USS Essex (CV/CVA/CVS-9) was an aircraft carrier and the lead ship of the 24-ship Essex class built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name. Commissioned in December 1942, Essex participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle stars. Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), eventually becoming an antisubmarine aircraft carrier (CVS). In her second career, she served mainly in the Atlantic, playing a role in the Cuban Missile Crisis. She also participated in the Korean War, earning four battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation. She was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission.

USS Essex in June 1967
History
United States
Name	Essex
Namesake	USS Essex (1799)
Ordered	3 July 1940
Builder	Newport News Shipbuilding
Laid down	28 April 1941
Launched	31 July 1942
Commissioned	31 December 1942
Decommissioned	9 January 1947
Recommissioned	15 January 1951
Decommissioned	30 June 1969
Reclassified	CVA-9, October 1952 CVS-9, March 1960
Stricken	1 June 1973
Fate	Scrapped, 1973
General characteristics
Class and type	Essex-class aircraft carrier
Displacement	27,100 long tons (27,500 t) (standard) 36,380 long tons (36,960 t) (full load)
Length	820 feet (249.9 m) (wl) 872 feet (265.8 m) (o/a) 862 feet (262.7 m) (fd)
Beam	93 ft (28.3 m) (waterline)
Draft	34 ft 2 in (10.41 m) (full load)
Installed power	8 × Babcock & Wilcox boilers 150,000 shp (110,000 kW)
Propulsion	4 × shafts; 4 × geared steam turbines
Speed	33 knots (61 km/h; 38 mph)
Range	14,100 nmi (26,100 km; 16,200 mi) at 20 knots (37 km/h; 23 mph)
Complement	2,600 officers and enlisted men
Armament	4 × twin, 4 × single 5 in (127 mm) DP guns 8 × quadruple 40 mm (1.6 in) AA guns 46 × single 20 mm (0.8 in) AA guns
Armor	Waterline belt: 2.5–4 in (64–102 mm) Deck: 1.5 in (38 mm) Hangar deck: 2.5 in (64 mm) Bulkheads: 4 in (102 mm)
Aircraft carried	90 (1943): 36 × Grumman F4F Wildcat; 36 × Douglas SBD Dauntless; 18 × Grumman TBF Avenger 103 (1945): 73 × Grumman F6F Hellcat; 15 × Curtiss SB2C Helldiver; 15 × Grumman TBF Avenger

She was decommissioned for the last time in 1969 and sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service for scrap on 1 June 1973.^[​1]