By Jack McKillop
U.S. NAVY AIRCRAFT CARRIERS
On 7 December 1941, the U.S. Navy had seven Aircraft Carriers (CVs) and one Aircraft Escort Vessel (AVG) in commission. The CVs were considered warships; the AVG was considered an auxiliary vessel. In addition to these eight ships, the keels of five other CVs had been laid.
The names, history, status and aviation units of each of these ships is described below.
USS LEXINGTON, Aircraft Carrier Number 2 (CV-2)
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The keel of this ship was laid down at the Fore River Shipbuilding Co., Quincy, Massachusetts on 8 January 1921 as Constitution, Battle Cruiser, First Line Number 1 (CC-1). Because of the limitations defined in the Washington Naval Treaty signed in 1922, she was authorized to be completed as an aircraft carrier on 1 July 1922 and was renamed Lexington. The Lexington was launched on 3 October 1925 and commissioned 14 December 1927.
On 7 December 1941, the Lexington Air Group was composed of:
Bombing Squadron Two (VB-2) with 15 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntlesses Fighting Squadron Two (VF-2) with 16 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalos Scouting Squadron Two (VS-2) with 1 Douglas SBD-2 and 14 SBD-3
Dauntlesses
Torpedo Squadron Two (VT-2) with 12 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators
The U.S. Navy's Task Force 12 (Rear Admiral Spruance), comprised of the aircraft carrier USS Lexington (CV-2); the heavy cruisers USS Astoria (CA-34), USS Chicago (CA-29), and USS Portland (CA-33); and the destroyers USS Drayton (DD-366), USS Flusser (DD-368), USS Lamson (DD-367), USS Mahan (DD-364), and USS Porter (DD-356), departed Pearl Harbor on 5 December 1941. Lexington is carrying 18 Vought SB2U-3 Vindicators of Marine Scout Bombing Squadron Two Hundred Thirty One (VMSB-231) which are to be flown off to reinforce Midway Island. The plan is to approach within 400 miles (640 km) of Midway and fly the Marine squadron off to land on the island; this position would be reached by mid-morning on 7 December. After launching the Marine aircraft, Lexington would be free to continue training/scouting
USS Lexington was sunk by aerial bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of the Coral Sea, 8 May 42. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 24 June 42.
USS SARATOGA, Aircraft Carrier Number 3 (CV-3)
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The Saratoga was a sister ship of the Lexington and her keel was originally laid down as a Battle Cruiser, First Line Number 3 (CC-3) on 25 Sep 20 at the New York Shipbuilding Corp., Camden, New Jersey. She was ordered converted to an aircraft carrier and reclassified CV-3 on 1 July22; Saratoga was launched on 7 April 25 and commissioned on 16 November 27. On 7 December 41, USS Saratoga was just entering San Diego after an interim drydocking at Bremerton, Washington. The Saratoga Air Group consisted of:
Bombing Squadron Three (VB-3) with 21 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses Fighting Squadron Three (VF-3) with 7 Grumman F4F-3 and 2 F4F-3A
Wildcats
Scouting Squadron Three (VS-3) with 22 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntlesses Torpedo Squadron Three (VT-3) with 12 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators
USS Saratoga survived World War II and was used as a test ship at the Bikini A-bomb tests in July46. She sank in Bikini Atoll on 25 July46 and her name was struck from the Naval Register on 15 Aug 46.
USS RANGER, Aircraft Carrier Number 4 (CV-4)
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The Ranger was the first U.S. Navy ship to be designed and built from the keel up as an aircraft carrier. Her keel was laid at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, Newport News, Virginia on 26 September 1931; she was launched on 25 February 1933 and commissioned on 4 June 1934.
USS Ranger was returning to Norfolk, Virginia from an ocean patrol extending to Port-of-Spain, Trinidad, British West Indies when the Japanese attacked Pearl Harbor. At that time, the Ranger Air Group consisted of:
Fighting Squadron Five (VF-5) with 18 Grumman F4F-3 and 1 F4F-3A
Wildcats
Fighting Squadron Forty One (VF-41) with 17 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats
and 2 North American SNJ-3s
Scouting Squadron Forty One (VS-41) with 8 Vought SB2U-1 and 2
SB2U-2 Vindicators
Scouting Squadron Forty Two (VS-42) with 9 Vought SB2U-1 and 6
SB2U-2 Vindicators
Torpedo Squadron Four (VT-4) with 3 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators
Speed was sacrificed for other essentials under the Washington Naval Treaty reducing the efficiency of the Ranger as a fleet carrier. She spent the war in the Atlantic until 1944 and then was used as a training carrier. She was decommissioned 18 October 1946; her name was struck from the Naval Register on 29 October 1946; and she was sold for scrap 28 January 1947.
USS YORKTOWN, Aircraft Carrier Number 5 (CV-5)
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The keel of the Yorktown was laid down on at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia on 21 May 1934, she was launched on 4 April 1936 and commissioned on 30 September 1937.
USS Yorktown was at Norfolk, Virginia on 7 December 1941. The Yorktown Air Group consisted of:
Bombing Squadron Five (VB-5) with 19 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless' Fighting Squadron Forty Two (VF-42) with 18 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats Scouting Squadron Five (VS-5) with 19 Douglas SBD-3 Dauntless' and 2
North American SNJ-3s
Torpedo Squadron Five (VT-5) with 14 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators
USS Yorktown was sunk by aerial bombs and torpedoes during the Battle of Midway, 7 June 1942. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 2 October 1942.
USS ENTERPRISE, Aircraft Carrier Number 6 (CV-6)
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The Enterprise was a sister ship of the Yorktown. Her keel was laid at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Newport News, Virginia on 16 July 1934, she was launched 3 October 1936 and commissioned 12 May 1938.
The U.S. Navy's Task Force 8 (Vice Admiral William Halsey), comprised of the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CV-6); the heavy cruisers USS Chester (CA-27), USS Northampton (CA-26) and USS Salt Lake City (CA-24); and the destroyers USS Balch (DD-363), USS Benham (DD-397), USS Craven (DD-382), USS Dunlap (DD-384), USS Ellet (DD-398), USS Fanning (DD-385), USS Gridley (DD-380), USS Maury (DD-401) and USS McCall (DD-400), departs Pearl Harbor on a mission to deliver12 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats, a detachment of Marine Fighting Squadron Two Hundred Eleven (VMF-211), to Wake Island.
The Marine fighters were launched on 4 December when the Enterprise was 75 miles (120 km) north of Wake Island. She then turned east and headed back to Pearl Harbor where she was due to arrive on 6 December. Due to a storm, Vice Admiral William Halsey, commander of TF 8 in Enterprise, ordered reduced speed thus delaying the carrier's arrival at Pearl Harbor until 7 December.
On 7 December 41, the Enterprise Air Group consisted of:
Bombing Squadron Six (VB-6) with 17 Douglas SBD-2 Dauntlesses Fighting Squadron Six (VF-6) with 16 Grumman F4F-3A Wildcats Scouting Squadron Six (VS-6) with 10 Douglas SBD-2 and 8 SBD-3
Dauntless'
Torpedo Squadron Six (VT-6) with 18 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators and 2
North American SNJ-3s
At 0618 hours on 7 December 1941, Enterprise launched SBDs of VB-6 and VS-6 to search a sector 045 to 134 degrees for a distance of 150 miles (240 km) and to then proceed to NAS Pearl Harbor on Ford Island. A total of 18 aircraft arrived over Pearl Harbor during the Japanese attack. One was shot down by U.S. antiaircraft fire, four by the Japanese and one crash-landed. The remainder landed at either NAS Ewa or NAS Pearl Harbor.
The Enterprise survived World War II and was decommissioned on 17 February 1947. She was reclassified Attack Aircraft Carrier No. 6 (CVA-6) on 1 October 1952 and Antisubmarine Warfare Support Carrier No. 6 (CVS-6) on 8 August 1953. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 2 October 1956 and her hull was sold for scrapping on 1 July 1958.
USS WASP, Aircraft Carrier Number 7 (CV-7)
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The Wasp was built at Bethlehem Shipbuilding Corp, Quincy, Massachusetts. Her keel was laid down on 1 April 1936; she was launched 4 April 1939; and commissioned on 25 April 1940. USS Wasp was at anchor in Grassy Bay, Bermuda on 7 December 1941. The Wasp Air Group consisted of:
Fighting Squadron Seventy One (VF-71) with 18 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats Fighting Squadron Seventy Two (VF-72) with 17 Grumman F4F-3 Wildcats,
2 Vought SB2U-2Vindicators and 1 North American SNJ-3 Scouting Squadron Seventy One (VS-71) with 4 Vought SB2U-1 and 13
SB2U-2 Vindicators and 2 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators Scouting Squadron Seventy Two (VS-72) with 18 Vought SB2U-3
Vindicators
USS Wasp was hit by two torpedoes fired from the Japanese submarine HIJMS I-19 on 15 September 1942 while operating off Guadalcanal Island in the Solomon Islands. The flaming hull was torpedoed and sunk by the U.S. destroyer USS Lansdowne later that day. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 2 November 1942.
USS HORNET, Aircraft Carrier Number 8 (CV-8)
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The Hornet was built at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, Newport News, Virginia. Her keel was laid on 25 September 1939; she was launched 14 December 1940; and commissioned 20 October 1941.Based at Norfolk, Virginia, USS Hornet was undergoing training cruises during December 1941. The Hornet Air Group consisted of:
Bombing Squadron Eight (VB-8) with 19 Curtiss SBC-4 Helldivers Fighting Squadron Eight (VF-8) with 19 Grumman F4F-3 and 2 F4F-3A
Wildcats
Scouting Squadron Eight (VS-8) with 20 Curtiss SBC-4 Helldivers Torpedo Squadron Eight (VT-8) with 8 Douglas TBD-1 Devastators and
7 Naval Aircraft Factory SBN-1s
The SBC-4 Helldivers operated by VB-8 and VS-8 were biplanes with a maximum speed of 237 mph (379 km/h).
USS Hornet was sunk by torpedoes and bombs off Santa Cruz Island on 26 Octtober 1942. Her name was struck from the Naval Register on 13 January 1943.
USS LONG ISLAND, Aircraft Escort Vessel Number 1 (AVG-1)
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Long Island was built at Sun Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co., Chester, Pennsylvania. Her keel was laid 7 July 1939 as the merchant vessel SS Mormacmail. Launched on 11 January 1940, she was acquired by the US Navy on 6 March 1941. Converted to an aircraft escort vessel (AVG) at the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co, Newport News, Virginia, she was commissioned USS Long Island, AVG-1, the first Jeep Carrier, on 2 June 1941.
USS Long Island was based at Norfolk, Virginia on 7 December 1941. Aboard was Scouting Squadron Two Hundred One (VS-201) with 12 Curtiss SOC-3A and one SOC-1A Seagulls and 7 Brewster F2A-3 Buffalo's.
USS Long Island survived World War II. She was reclassified Auxiliary Aircraft Carrier No. 1 (ACV-1) on 20 August 1942 and Escort Aircraft Carrier No. 1 (CVE-1) on 15 July 1943.Decommissioned 26 March 46, her name was struck from the Naval Register on 12 April 46 and she was sold on 24 April 47.Her new owners converted her back to a merchant ship and she sailed in that configuration for a number of years.
In addition to the eight commissioned vessels listed above, the keels of five Essex Class carriers had been laid down. These five ships, all of which survived World War II, were:
Essex (CV-9)
Bon Homme Richard (CV-10)
Intrepid (CV-11)
Cabot (CV-16)
Bunker Hill (CV-17)