Changes

| 872  ft

| 93  ft

| 147  ft 6 in

Their construction greatly accelerated, the ''Essexes'' and the first few ''Ticonderogas'' formed the backbone of the Navy's mobile air striking power during the climactic years of the Pacific War. With their larger contemporaries of the ''Midway''-class, these carriers sustained the Navy's air power through the rest of the 1940s, during the Korean War era and beyond. Even after the arrival of the ''Forrestal''-type "super carriers", the ''Essex''-class and its sisters remained vital elements of naval strength. By the mid-1950s, fourteen of them of them had been modernized along the lines of ''Oriskany'', with all but one of those being further updated under the [[Ticonderoga-class aircraft carrier|SCB-125 ]] program to facilitate operation of high-performance fighters and heavy attack aircraft.

*USS ''Intrepid'' (CV-11). Built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Keel laid in Decenber December 1941; launched in April 1943; commissioned in August 1943.

''Essex'' was commissioned on the last day of 1942, and went to the Pacific in May 1943 following shakedown in the Atlantic area. During the rest of that year, Essex took part in raids on Marcus and Wake islands, the invasion of the Gilberts and attacks on Japanese targets in the Marshalls. In 1944, she participated in the Marshalls, Marianas, Palaus, Leyte and Mindoro invasions, the Battles of the Philippine Sea and [[Battle of Leyte Gulf|Leyte Gulf]], and conducted air strikes in the Central and Western Pacific. While operating off the Philippines on 25 November 1944, she was damaged by a [[kamikaze]] suicide attack, but was able to remain in the combat zone. ''Essex'' continued her war operations in 1945, supporting the landings at Lingayen Gulf, [[Iwo Jima]] and [[Okinawa]], as well as raiding enemy targets in Japanese home waters and elsewhere in the Western Pacific. She returned to the United States shortly after Japan's surrender and was placed out of commission in January 1947.

''Yorktown'' was commissioned in April 1943, and named for a previous carrier lost in the [[Battle of Midway]]. After shakedown, she passed throught through the Panam Canal in July to join the war against Japan. Yorktown's first combat operation was a strike against Marcus Island at the end of August. During the rest of 1943, she took part in a raid on [[Wake Island]] and in the Gilberts operation. From late January into May 1944, ''Yorktown'' was one of the carriers that covered landings in the Marshall Islands and western [[New Guinea]] and generally battered Japanese forces throughout the central Pacific. In June 1944, her planes attacked [[Saipan]] and [[Guam]] and hit the carrier ''Zuikaku'' during the [[Battle of the Philippine Sea]]. For the rest of that month and in July, ''Yorktown'' struck other targets in the Marianas, the Bonins and Volcano Islands.

Following a an overhaul, ''Yorktown'' rejoined the fighting fleet in November 1944, participating in attacks on Japanese positions in the [[Philippines]], Formosa, [[Indochina]] and on the China coast from then into January 1945. In February and March, she supported the landings on Iwo Jima and conducted air strikes against the Japanese Home Islands. Though damaged by an enemy bomb on 18 March, she was able to remain in action. From late March until June 1945, ''Yorktown'' took part in the Okinawa campaign. On 7 April, her planes helped sink the huge Japanese battleship [[Yamato (battleship)|''Yamato'']] and some of her consorts. The remaining months of the Pacific war were mainly spent on raids on the Japanese Home Islands. Following Japan's capitulation in August, ''Yorktown'' helped cover occupation efforts and brought servicemen home from the western Pacific. Generally inactive from early 1946, the carrier was decommissioned in January 1947.

The carrier's regular schedule of Far Eastern deployments included periodic exercises with allied navies and, from the mid-1960s, support for [[Vietnam War]] activities. In 1968, ''Yorktown'' played a major role in the motion picture ''[[Tora! Tora! Tora!|]]''Tora! Tora! Tora!'']] and was part of the [[Apollo 8]] space flight recovery effort. Transferred to the Atlantic Fleet in early 1969, she visited Europe during the last part of the year. Decommissioned in June 1970, ''Yorktown'' became a memorial (in 1975) at Charleston, South Carolina, a mission that continues to the present day.

''Intrepid'' was commissioned in August 1943, and after arriving in the Pacific, she operated in support of the Kwajalein invasion in January-February January–February 1944. On 17 February, while taking part in raids on the Japanese central Pacific base at [[Truk]], she was hit by an aerial torpedo. An improvised sail was used to help maintain course while she steamed to Pearl Harbor for repairs. The carrier was back in the combat zone in September 1944. Over the next few months, she participated in strikes on the Palaus, Okinawa, Formosa and the Philippines. Her planes sank or helped to sink several Japanese ships during the 24-25 24–25 October [[Battle of Leyte Gulf]]. On 25 November, while attacking targets in the Philippines, ''Intrepid'' was hit by a suicide plane. She lost over sixty officers and men and had to go to the U.S. for shipyard work.

''Lexington'', named for the [[USS Lexington (CV-2)|carrier]] lost at the [[Battle of the Coral Sea]], was commissioned in February 1943 and saw her initial combat operations in the September-October September–October raids on Tarawa and Wake. In November and December 1943, ''Lexington'' participated in the campaign to seize bases in the Gilbert Islands and batter down Japanese forces in the Marshalls. During attacks on Kawjalein on 4 December, a night air attack hit her in the stern with a torpedo, necessitating two months of shipyard repairs.

In "mothballs" for the next six years, ''Lexington'' began extensive modernization work that was completed in August 1955, when she recommissioned as an attack aircraft carrier (redesignated CVA-16). Now featuring an angled flight deck, steam catapults and many other improvements to accomodate accommodate high-performance aircraft, she made five deployments to the western Pacific between 1956 and 1961. In 1962, she was transferred to the Atlantic to relieve USS ''Antietam'' as the Navy's training carrier. For this purpose, she was redesignated CVS-16 in October 1962, but briefly remained in the attack carrier role for a few more months during the [[Cuban Missile Crisis]].

''Wasp'' was commissioned on 24 November 1943, and the following March arrived in the Pacific and conducted her first combat operations in May. During June-AugustJune–August, ''Wasp'' participated in the Marianas Campaign, including the Battle of the Philippine Sea, and in strikes elsewhere in the central Pacific. These were followed by support for the September assault on the Palaus, and, in October, by attacks on Okinawa, Formosa and the Philippines, and in the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

''Bennington'' transferred to the Pacific in October 1955, and thereafter frequently operated with the Seventh Fleet in Asiatic waters. In June 1959, she became an anti-submarine warfare support aircraft carrier with the new designation CVS-20. She was in the Far East during the 1960-61 [[Laotian Crisis]], guarding the fleet against the possibility of hostile submarine involvement, and also 1964 as the fighting in Vietnam intensified. After United States' forces became actively involved in the conflict, ''Bennington'' had three tours of duty off Southeast Asia, in 1965, 1966-67 1966–67 and 1968. She decommissioned in January 1970 and entered the Reserve Fleet at Bremerton, Washington. Nearly two decades later, USS ''Bennington'' was stricken from the Naval Vessel Register. She was sold in September 1993 and subsequently towed across the Pacific Ocean to be scrapped in [[India]].

The outbreak of the [[Korean War]] in late June 1950 called ''Bon Homme Richard'' back to active duty. She recommissioned in January 1951 and deployed to the Western Pacific that May, launching her planes against enemy targets in Korea until the deployment ended late in the year. A second combat tour followed in May-December May–December 1952, during which she was redesignated CVA-31. The carrier decommissioned in May 1953 to undergo a major conversion to equip her to operate high-performance jet aircraft.

''Bon Homme Richard'' emerged from the shipyard with an angled and strengthened flight deck, enclosed "hurricane" bow, steam catapults, a new island, wider beam and many other improvements. Recommissioned in September 1955, she began the first of a long series of Seventh Fleet deployments. Additional Western Pacific cruises followed in 1957, 1958-1959, 1959-601959–60, 1961, 1962-631962–63, and 1964, with the last including a voyage into the Indian Ocean.