Essex class

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Essex class
USS Essex, May 1945
USS Essex , May 1945
Overview
Type Aircraft carrier
units 24 built, all out of service
Namesake Essex County ,
Massachusetts
period of service

1943-1991

Technical specifications
Data at the time of commissioning
displacement

27,100 tons

length

265.8 m (short hull)
270.6 m (long hull)

width
  • 28.4 m (waterline)
  • 45 m (flight deck)
Draft

8.8 m

crew

2600 men

drive

8 boilers, 4 turbines, 4 screws, 150,000 WPS

speed

33 knots

Range

16,900 NM at 15 kn

The Essex-class is a former class of fleet aircraft carriers of the US Navy . Together with the ships of the Ticonderoga sub-class , whose hulls are a few meters longer, 17 aircraft carriers were completed by the end of World War II , seven more followed by 1950, two carriers were scrapped halfway. The Essex-class aircraft carriers played an important role in the Pacific theater , in the Korean War and in the Vietnam War from 1943 onwards . Most of the ships in the class were decommissioned in the 1960s and 1970s, the last ship, the USS Lexington , which had served as a school carrier for the Navy, was decommissioned in November 1991 - after 48 years of service. Four carriers are now preserved as museum ships.

history

development

With the removal of the tonnage limits of the Washington Naval Agreement of 1922 in 1938, the US Navy began planning to expand its aircraft carrier fleet. In the Naval Expansion Act of 1938, also known as the second Vinson - Trammell Act, the construction of new girders with a total of 40,000 tons of tonnage was decided and approved on May 17th. The first of the new aircraft carriers, the USS Hornet , was ordered in March 1939 and laid down in September that year. Since the navy urgently needed new aircraft carriers, but a new design would have taken too long, the Hornet was built largely according to the existing plans of the Yorktown class from 1934.

Preliminary draft drawing from September 1941

At the same time as the Hornet was being built, work on the construction plans for the new girders began in early 1939. The design of the new aircraft carrier was designed primarily for use in the Pacific. With him, the short but instructive experiences from the operation of the older carrier classes should be implemented. In addition, the air group was to be enlarged by a squadron of fighter aircraft compared to the older carriers, which required a larger flight and hangar deck. In addition, the carriers should be able to carry spare parts and reserves for a quarter of the air group, as it was difficult to get spare parts in the vastness of the Pacific.

The six draft studies submitted were examined and evaluated between July 1939 and January 1940. The Navy finally decided to implement the last draft, CV-9F. When it became clear in early 1940 that the navy needed more aircraft carriers, three ships of the new type (CV-9 to CV-11) were approved in May 1940, and after the fall of France in the summer of 1940 in the " Two-Ocean Navy Act " another eight Carrier (CV-12 to CV-19). On December 13, 1941, six days after the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor , carriers CV-20 and CV-21 were authorized, CV-31 to CV-40 in August 1942 and CV-45 to CV-47 in June 1943, when the first ships of the class were just coming into service. In 1945 another six ships (CV-50 to CV-55) were proposed, but this proposal was rejected by President Franklin D. Roosevelt .

construction

Launch of the Bon Homme Richard , April 1944

The construction contracts for the 26 approved aircraft carriers of this class were given to five shipyards, all on the east coast of the United States. Ten girders were built at Newport News Shipbuilding in Newport News , Virginia ; five ships were keeled by Bethlehem Steel at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy , Massachusetts . Five girders were also built in the New York Navy Yard in Brooklyn , three each in the Norfolk Navy Yard in Portsmouth and three in the Philadelphia Navy Yard .

The USS Essex , the lead ship of the class, was laid down at Newport News on April 28, 1941, and was completed on December 31, 1942, 15 months before the originally scheduled date. During the war, the construction time of an Essex-class carrier was between 13 and 20 months, this was achieved, among other things, by working three shifts at the shipyards. 17 aircraft carriers were completed before Japan surrendered , and 14 ships were deployed in the Pacific. Seven more carriers were finished after the end of the war, with the USS Oriskany entering service with the US Navy as the last ship in 1950. Work on two other girders - the Reprisal and the Iwo Jima  - whose construction had already begun, was stopped in 1945 before the end of the war and the partially completed hulls were scrapped in the following period.

The US government has never published the exact construction costs for the carriers of the class, unofficially a unit price between 68 and 76 million US dollars is assumed. At around $ 1.7 to $ 2 billion in total, the Essex class was about as expensive as the Manhattan Project .

Design changes

Changes to the original design were made during the war as a result of initial operational experience. The most striking change was the redesign of the bow section in order to get more space for anti-aircraft cannons on the bow stem. The 13 vessels that received the new bug and some meters were longer were, according to the first modified ship Ticonderoga as a Ticonderoga-class cruiser named.

USS Boxer as a helicopter carrier

Conversions

USS Antietam with sloping deck

The USS Antietam was given a sloping deck in 1952 without any further modifications for test purposes and was used as a school carrier until 1963. It was the first American aircraft carrier with an angled landing deck.

The Boxer , Princeton, and Valley Forge were converted to helicopter carriers around 1960 and are now classified as LPH-4, -5, and -8. Half of the propulsion system was shut down and space was made for 330 Marine Corps soldiers .

SCB-27

The SCB-27A rebuild, which took place between 1948 and 1953, included the installation of more powerful H-8 hydraulic catapults, the extensive rebuilding of the island, the installation of ready rooms for the aircraft crews below the flight deck, and the construction of an escalator from these rooms to the flight deck as well as the general conversion for the use of jet aircraft. The four 127 mm twin turrets were removed and four 127 mm single guns were installed in their place on the starboard side below the flight deck, according to the arrangement on the port side. The 40-mm flak was replaced by 14 76-mm twin guns. The bow of the “short hull” ships was lengthened to accommodate two 76 mm double mounts. The 20 mm anti-aircraft guns installed in large numbers during the Second World War were no longer installed because they did not show sufficient effectiveness against modern types of aircraft.

USS Lake Champlain converted to SCB-27A

Ships converted to SCB-27A included the USS Essex , Yorktown , Hornet , Randolph , Wasp , Bennington , Kearsarge, and the Lake Champlain . The Oriskany was completed in 1950 to the SCB-27A standard.

Since the hydraulic catapults had proven to be too weak, C-11 steam catapults were installed in addition to all SCB-27A measures during the SCB-27C program between 1951 and 1954. Furthermore, the aft central elevator was replaced by a deck edge elevator on the starboard side. The Intrepid , the Ticonderoga and the Hancock were rebuilt . The starboard elevator of these three girders was located further aft than the girders later converted to SCB-125.

SCB-125

USS Bon Homme Richard to SCB-125

The SCB-125 program, which ran between 1954 and 1957, essentially included the installation of a sloping deck and a closed bow, as well as further improved systems for the more modern (and above all heavier) aircraft. Except for the Lake Champlain , all SCB-27A ships were converted and also received the second deck edge elevator, but no steam catapults. The front elevator of the SCB-27C ships has also been enlarged. The Lexington , Bon Homme Richard and Shangri-La received SCB-27C and SCB-125 in one rebuild. The armament of all carriers was reduced to two to four 127 mm guns by the 1960s. This was accompanied by the expansion of the aft fire control radar on the island.

The Oriskany received at the SCB-125A -Umbau to 1959 catapults vapor type C-11 and all the SCB-125 tags.

SCB-144 (FRAM II)

1962 to 1965 received the carrier (CVS) used for submarine hunting Essex , Yorktown , Intrepid , Hornet , Randolph , Wasp , Bennington and Kearsarge as part of the " Fleet Rehabilitation and Modernization Program " (FRAM) the bow sonar , a stevedore with Bow anchor and a modified operations center.

units

Numerous ships were renamed during construction - mostly to carry on the names of sunken aircraft carriers (Yorktown, Hornet, Lexington, Wasp, Princeton) or to carry the names of places of significant battles of the Pacific War (Leyte, Iwo Jima, Philippine Sea).

Development of the Essex class 1944–1960
Identification number Surname In service Off-duty Whereabouts / fate
CV-9 Essex December 31, 1942 June 30, 1969 Scrapped in 1975
CV-10 Yorktown (originally Bon Homme Richard) April 15, 1943 June 30, 1970 1975 museum ship
CV-11 Intrepid August 16, 1943 March 15, 1974 1982 museum ship
CV-12 Hornet (originally Kearsarge) November 29, 1943 January 26, 1970 1998 museum ship
CV-13 Franklin January 31, 1944 February 17, 1947 Scrapped in 1966
CV-14 Ticonderoga * (originally Hancock) May 8, 1944 November 16, 1973 Scrapped in 1974
CV-15 Randolph * October 9, 1944 February 13, 1969 Scrapped in 1975
CV-16 Lexington (originally Cabot) February 17, 1943 November 8, 1991 1992 museum ship
CV-17 Bunker Hill May 25, 1943 July 9, 1947 Scrapped in 1973
CV-18 Wasp (originally Oriskany) November 24, 1943 July 1, 1972 Scrapped in 1973
CV-19 Hancock * (originally Ticonderoga) April 15, 1944 January 30, 1976 Scrapped in 1976
CV-20 Bennington August 6, 1944 15th January 1970 Scrapped in 1993
CV-21 Boxer * April 16, 1945 1st December 1969 Scrapped in 1971
CV-31 Bon Homme Richard November 26, 1944 2nd July 1971 Scrapped in 1992
CV-32 Leyte * (originally Crown Point) April 11, 1946 May 15, 1959 Scrapped in 1970
CV-33 Kearsarge * March 2, 1946 February 13, 1970 Scrapped in 1974
CV-34 Oriskany September 25, 1950 May 15, 1976 Sunk as a reef in 2006
CV-35 Reprisal * 1945 construction stopped Scrapped in 1949
CV-36 Antietam * January 28, 1945 May 8, 1963 Scrapped in 1974
CV-37 Princeton * (originally Valley Forge) November 18, 1945 January 30, 1970 Scrapped in 1971
CV-38 Shangri-La * September 15, 1944 July 30, 1971 Scrapped in 1988
CV-39 Lake Champlain * June 3, 1945 May 2, 1966 Scrapped in 1970
CV-40 Tarawa * December 8, 1945 May 13, 1960 Scrapped in 1968
CV-45 Valley Forge * November 3, 1946 15th January 1970 Scrapped in 1971
CV-46 Iwo Jima * (originally Crown Point) 1945 construction stopped Scrapped in 1945
CV-47 Philippine Sea * (originally Wright) May 11, 1946 December 28, 1958 Scrapped in 1971
CV-50 to 55 1945 construction discarded

The ships marked with * belong to the Ticonderoga sub-class.

Mission profile

The 3rd US fleet in Ulithi Atoll, six Essex- class carriers can be seen with their escort ships

At the beginning of the Pacific War, the US Navy let its aircraft carriers operate alone or in pairs; in the event of an attack, the ships should separate and thus force the attackers to split up their forces. However, first experiences showed the vulnerability of individually operating carriers, so that from 1942 the US Navy switched to having their aircraft carriers operate in larger formations. These " Carrier Task Forces " consisted of four to five aircraft carriers (including light aircraft carriers of the Independence class ), which were accompanied by battleships , cruisers , especially anti- aircraft cruisers , and destroyers . The escort ships formed a screen about 6.4 kilometers (4 miles) in diameter around the carrier, which should be protected from air raids. If several carrier groups operated together, the distance between the individual aircraft carriers was about 20 kilometers. This distance favored the radar monitoring of the airspace and ensured the associations mutual fire protection through the heavy anti-aircraft guns of the escort ships.

During the Cold War , the aircraft carriers operated individually with an escort made up of cruisers and destroyers equipped with guided weapons and anti-submarine weapons, depending on their purpose as a submarine fighter carrier (CVS) or attack carrier (CVA) .

period of service

The first Essex-class ships came into service in winter / spring 1943, seven aircraft carriers were put into service in 1943 and 1944, five followed in 1945 and another four in 1946. Oriskany , which did not take up service until 1950, was a straggler . After the end of the Second World War, only the Boxers , Leyte , Kearsarge , Tarawa , Valley Forge and Philippine Sea remained in active service, the other aircraft carriers were transferred to the reserve fleet in 1947 and preserved there for later use. With the beginning of the Korean War, however, the need for aircraft carriers increased again, so that a number of ships were brought back from the reserve and actively used. This second period of service lasted until the end of the 1960s and the beginning of the 1970s. Only the Lexington remained in service as a training aircraft carrier until 1991, when it was replaced by the Forrestal .

Accidents and damage

The burning Bunker Hill after the second kamikaze hit

No Essex-class bearer was lost, either to enemy action or to calamity. However, especially during the Second World War, there was sometimes considerable damage, which sometimes required long stays in the shipyard to repair it. The Franklin was hit hardest : a bombing raid on March 19, 1945 resulted in severe explosions on board; more than 700 American sailors died. The Franklin had been hit by a Japanese Tokkōtai plane three months earlier, but the damage had been limited. The Bunker Hill was also badly damaged by two Tokkōtai planes on May 11, 1945; 372 crew members of the carrier died. Six other aircraft carriers were hit by Kamikaze planes during the Pacific War, the Intrepid even twice at an interval of five months. It also suffered a torpedo hit on February 17, 1944 , as did Yorktown on December 4, 1944.

The Hancock , which was badly damaged on January 21, 1956 by the explosion of an airplane that crashed on landing, and the Oriskany , in which a severe fire broke out in the hangar off the coast of Vietnam on October 26, 1966 , also recorded serious accidents . The Hornet and Bennington were badly damaged in a typhoon on June 5, 1945 ; large breakers destroyed the leading edge of the flight decks of the aircraft carriers. This damage later led to the introduction of the closed "hurricane bow" that the ships received during the SCB-125 conversion.

In addition, there were more frequent fires in the machinery, landing and take-off accidents and grounding, which were mostly survived without major damage.

Whereabouts

With the exception of four carriers, all Essex-class ships were scrapped between 1970 and 1993, and the Oriskany was sunk off the Florida coast in 2006 as an artificial reef . The preserved ships can be viewed in the United States as museum ships :

technology

hull

Outer hull

Side view of the Intrepid , she belongs to the "short hull" group

The Essex class can be divided into two sub-classes, which differ in the length of the trunk. The "short hull" ships of the original design were 265.6 meters in length and almost 5 meters shorter than the ships of the "long hull" or Ticonderoga class with a length of 270.6 meters. The different lengths were caused by the change in the shape of the bow of the ships; the "long hull" ships were given a wide-reaching clipper bow on which additional anti-aircraft guns could be accommodated. The changed bow shape, however, had a negative effect on the seaworthiness of the ships, with heavy waves the bow was hit hard. After the SCB-125 conversions, all ships were then 272.6 meters long. The ships of both groups were the same length in the construction waterline with 250.1 meters.

The width in the waterline was 28.4 meters when it was put into service, during the SCB conversions the hull was widened to 30.4 meters by bulges to increase the stability. With a maximum width of 45 meters at the height of the flight deck, the girders were almost ten meters wider than the ships of the previous classes when they were put into service. Despite the large width of the flight deck, the hulls of the ships were designed in such a way that the aircraft carriers still met the Panamax specifications and could pass through the locks of the Panama Canal . After the renovations in the 1950s, the new, angled flight deck increased the maximum width to 58.5 meters.

The design displacement in 1944 was 27,100 ts , the operational displacement was around 33,000 ts. The draft was between 7.0 and 8.7 meters. After the modifications, the empty displacement increased to 33,000 ts, the operational displacement to 40,000 to 45,000 ts. The draft rose to 9.4 meters.

Armor

The upper main armor of the aircraft carriers was level with the hangar deck, with a thickness of 64 mm it was designed to withstand a 1000 lb (454 kg) bomb dropped from a height of 3000 meters . The flight deck itself was unarmored. The hull armor, with a maximum thickness of 102 mm, should withstand projectiles from 152 mm guns, which was considered sufficient in the event of an attack by cruisers. The belt armor extended over 154.8 meters of the ship's mean length and protected the propulsion systems, the magazines and the fuel tanks. The side armor of the other departments was 64 mm thick. Particular attention was paid to the armor of the steering gear, which was protected by 114 mm side, 64 mm deck and 102 mm rear armor. In addition to the upper deck armor, the drive department was once again protected with its own 38 mm armor.

The aircraft carriers were protected against torpedo attacks by a system of liquid-filled cavities on the side walls, which were supposed to absorb the explosion energy and splinters in the event of a hit. This torpedo protection belt extended over the same areas as the armored belt and was designed to withstand an explosive force of 500 lb (227 kg) TNT .

Flight deck and hangar

View of the aft flight deck of the Philippine Sea , the elevator is in the lower position
The USS Hornet launches an F6F Hellcat with the hangar catapult

The flight deck of a carrier of the Essex class was 17.4 meters above the waterline and was 262.7 meters long and 32.9 meters wide, the deck area was over 8500 square meters. After the positive experience that had been made on board the USS Wasp with the fold-up deck edge elevator on the port side, this concept was also adopted for the Essex class. Together with the two elevators that were on the flight deck in front of and behind the island, it connected the deck with the hangar deck below. The two elevators on the flight deck had a load capacity of 12,700 kg, the deck edge elevator of 8165 kg. The elevators could move planes from the hangar up to the flight deck every 45 seconds.

For the launch of the carrier aircraft there was one, later two hydraulic aircraft catapults of the type H4B with a capacity of 8165 kg. The first six ships also had two catapults on the hangar deck, with which aircraft could be accelerated across the direction of travel. However, these were found to be impractical and were later removed. There was also a safety rope system with a maximum of 16 steel ropes aft and a second safety rope system with six to eight ropes at the bow, so that aircraft could also be picked up backwards. This practice, originally introduced in the event that the aft safety ropes were destroyed, was also abandoned as too impractical during the war, and the safety rope systems were removed in 1944.

With the SCB-125 conversion, the flight deck was widened to 58 meters and an angled landing deck was introduced that enabled simultaneous take-offs and landings. The aft deck elevator was relocated to the starboard edge of the flight deck, this elevator could be folded almost upright, while the elevator amidships, which was now more or less integrated into the flight deck, no longer had a folding mechanism. The concept of the sloping deck had previously been tested by a corresponding provisional conversion on the Antietam . From 1948, the Essex-class carriers initially received H8 catapults with a capacity of 20 tons, from 1951 C11 steam catapults were installed on board.

View into the Yorktown hangar

The Essex-class hangar deck was 199.3 meters long and 21.3 meters wide, the clearance height of the deck was 5.5 meters. The hangar, which stretched over the middle two-thirds of the ship's length, was divided into three compartments by fire curtains, these curtains were later replaced by steel roller doors. The hangar deck had a lot of openings to the outside that could be closed with roller doors. These openings provided good ventilation, which was necessary to allow the aircraft engines to warm up below deck. This practice increased the operational readiness of the aircraft and reduced the preparation times for flight operations. All around under the ceiling of the hangar deck there was a gallery on which the rest and standby rooms of the pilots were. Although this also increased the operational readiness of the air group, in the event of an attack it led to high losses among the aircraft crews due to the lack of flight deck armor.

For the aircraft on board, between 851,717 and 878,215 liters (“short hull”) and 878,216 and 916,069 liters (“long hull”) of aviation fuel were carried on board. The tanks located in the aft ship could be flooded with seawater in an emergency. A total of 625.5 tons of ammunition for the aircraft were stored in two magazines.

drive

The Hornet boiler room

The propulsion system of the aircraft carrier consisted of steam turbines and was located amidships, divided into six independent, armored compartments. Westinghouse's four geared turbines were divided into two groups. The turbines that drove the two inner of the four screws were located aft of the turbines for the outer screws, separated by two boiler rooms and three bulkheads. The eight oil-fired steam boilers from Babcock & Wilcox were located in groups of two in front of and behind the engine rooms in separate “fire rooms”. The steam for the turbines was generated at 39 bar pressure and 455 ° C steam temperature and fed into the turbines, which should have a total output of 152,000 hp . During the first test drives, however, a total output of 156,194 hp was measured, which meant almost 3 percent more output than planned. The maximum speed of the carrier was 32.93 knots (33 knots were planned). The propulsion system was also designed to reverse at a maximum speed of 20 knots to accommodate aircraft landing over the bow.

The fuel supply was 6,161 tons ("short hull") or 6,331 tons ("long hull") of heavy fuel oil, with which a maximum range of 16,900 nautical miles at 15 knots was possible. At top speed, the range shrank to 4,100 nautical miles.

There were also four turbine-driven generators on board for the ship's electrical energy requirements, each with an output of 1,250 kW; if the boiler system failed, two diesel-driven 250 kW emergency power generators could also take over the supply.

Armament

127 mm guns

The front twin towers of Valley Forge

The main armament against air attacks consisted of twelve guns in caliber 5 inches (127 mm), caliber length 38, of which eight were housed in four twin towers Mark 32, two each in front of and behind the island. The other four 127 mm guns were mounted in open single mounts below the port flight deck edge, two at the level of the forward deck elevator, the other two aft. The twin towers were removed as part of the SCB-27A conversions between 1948 and 1953 and replaced by four additional single mounts below the starboard deck edge. In the period that followed, the number of heavy anti-aircraft guns was reduced because they were too slow to defend against faster, jet-powered aircraft. The air defense was then taken over by the guided missile- equipped escort ships.

The shells of the guns, whose muzzle velocity was 762 meters per second, had a peak height of 11,887 meters and could be ignited either radar-controlled (variable time fuse, proximity fuse ) or delayed (mechanical time fuse, time fuse ). The cadence of the guns was between 15 and 22 rounds per minute, this value was strongly dependent on the speed of the operating team. The guns could also have been used against land and sea targets.

Medium and light flak

40 mm guns on board the Hornet

According to initial plans, the light anti-aircraft defense should consist of six quadruple guns in caliber 28 mm (1.1 inches), but this caliber proved to be insufficiently penetrative, so 40 mm Bofors guns , caliber length 70 with increased penetration were used. Originally housed in eight quadruple mounts (one on the bow, one on the stern, two on the port side next to the 127 mm guns, four on the island), the number of 40 mm guns was increased considerably in the course of the war. For example, additional quadruple mounts were mounted on the arms of the former hangar catapults, as well as at the rear. On the starboard side, two more guns were mounted at the level of the hangar deck; first in recessed niches so as not to obstruct the passage of the Panama Canal, later removable swallow nests were installed, which improved the fire range of the guns. Overall, the number of quadruple guns was increased to a maximum of 17 in the "short hull" ships, which could not be equipped with a second gun on the bow stem, and 18 in the "long hull" ships, although both early ships (Essex ) and the units that were last deployed in the war had less equipment.

The 900 gram shells of the 40 mm guns had a peak height of 6,797 meters, the maximum range at 45 ° barrel elevation was 10,180 meters. The cadence was around 120 rounds per minute, depending on the speed of the operating team, the muzzle velocity was 881 meters per second.

20mm Oerlikons on the USS Hornet , 1945

In addition, the carriers were equipped with 46 20-mm Oerlikon automatic cannons in single mounts, the number of which was increased to 58 by 1943. Since these cannons were not able to destroy and thus stop Kamikaze aircraft due to the low projectile weight of only 120 grams, twin mounts were introduced to replace some of the single mounts. Experimentally, 12.7 mm quadruple machine guns of the Army were tested on the Wasp and the Lexington from 1945 .

After the Second World War, the 40 mm guns were replaced by twin guns in caliber 3 inches (76.2 mm), during the SCB-27 conversions up to 14 double mounts were installed on board the Essex carriers. However, the number of guns was reduced again in the following years, as the guns were no longer sufficient to defend against faster aircraft.

Reconnaissance and fire control

Radar tracking devices

Valley Forge radar systems 1949. Top of the
mast: SC-2 surface
radar Main radar : SX search radar , including Mk-37 fire control radar
on 40 mm gun: Mk-51-FLR

There was never a uniform stand for the radar tracking devices on the Essex-class carriers; the ships were equipped with the latest and best radar systems when they were in dock. The most important were:

SK / SK-2 radar

Because of its square shape (5.2 m × 5.2 m) and the exposed wires known as "bedspring", the radar system was able to locate an approaching bomber at an altitude of 3000 meters at 185 kilometers. In the successor SK-2 introduced in 1944, a 5.2 meter round antenna improved the lateral detection field.

SC-2 radar

Intended as a reserve system for the SK radar, the SC-2 radar, with its 4.6 meter by 1.4 meter antenna, was able to locate aircraft at an altitude of 3000 meters over 150 kilometers, and large ships over almost 40 kilometers. The radar remained in use on the carriers well after the end of the war.

SX radar

Introduced on aircraft carriers from 1945, the SX radar used two antennas mounted back to back and rotated 90 ° on the same mast. The slightly larger antenna, which was responsible for air location, pulsed up and down ten times per second, but rotated around its axis four times per minute together with the smaller surface antenna. The detection range for aircraft of all types was 12,200 meters and 150 kilometers.

Radar systems on the Intrepid

SPS-6 radar

Introduced in 1948 as part of the SCB-27 conversions, the new SPS-6 radar with its 5.5 m × 1.5 m parabolic antenna achieved a reconnaissance range of up to 260 kilometers, depending on the size of the target.

SPS-8 radar

Introduced in 1952, the detection range was up to 305 kilometers. The electrical power consumption was 650 kW.

SPS-30 radar

First introduced in 1962, this radar device had a range of 400 km with a power consumption of 2.5 MW. The SPS-30 was mainly recognizable by the 3.7 m × 4.6 m parabolic antenna. Usually it was installed together with the SPS-37/ 43 .

SPS-37/43

Introduced in 1960, the detection range was between 430 and 555 kilometers, depending on the antenna type. The systems with the greater detection range were designated as SPS-43 from 1962.

Fire control

Mk-56 fire control unit

The 127 mm guns were controlled by two Mark 37 fire control systems , which were located on the island superstructures, one each in front of and behind the chimney. The systems were able to track aircraft in level flight up to a speed of 400 knots and in dive flight up to a speed of 250 knots. Since only one turret could be controlled by each fire control device, there were plans to install another Mark 37 fire control system on the port side of the flight deck, but these were not implemented. The fire control of the 40-mm-Flaks was taken over by Mark 51 devices, of which eight, later up to twelve pieces were on board, partly directly on the mounts, which increased the accuracy.

With the introduction of the 76 mm guns, new fire control devices of the type Mk 56 came on board the carriers, which reached a maximum target speed of up to 630 knots and could thus also detect and track jet aircraft.

Other electronics

In the 1960s, the modernized carriers were equipped with antennas for tactical air navigation , electronic countermeasures and precision approach radar. During the SCB-144 conversion, the U-fighter aircraft carriers also received a SQS-23 type bow sonar that operated at frequencies between 4.5 and 5.5 kilohertz .

Air group

The board Squadron (Carrier Air Group / Carrier Air Wing) of an aircraft carrier of the Essex class consisted of about 80 to 100 aircraft. At the beginning of the period of use of Carrier Air Wing consisted of Grumman F6F and - Vought F4U Corsair - fighters (from 1944) and Curtiss SB2C - dive bombers and Grumman TBM - torpedo bombers . After the Second World War, the air group consisted of Grumman F8F fighters and SB2C dive bombers. After the return to service in the 1950s, the first jet-powered aircraft were used on board, such as the Grumman F9F , the Grumman F11F and the McDonnell F3H . The propeller-driven Douglas A-1 was used in the attack role . At the end of the 1950s the Douglas A-4 and the Douglas F4D came on board, the Vought F-8 was used as a fighter from the early 1960s , this was supplemented by Vought A-7 fighter-bombers from 1969 .

crew

Crew room on board the Hornet

The original manning was 268 officers and 2363 crew and NCO ranks. Due to the enlargement of the air group and the strengthening of the anti-aircraft armament, the number rose to 3448 men in the course of the Second World War. This led to very cramped living conditions on board, due to the tropical temperatures in the Pacific area and the lack of air conditioning, there were hygienic and medical problems on board. The catering also caused some difficulties.

After the renovation work, the crew dropped to around 2300, the installation of air conditioning and the improvement of the water extraction systems led to a significant improvement in the standard of living on board the porters.

Additional information

literature

  • Stefan Terzibaschitsch : US Navy aircraft carrier. Bernard & Graefe Verlag, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-7637-6200-0 .
  • Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942-1945. WWII-built ships. Osprey Publishing, Oxford 2007, ISBN 978-1-84603-037-6 .
  • Michael C. Smith: Essex Class Carriers in action. (Warships 10) Squadron / signal publications, Carrollton (Texas) 1997, ISBN 0-89747-373-6 .
  • Andrew Faltum: The Essex Class Aircraft Carriers. Nautical & Aviation Publishing, Mount Pleasant (South Carolina) 1996, ISBN 1-877853-26-7 .

Web links

Commons : Essex class  - collection of pictures, videos and audio files

Footnotes

  1. ^ USS Essex in the Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships , as of September 28, 2007.
  2. ↑ Michael C. Smith: Essex Class Carriers in Action. (Warships 10) p. 4.
  3. ↑ a b Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 65.
  4. ↑ a b Smith: Essex Class Carriers in action. P. 5.
  5. ↑ a b c d Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 66.
  6. ^ The Costs of the Manhattan Project. ( Memento of October 24, 2012 in the Internet Archive ) As of September 28, 2007.
  7. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 152.
  8. ↑ a b Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 153.
  9. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 154.
  10. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 3 f.
  11. ↑ a b Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 335 f.
  12. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 15 f.
  13. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 15.
  14. ↑ a b c d Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 18.
  15. ↑ a b c steelnavy.com , as of September 28, 2007.
  16. ↑ navweaps.com, 5 "/ 38 (12.7 cm) Mark 12 , as of September 29, 2007.
  17. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 16.
  18. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 16 f.
  19. ↑ navweaps.com, 40 mm / 56 (1.57 ″) Mark 1, Mark 2 and M1 , as of September 29, 2007.
  20. ↑ navweaps.com, 20 mm / 70 (0.79 ″) Marks 2, 3 & 4 , as of September 29, 2007.
  21. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 17.
  22. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. Koehler Verlagsgesellschaft, Hamburg, 2001, ISBN 3-7822-0806-4 . P. 99.
  23. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 94
  24. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 111.
  25. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 114.
  26. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 116.
  27. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 123.
  28. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. Pp. 125, 128.
  29. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 153.
  30. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy. P. 158.
  31. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 377.
  32. ↑ Terzibaschitsch: aircraft carrier of the US Navy. P. 386.
  33. ^ Mark Stille: US Navy Aircraft Carriers 1942–1945. WWII-built ships. P. 19.
This article was added to the list of excellent articles on November 17, 2007 in this version .