 and she earned a total of 12 battle stars and a Presidential Unit Citation during WWII, and five more battle stars during Vietnam. The carrier can be seen in such films as\u00a0Tora! Tora! Tora!,<\/em>\u00a0and\u00a0The Philadelphia Experiment<\/em>.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
The modernized USS\u00a0Shangri-La<\/em>\u00a0(CVA-38) underway with and A-3 Skywarrior and A-4 Skyhawk aircraft<\/a> visible on the deck. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

USS\u00a0Hornet\u00a0<\/em>(CV\/CVA\/CVS-12) \u2014 named to honor CV-8 that was sunk at the Battle of Santa Cruz in October 1942 \u2014 went on to earn seven battle stars during World War, along with a number of other awards including Presidential Unit Citation; while she also earned an additional six battle stars in Vietnam. The carrier is now a museum ship in Alameda, California.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
Sailors aboard the USS\u00a0Bunker Hill<\/em>\u00a0(CV-17) fight a ship fire after being struck by kamikazes off the coast of Okinawa on May 11, 1945. Image:\u00a0U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

New York City\u2019s Hudson River is home to USS\u00a0Intrepid<\/em>\u00a0(CV\/CVA\/CVS-11), which earned five battle stars and Presidential Unit Citation during the Second World War, and three more battle stars during the Vietnam War<\/a>. She served as an FBI command post after the 9\/11 attacks on the World Trade Center and subsequently underwent a major renovation effort from 2006 to 2008.<\/p>\n

\"uss\n<\/picture>
The last Essex-class carrier completed, the USS\u00a0Oriskany<\/em>\u00a0(CVA-34), was commissioned in 1950. It served as a template for modernizing other\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class ships. Image:\u00a0F.L. Blain\/U.S. Navy<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0was only decommissioned in 1991 and had an active service life that was longer than any other\u00a0Essex<\/em>-class ship. Though her surviving sister ships have lower hull numbers, it has been noted by naval historians that she was laid down and commissioned earlier. As a result, the\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0is now the oldest remaining fleet carrier in the world. She also earned 11 battle stars for major engagements in the Second World War. In addition, the flattop served as a filming location for the 1976 film\u00a0Midway<\/em>, and again for the 1987 miniseries\u00a0War and Remembrance<\/em>. She was altered to resemble a Japanese carrier as well as USS\u00a0Hornet<\/em>\u00a0(CV-8) for the 2001 film\u00a0Pearl Harbor<\/em>. USS\u00a0Lexington<\/em>\u00a0is now a museum ship in Corpus Christi, Texas.<\/p>\n

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By Peter Suciu Today, there are five aircraft carriers that have been preserved as \u201cmuseum ships,\u201d honoring those brave men who served on them in wartime. Four of those flattops are of the\u00a0Essex-class that were built during the Second World War, going on to play a crucial role as floating airfields that helped the U.S. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1710,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1709","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=1709"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1709\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/1710"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=1709"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=1709"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gunowner-news.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=1709"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}