Notes: Although considered a “late-war” class, design of these ships was started several months before Pearl Harbor when it appeared increasingly likely that war was coming. Their origin was in a 1925 study by Adm. William S. Sims, which saw the advantage in a very fast aircraft carrier unencumbered with things such as cruiser-caliber guns, torpedo tubes, etc. Adm. Sims’ study was endorsed by Congress in 1937 and these ships designed thereafter. They were the definitive WWII USN carriers and set the stage for future designs with features like side elevators (which freed the captain from the nightmare scenario of centreline elevators jamming in the down position during a battle), a CIC, and ventilation on the hangar deck which allowed planes to warm up before take-off.
Unlike British carriers of their time, the Essex’s armour deck was on the hangar deck, not the flight deck which instead was douglas fir planking on steel girders. The American arrangement was found to be generally superior and repeated until the size of postwar supercarriers made this structurally impossible. The entire flight deck/hangar/elevator system was “future-proofed” to allow for larger and faster planes than existed when the Essex design was being drawn. The Essex class ships cost $78 million ($910 million in 2008 dollars) each.
(above: USS Intrepid in the original WWII configuration)
Rebuilds
Because of constant upgrading, no two ships were ever exactly the same. Most of the class participated in the major Cold War upgrades, as described below.
After being suspended 85% complete on VJ Day, USS Oriskany was unique in that she was completed from the start to SCB-27 standard. USS Bunker Hill and USS Franklin never received either upgrade.
SCB-27
This rebuild took about two years to complete. The main focus was the strengthening of the flight systems to allow A-1 Savages to be embarked. Other changes were a slimming of the island, moving the ready room to the ships’ innards (to avoid the pilots being lost to a lucky hit), an escalator for flight deck crewmen, new catapults, more avgas tankage and aviation magazines, and new arresting wires. In wake of the USS Franklin incident (see below) damage control was much improved. Two fireproof bulkheads were installed on the hangar deck, and a shipwide pressurized (50gpm) fire main installed. The WWII armament was removed, with eight 5” single sponson mounts replacing the four Mk30 twin 5” deck mounts, Mk33 3” replacing the Mk2 and Mk4 40mm, and the 20mm, quad 1”, and .50cal guns being deleted completely. Unfortunately all the extra weight made the ships very topheavy and to compensate, 4’ waterline blisters were added to each side. These showed the ships down by about 10%. Vessels completed were:
USS Essex (1951)
USS Wasp (1951)
USS Bennington (1952)
USS Yorktown (1953)
USS Hornet (1953)
USS Intrepid (1954)
USS Lexington (conversion started as SCB-27 but finished as SCB-125)
USS Bon Homme Richard (conversion started as SCB-27 but finished as SCB-125)
(above: USS Hornet in the SCB-27 configuration.)
SCB-125
A much more drastic upgrade, SCB-125 installed an enclosed bow, an angled steel flight deck with jet deflectors and retractable nylon net barrier, new catapults, a new forward elevator, better firefighting systems, a rebuilt island, and modification of the aviation magazine to house nuclear weapons. Some ships received sonar. To compensate for the additional weight, the WWII armour belt was deleted. Vessels completed were:
USS Lexington (1955)
USS Bon Homme Richard (1955)
USS Bennington (1955)
USS Yorktown (1955)
USS Wasp (1955)
USS Essex (1956)
USS Hornet (1956)
USS Intrepid (1957)
USS Oriskany (1959)
In December 1957, USS Intrepid successfully proved that a SCB-125 carrier did not need to turn into the wind to launch planes. Although quaint today this was at the time revolutionary and went against what was thought to be an inviolable law of carrier operations. In 1958, USS Lexington became the first USN carrier to embark guided weapons for her planes.
(above: USS Bennington in the final SCB-125 configuration. At the time the photo was taken, USS Arizona was still heavily leaking fuel oil, sixteen years after being sunk.) (official USN photo)
Oriskany reacivation proposal
USS Oriskany was requested for reactivation under the Reagan administration’s 1982 defense budget. The refit would have added Mk15 Phalanx CIWS, new radars, and allowed for operations of F/A-18 Hornet, A-4 Skyhawk, and S-3 Viking planes. Cost was estimated at $520 million ($1 billion in 2008 dollars). The request was refused by Congress.
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USS Franklin WWII catastrophe
On 19 March 1945, USS Franklin was 50NM offshore of Honshu, the closest a USN fleet carrier ever ventured to Japan. A Japanese dive bomber dropped two bombs on the carrier, one of which penetrated aft of the forward elevator and detonated in the hangar (and also destroying the CIC), and the other penetrated aft and detonated two decks down, starting a fire which ignited a magazine. The fire spread rapidly and turned into an inferno which was hot enough to start the entire flight deck alight. The “D” 5” twin turret exploded and the ship lost propulsion, eventually taking on a 13deg list. The horribly-damaged ship by all accounts should have sunk however brave actions by the crew kept her afloat until USS Pittsburgh (CA-72) could tow her to Ulithi. There propulsion was restored and the carrier limped to Pearl Harbor, HI for emergency repairs and then to the Brooklyn Navy Yard, NY.
The repairs (amongst the most extensive ever in the steel ship era) took over a year. However WWII had since ended and Franklin was placed into mothballs. In 1959 the hull was redesignated as an aircraft transport however the funds to reactivate her could not be found. In 1965 some of her propulsion was cannibalized and the ship was scrapped the next year. USS Franklin never again went to sea following the 1945 attack.
Post-WWII combat usage
USS Essex: Korean War (3 tours), Tachen Islands evacuation 1953, Lebanon crisis 1958, Bay Of Pigs 1961, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 USS Yorktown: Tachen Islands evacuation 1953, Quemoy/Matsu Islands 1959, Yankee Station (Vietnam) (3 tours) USS Intrepid: M/V Anzoategui mutiny 1963, Yankee Station (Vietnam) (2 tours) USS Hornet: Yankee Station (Vietnam) (2 tours) USS Franklin: none USS Lexington: Lebanon crisis 1958, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 USS Bunker Hill: none USS Wasp: Tachen Islands evacuation 1953, Lebanon crisis 1958, Congolese civil war 1960, Cuban Missile Crisis 1962 USS Bennington: Yankee Station (Vietnam) (3 tours) USS Bon Homme Richard: Korean War (2 tours), Tonkin Gulf (Vietnam) incident 1965, Yankee Station (Vietnam) (2 tours) USS Oriskany: Korean War (2 tours), Yankee Station (Vietnam) (2 tours), Dixie Station (Vietnam) (1 tour)
During the ill-fated Bay of Pigs invasion, four A-4 Skyhawks of USS Essex’s VA-34 squadron flew with no markings against Cuban positions. They were limited to carrying guns only.
On 9 October 1966, an A-1 Skyraider from USS Intrepid’s VA-176 squadron shot down a North Vietnamese MiG-17 “Fresco” jet fighter. This was the final time a USN prop plane shot down an enemy fighter.
During the Vietnam war, future Senator and 2008 presidential candidate LCdr. John McCain served aboard USS Oriskany.
(above: USS Yorktown conducting operations during a snowstorm.)
NASA support
USS Essex: Apollo I, Apollo VII (recovered capsule) USS Yorktown: Apollo VIII (recovered capsule) USS Intrepid: Mercury I, Gemini III (recovered capsule) USS Hornet: Apollo unmanned test capsule (recovered capsule, retained aboard and now on display), Apollo XI (recovered capsule, also first Earth footsteps of the first lunar astronauts were permanently marked on deck), Apollo XII (recovered capsule) USS Franklin: none USS Bunker Hill: none USS Lexington: none USS Wasp: Mercury VII (recovered capsule), Gemini IV (recovered capsule), Gemini VI, Gemini VII, Gemini IX (recovered capsule), Gemini XII (recovered capsule) USS Bennington: Apollo IV (recovered capsule) USS Bon Homme Richard: none
Miscellaneous facts
USS Bon Homme Richard was named after Les Maximes du Bonhomme Richard, the first edition of Poor Richard’s Almanac. The sail frigate of John Paul Jones shared the same name. It is one of the few warships named after a book.
In October 1966, part of USS Wasp’s air wing was replaced by Canadian navy aircraft. The experiment lead nowhere.
On 7 May 1957, ten Australian college students dressed as 19th century pirates boarded USS Bennington and made their way to the bridge undetected. They commandeered the carrier’s 1MC (loudspeakers) and activated the chemical warfare and fire alarms. The incident humiliated the USN and USMC (which provides security aboard carriers) however no charges were filed, perhaps because the USN did not want details of a carrier’s interior brought out in court.
USS Hornet was originally to be named USS Kearsage but changed after the war loss of USS Hornet (CV-8). Some of her machinery has “USS Kearsage” on it. That name was later allocated to one of the “long-hull Essex” ships.
Notes on fates
For many years, USS Bunker Hill was laid up at Quincy, MA awaiting what was hoped to be the “ultimate” rebuild of these ships. This of course never came about. The ship had been redesignated as an airplane transport in 1959 but the funds to actually reactivate the ship were never allocated.
When USS Bennington was sold for scrapping abroad, there was concern about foreign powers boarding her at the scrap yard to study American carrier design. A huge hole was dynamited into the flight deck and the entire island shorn off and bulldozed through the hole into the hangar. The hulk was then towed to India. The ex-Bennington was filmed being scrapped by workers in horrible conditions and led to a public re-evaluation on how USN ships are disposed of.
USS Intrepid was opened as a privately-run air & space museum in New York City in 1982. The ship has become one of the most successful such exhibits ever and the “yardstick” by which all other museum ship efforts are measured by. The vessel hosts a wide array of aircraft including a SR-71 Blackbird and a Concorde airliner. Beyond the historic value the ship has become a beloved NYC landmark, with concerts, public events, etc held aboard and has been featured in several NYC-set movies. From 2007-2008 Intrepid was drydocked at Bayonne, NJ for a $60 million upkeep, raised entirely by donations. The USN is also assisting with a $3 million dredging of Intrepid’s pier #86 area during 2008. As part of the refit, some areas formerly closed off will be opened to the public.
Scuttling of ex-USS Oriskany
It had at one time been planned to donate Oriskany to Japan as a “peace gift” to display in Tokyo Bay however this idea fell through and she was sold for scrap. After the original 1995 scrapper defaulted in 1997, the USN repossessed the hulk and placed it back into mothballs. On 5 May 2004, it was decided that because of all the asbestos and PCBs aboard it could not be scrapped domestically, and after the ex-USS Bennington drama (see above) it would not be scrapped abroad. Oriskany would instead become the largest-ever artificial reef. The scuttling was supervised by the USCG, Florida Fish & Wildlife wardens, and the Escambia County Sheriff. The actual sinking was by an EOD team from Naval Station Panama City, FL with twenty-two 23lb C-4 charges placed on water mains, sea valves, etc. The scuttling went perfectly and the ship rests perfectly upright in 210’ water. The island is just 70’ beneath the surface and can be visited by scuba divers.
CHARACTERISTICS
(As designed)
Displacement: 27,100t standard, 36,380t full Dimensions: 872’x93’(147’5” flight deck)x28’5” Machinery: Steam-reduction: 8 Babcock & Wilcox 565PSI boilers, 4 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 shafts w/non-CP 4-bladed props Max speed: 33kts Range: 20,000NM @ 15kts Complement: 2600
(after SCB-27)
Displacement: 28,200t standard, 40,600t full Dimensions: 898’x101’4“(151‘9” flight deck)x29‘7” Machinery: Steam-reduction: 8 Babcock & Wilcox 565PSI boilers, 4 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 shafts w/non-CP 4-bladed props Max speed: 30kts Range: 17,000NM @ 15kts Complement: 2900
(after SCB-125)
Displacement: 30,800t standard, 41,200t full Dimensions: 890’x101’(196’ flight deck)x30’1” Machinery: Steam-reduction: 8 Babcock & Wilcox 565PSI boilers, 4 Westinghouse geared steam turbines, 4 shafts w/non-CP 4-bladed props Max speed: 30kts Range: 17,000NM @ 15kts Complement: 3325
AIR WING-AS CV/CVA