Summary and What You Need to Know: USS Essex (CV-9), the lead ship of the Essex-class aircraft carriers, had a storied career that significantly impacted U.S. naval history. Laid down ...

The final ship of the Essex-class, and the last wooden-deck aircraft carrier to serve with the U.S. Navy, she was laid down at the Fore River Shipyard in Quincy, Massachusetts, on July 15, 1942 ...

Along with the USS Bunker Hill (CVN-17), also damaged in a kamikaze attack, the USS Franklin was just one of two U.S. Navy Essex-class carriers never to return to action.

These carriers... What You Need to Know: The USS Oriskany, a retired Essex-class aircraft carrier, now rests off Florida’s coast as the world’s largest artificial reef. Sunk in 2006 ...