May 2023

Source: Naval History & Heritage Command

Learning on the run

Another two vessels were full-fledged aircraft

carriers even though completed through a rebuild. The Washington Treaty from 1922, about

limitations of the Naval armament, practically

excluded building of new battleships and

battle cruisers. However, redesigning of some

of the half-built ships to the aircraft carriers

was permitted. In the USA this was true about

Lexington and Saratoga which entered the

service in 1937 as CV-2 and CV-3. Initially the

Navy was not clear about their purpose either.

Besides the airplanes they carried heavy antishipping weaponry in the form of 203 mm caliber

cannons. However, the variety of exercises

performed on the regular basis taught the

Navy a lesson and they gradually worked out

the correct tactics for the aircraft carriers’

deployment. It was learnt, for example, that

these ships needed to avoid encounter with the

enemy surface vessels therefore the 203 mm

caliber cannons were deleted. On May 8, 1942,

Lexington was sunk in the Battle of Corral Sea.

We spoke about her fate in the previous articles.

Despite various damages, Saratoga survived

the war and on July 25, 1946, was sunken at

Bikini atoll during the nuclear bomb tests. The

explosion took place barely 370 meters from

the aircraft carrier and despite her size (length

270.7 meters, displacement 37 000 tons) the

whole ship was lifted off the water surface. The

wreck lies in shallow waters and is accessible

to scuba divers.

The first American vessel, designed and built

from the beginning as an aircraft carrier was USS

Ranger (CV-4). The construction begun in 1931

and the ship entered service in 1934. The design,

however, had been under way since 1925, it is

before Lexington and Saratoga were completed.

Also based on the prior experience Ranger’s

design changed several times. Initially the flight

US aircraft carriers Langley, Saratoga and Lexington (from bottom to top)

USS Ranger in the 1930s

Source: Naval History & Heritage Command

after Mach 4, 1918, it was USS Cyclops with

306 sailors and passengers on board. She

was sailing from South America to Baltimore,

Maryland. She made a stopover in Barbados,

and it was the last time she was seen. In the

end of 1941, in the same area and on the same

route, within two and half weeks two remaining

sister ships disappeared. First, some time after

November 23, 1941, USS Proteus was lost and

after December 10, 1941, the sea swallowed USS

Nereus. There are several theories about the

ships’ demise. The design fault which weakened

the hull, and it broke under the combination of

a storm and cargo overload was considered. Or

they could have become victims of the German

submarines which themselves were sunk and

could not report their success. In neither case

the Germans recorded an attack on the ship

that would resemble any of those three vessels.

Their disappearance may remain without

clarification forever.

Source: Naval History & Heritage Command

HISTORIE

The aircraft carrier USS Wasp as she enters Hampton Roads, Virginia, May 26, 1942. In the background

is the destroyer USS Edison.

INFO Eduard

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