World War II
The Imperial Japanese Navy struck Pearl Harbor on 7 December 1941, but none of the Pacific Fleet's aircraft carriers were in the harbor. Because a large fraction of the Navy's battleship fleet was put out of commission by the attack, the undamaged aircraft carriers were forced to become the load-bearers of the early part of the war. The first aircraft carrier offensive of the U.S. Navy came on 1 February 1942, when the carriers Enterprise and Yorktown, attacked the Japanese bases in the Marshall and Gilbert Islands. The Battle of the Coral Sea became the first sea battle in history in which neither opposing fleet saw the other. The Battle of Midway started as a Japanese offensive on Midway Atoll met by an outnumbered U.S. carrier force, and resulted in a U.S. victory. The Battle of Midway was the turning point in the Pacific War.
In 1943, new designations for carriers were established, limiting the CV designation to the USS Saratoga, the USS Enterprise, and the Essex class. The new designations were CVB (Aircraft carrier, large) for the 45,000 long tons (46,000 t) carriers being built, and CVL (Aircraft carriers, small) for the 10,000 long tons (10,000 t) class built on light cruiser hulls. The same directive reclassified escort carriers as combatant ships, and changed their symbol from ACV to CVE.
On September 2, 1945, Japan signed the surrender agreement aboard the USS Missouri, ending World War II.
| Designation | Class | Ships | Active | Description | Lead Ship |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| CV-9 | Essex |
|
1942 – 1991 | This class constituted the Twentieth Century's largest class of heavy warships, with 24 ships built. 32 ships were originally ordered, but some were cancelled. (13 ships of the CV-14 Ticonderoga class are considered either a separate class or a "Long hull" group of the Essex class; and another ship is considered a one class ship, depending on source). | |
| CVL-22 | Independence |
|
1943 – 1970 | This class was a result of President Franklin D. Roosevelt's interest in Navy shipbuilding plans. In August 1941, with war looming, he noted that no new fleet aircraft carriers were expected before 1944 and proposed to quickly convert some of the many cruisers then building. |
Read more about this topic: List Of Aircraft Carrier Classes Of The United States Navy
Famous quotes containing the words world and/or war:
“Peradventure at this instant, there are beings gazing up to this very world as their future heaven.”
—Herman Melville (1819–1891)
“It is inhuman to continue a war which could easily be ended.”
—Friedrich Dürrenmatt (1921–1990)