WL108 ESSEX

The USS Essex (CV-9) was an American aircraft carrier laid down in 1941, launched in July 1942, and commissioned with the US Navy in December 1942. The length of the ship - at the time of launching - was 250 m, width 33 m, and full displacement - 36,400 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Essex aircraft carrier was up to 33 knots, and its main armament was from 80 to 100 airplanes. USS Essex was the first aircraft carrier of the type to bear the same name. Ships of this type were the main American aircraft carriers during the Pacific War of 1943-1945. This type included as many as 24 aircraft carriers that entered the line until Japan signed the surrender in September 1945! Their construction was based on the experience gained from the operation of Lexington and Yorktown units, as well as not having to comply with any tonnage restrictions. The emphasis was primarily on the number of planes taken and the maximum speed at the expense of the armor of the landing deck. Interestingly, the Essex-class aircraft carriers were built in such a way that the hangar was not an integral part of the fuselage, but a structure suspended under the flight deck. Such a solution made the ships of this type relatively easy to damage, but much more difficult to sink as a result of an air attack. In the course of the war in the Pacific, anti-aircraft weapons were systematically strengthened on ships of this type. The aircraft carrier USS Essex (CV-9) began its service in World War II by participating in combat in the Marcus and Wake area, and later also in the Gilbert Islands area. At the beginning of 1944, the aircraft carrier supported, among others American landings on the Marshall Islands. At the end of that year (1944) he took an active part in the Battle of Leyte Bay. In 1945, his planes supported American operations on Iwo-Jima and Okinawa. After the end of World War II, the USS Essex was thoroughly rebuilt in 1947-1951 and adapted for jet operations. He took part in the Korean War (1950-1953) and in the blockade of Cuba in 1962 in the course of the so-called the Cuban crisis. It was withdrawn from the line in 1969 and scrapped in 1975.