World War II Aircraft Carriers of the United States - USS Wasp, Essex Class Aircraft Carrier, USS Yorktown, USS Ticonderoga, USS Enterprise (Paperback)

Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. Pages: 142. Chapters: USS Wasp, Essex class aircraft carrier, USS Yorktown, USS Ticonderoga, USS Enterprise, USS Intrepid, USS Saratoga, USS Valley Forge, USS Coral Sea, USS Midway, USS Oriskany, USS Hancock, USS Lexington, USS Franklin, USS Hornet, USS Ranger, USS Essex, USS Shangri-La, USS Saipan, Lexington class aircraft carrier, USS Randolph, USS Langley, USS Antietam, USS Franklin D. Roosevelt, USS Princeton, USS Philippine Sea, USS Bennington, USS Lake Champlain, USS Kearsarge, USS Independence, USS San Jacinto, Yorktown class aircraft carrier, USS Tarawa, USS Bunker Hill, USS Boxer, Independence class aircraft carrier, USS Cabot, USS Belleau Wood, USS Cowpens, USS Sable, USS Wolverine, USS Leyte, USS Bon Homme Richard, USS Bataan, Saipan class aircraft carrier, USS Reprisal, USS Iwo Jima. Excerpt: USS Wasp (CV/CVA/CVS-18) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the ninth US Navy ship to bear the name, was originally named Oriskany, but was renamed while under construction in honor of the previous Wasp (CV-7), which was sunk 15 September 1942. Wasp was commissioned in November 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning eight battle stars. 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 as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career she operated mainly in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. She played a prominent role in the manned space program, serving as the recovery ship for three missions: Gemini VI, VII, and IX. She was retired in 1972 and sold for scrap in 1973. The ship was laid down on 18 March 1942 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem Steel Compa...