USS Kearsarge (CV-33)

USS Kearsarge at sea in 1966
History
United States
NameKearsarge
NamesakeUSS Kearsarge (1861)
BuilderNew York Naval Shipyard
Laid down1 March 1944
Launched5 May 1945
Commissioned2 March 1946
Decommissioned16 June 1950
Recommissioned15 February 1952
Decommissioned13 February 1970
Reclassified
  • CVA-33, 15 February 1952
  • CVS-33, 1 October 1958
FateScrapped, February 1974
General characteristics
Class and typeEssex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement27,100 long tons (27,500 t) standard
Length888 feet (271 m) overall
Beam93 feet (28 m)
Draft28 feet 7 inches (8.71 m)
Installed power
  • 8 × boilers
  • 150,000 shp (110 MW)
Propulsion
Speed33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Complement3448 officers and enlisted
Armament
Armor
  • Belt: 4 in (102 mm)
  • Hangar deck: 2.5 in (64 mm)
  • Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm)
  • Conning tower: 1.5 inch
Aircraft carried90–100 aircraft

USS Kearsarge (CV/CVA/CVS-33) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the third US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for a Civil War-era steam sloop. Kearsarge was commissioned in March 1946. Modernized in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), she served in the Korean War, for which she earned two battle stars. In the late 1950s she was further modified to become an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). Kearsarge was the recovery ship for the last two manned Project Mercury space missions in 1962–1963. She completed her career serving in the Vietnam War, earning five battle stars.

She was decommissioned in 1970, and sold for scrap in 1974.