HISTORIE

Yorktown class

The Navy applied the experience from building

and deploying the previous vessels into building

the next Yorktown class. The war games

analysis clearly showed the necessity of fast

aircraft carriers equipped with the large aircraft

group on board. In addition, good anti-torpedo

protection of the hull was required. Therefore,

USS Yorktown (CV-5), USS Enterprise (CV-6) and

USS Hornet (CV-7) were all built based on these

principles. The construction of the first two

was launched in 1934, right after completion of

Ranger. In addition, the USA managed to put USS

Wasp (CV-7) on the building schedule between

Enterprise and Hornet. After Langley was

rebuilt to the seaplanes’ carrier, the tonnage

limit opened and based on the treaties in place

at that time the USA could use it for building the

aircraft carriers. It was not enough for the fullfledged Yorktown class and the result was kind

of her down-scaled version. The weight was

saved at the cost of the anti-torpedo protection

which later proved costly for USS Wasp. Hornet’s

construction begun in September 25, 1939, after

WWII broke out in Europe. She was launched

on December 14, 1940, and entered service on

October 20, 1941. The ship was 251 meters long,

her standard displacement was 20 000 tons

and full displacement reached 26 000 tons. The

powerplant, consisting of nine boilers and four

steam turbines possessed 120 000 HP (89 000

kW). Thus, Hornet could reach the speed of 32.5

knots. The flight deck measured 248x26 meters.

The hangar below measured 166x19 meters and

was connected to the flight deck by three lifts.

Hornet could carry 72 aircraft and the flight

personnel accounted for 851 people. The ship’s

crew was comprised of 86 officers and 1280

sailors. Initially her armament was comprised

of eight single barrel, 127 mm caliber cannons,

four twin barrel 28 mm caliber cannons and 24

12.7 mm caliber machine guns. In January 1942,

the machine guns were removed and gradually

replaced by 32 single barrel 20 mm caliber

cannons. Later a single four-barrel, 28 mm

caliber cannon was added increasing the total

number of weapons of this caliber to twenty.

Into the action in the Pacific

All the ships of these class, together with

Source: U.S. Navy National Museum of Naval Aviation

deck was to be clean, same as on Langley. To

eliminate chimneys’ smoke interfering with the

aircraft operations six smokestacks (three on

each side) were designed as collapsible. During

the construction, however, the bridge was added.

The smokestacks were already completed at

that time and their re-design would have been

too expensive, so they were left in the original

configuration. Ranger was relatively small,

222.5 meters long, her standard displacement

was less than 15 000 tons and full displacement

less than 18 000 tons. It was also slower, 29.5

knots. Lexington and Saratoga could reach

the speed of 33 knot. Therefore, Ranger was

considered unsuitable for the Pacific battlefield

and for the most part of the war operated in

the Atlantic. The German navy was considered

a weaker opponent than the Japanese navy.

Ranger took part in the operation Torch (landing

in the North Africa) and attacks on the German

targets in the Norwegian waters. She was the

only pre-war American aircraft carrier which

did not participated in the fight against Japan.

In 1946 she was struck of charge and in January

1947 sold to the scrap yards.

The USS Wasp was the first aircraft carrier with an elevator at the edge of the flight deck. The aircraft, in this case an SB2U-2 Vindicator from VS-72 in June 1940,

was lifted in a semicircle by two arms on the sides of the elevator platform.

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INFO Eduard

May 2023