Essex Class Carriers: Shipcraft 12

Essex class - IFC

3/2/09

14:57

Page 1

SHIPCRAFT 12

ESSE X class Aircr af t Carriers of the Second World War Steve Backer Plans by Alan Raven; colour profiles by Steve Wiper; photographic consultant A D Baker III

CONTENTS Design

Operations in World War II Model Products

Modelmakers’ Showcase Schemes

Differences and appearance changes Plans

Selected References

Copyright Š Seaforth Publishing 2009

1

8

17

32

47

49

60

64

Above: The name ship for the largest class of fleet carriers ever built, USS Essex, 31 December 1942.

(All photographs by courtesy of A D Baker III)

First published in Great Britain in 2009 by Seaforth Publishing, an imprint of Pen and Sword Books Ltd, 47 Church Street, Barnsley, South Yorkshire. S70 2AS www.pen-and-sword.co.uk And in the United States of America by Classic Warships Publishing, PO Box 57591, Tucson, Arizona 85732 www.classicwarships.com British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A CIP data record for this title is available from the British Library ISBN: 978-1-84832-018-5 All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or any information storage and retrieval system, without either prior permission in writing from the publisher or a licence permitting restricted copying.

Typeset and designed by Stephen Dent Printed and bound in China through Printworks International Ltd

Essex class - section 1

3/2/09

16:22

Page 1

1

‘T

he larger the carrier, the more vulnerable she is to gunfire, torpedoes, or bombs, and it is certain that with improved designs smaller carriers can be built which will carry and operate as many aircraft as the huge vessels which exist to-day. In all Navies, existing carriers are a compromise; hardly a single one was specifically designed as carrier from its inception, and it seems probable that the big carrier is doomed, and that the carrier of the future will be a vessel certainly not exceeding 20,000 tons.’

The Navy in My Time,

by Admiral Mark Kerr RN (London 1933).

Admiral Kerr was a visionary in many ways.

He was an early proponent of submarines and aircraft carriers, and was to be proved right about the former by the World War One German U-Boat campaign, and about the latter in the second world conflict. But he was wrong about the size of carriers: a decade after he wrote, 1943 would see the introduction of the most powerful aircraft carrier design of World War Two. Large in terms of size and in numbers produced, the Essex class carriers swept the Pacific of the Imperial Japanese Navy. In the course of the greatest naval war in history, this class probably made the most significant contribution of any weapon system to the victory of the USN over the IJN, even including the hugely successful US submarine campaign.

The backbone of the US offensive, the Essex class carried the allies to the shores of Japan. With 26 ships laid down and 24 completed, no other fleet carrier design has been built in such large numbers.

The development of the aircraft carrier for the United States Navy was largely guided by the terms of the 1921 Washington Treaty. The Royal Navy, which

Design had truly pioneered the concept, had already constructed or was constructing a number of smaller carriers. The position of the USN and IJN was different, however, as neither power had invested any significant tonnage in aircraft carriers at the time of the signing of the Treaty. The IJN had the Hosho and the USN had the Langley (CV-1), which were both used basically for experiments and developing doctrine, rather than as operational carriers, although Langley briefly saw service as a fleet carrier in the early 1930s. Both Pacific powers likewise wished to save capital ship hulls from scrapping, so each was granted two carriers over the established displacement in the Treaty, Lexington (CV-2) and Saratoga (CV3) for the USN, and Kaga and Akagi for the IJN. The small ‘training’ carriers and the oversized conversions of capital ships formed the training and operational base of the fleets of both powers throughout the 1920s and early 1930s.

Both the United States Navy and the Imperial Japanese Navy believed in maximising the offensive qualities of the aircraft carrier, even if it meant sacrificing defensive characteristics. For the USN the Ranger (CV-4) was its first attempt to build a carrier from the keel up. To obtain as many ships as possible from the allowable tonnage of the Washington and London Treaties, the USN pared the ship’s displacement to a bare minimum. It was determined that five carriers of this size could be provided from the tonnage left. In this design, speed was sacrificed and protection was minimal in order to magnify the dominating characteristic of Ranger: the largest possible air wing. This became the characteristic that USN aircraft carriers have emphasised to the present day.

Nonetheless, the Ranger was a failure, as

A starboard quarter view of the newly completed Essex (CV-9), 31 December 1942. In terms of electronics and AA armament, by later standards the ship looks austere, although the deckedge galleries with their arrays of canvascovered 20mm Oerlikons pointing skyward catch the eye.

Essex class - section 1

2

3/2/09

16:22

Page 2

ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

Yorktown (CV-10), 27 April 1943. A very clear view of the main features of the port side of early members of the class as completed. The deck-edge elevator is in the folded position, and the extension support for the athwartship catapult can be seen (also folded) just abaft the forward 40mm quad mount. Note how restricted the firing arcs were for the bow 40mm in short-hull ships.

Intrepid (CV-11), on 25 November 1943.

Although it is only a few months after commissioning, the ship has already undergone changes to her electronics: the SK aerial has been moved to the starboard side of the stack and replaced

by SM on the foretop, in turn displacing the SC-2, which is now mounted atop a separate pole mast.

Note that this ship was completed with only four lattice masts to support the radio aerials.

too much was attempted on too small a displacement. The next USN design was different. The Yorktown class of 20,000 tons was a beautiful blend of speed with some protection, coupled with a large air wing.

However, even with their near-perfect blend of characteristics, the Yorktown design still did not have all of the characteristics that the USN wanted in a carrier. Overall tonnage constraints continued to apply, so after the Yorktown (CV-5) and Enterprise (CV-6) there was only enough treaty tonnage left over for one much smaller carrier, which almost seemed to mix Ranger and Yorktown characteristics. This became Wasp (CV-7).

Following Japanese refusal to enter into the 1935 London Treaty, agreements on naval limitations collapsed, and Congress approved the construction of a further 40,000 tons for aircraft carriers. The first carrier was a slightly modified Yorktown design, which became Hornet (CV-8), but for CV-9 it was decided to rework the

previous design to see if more could be squeezed out of it. However, even though there were no longer tonnage constraints, the development of the new design was severely limited by time pressure. With the Japanese invasion of Manchuria and then China and militant Germany stirring in Europe, war clouds were gathering and the USN needed to expand its capabilities quickly. Events overtook the design process. After war broke out in Europe in September 1939 and the situation in the Pacific deteriorated, Congress finally woke up and greatly expanded naval construction in 1940. CV-9 was a beneficiary of the loosened purse strings.

For reasons of speed, the existing 20,000-ton Yorktown design was used as a baseline, but substantially modified, work beginning in 1939. She was given a larger hull and flight deck to operate even more aircraft. A deck side elevator was added to the two centreline elevators to increase the operational tempo of flight operations. This

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

2/2/09

15:26

Page 17

17

M

Model Products

any of the most popular warships from World War Two started appearing as plastic kits in the 1950s, in an assortment of scales. Aurora and Airfix used 1:600, Renwal and Frog 1:500, Heller 1:400, while Revell and early Japanese kits were produced in all sorts of scales designed to fit in a standard box size.

Although Revell and Renwal jumped in to produce modernised, angled deck Essex class carriers, only Lindberg produced one

in a World War Two fit. By the late 1960s and early 1970s multiple kits appeared in 1:720 scale by Revell and then the standard waterline 1:700 scale by Hasegawa.

Hasegawa ruled the Essex roost for a third of a century. This dominance ended a few years ago when new Essex kits were produced in 1:700 scale by the Chinese firms of Dragon and Trumpeter. Additionally Trumpeter has produced Essex class kits in the far larger 1:350 scale where there is no competition for them.

Collectors’ or Wargamers’ Scales 1:1200, 1:1250 and 1:2400

T

he modeller has a number of choices in this scale range. Neptun produces the best detailed but also the costliest of the Essex class models. More economical but less detailed are 1:1200 scale models of a short-hull and long-hull Essex class produced by Superior and available from Alnavco Models. Around 1960 plastic Essex models in 1:1200 scale appeared under the Eaglewall label in the UK and Pyro label in the US. Superior and GHQ produce Essex class carriers in 1:2400 scale.

NEPTUN/NAVIS TICONDEROGA

Neptun produces four models of Essex class carriers. This is their basic but beautifully detailed version of the Ticonderoga painted in a non-specific grey.

Note the accurate shorter flight deck and forward port notch as in 1944; unfortunately, it has the Bofors fit added in an April 1945 refit, at which time the deck was lengthened and the notch replaced. Two other basic version carriers from Neptun are an Essex as completed and Franklin. A more spectacular Neptun Essex features a dazzle painted camouflage scheme with blue stained deck.

■ Sample: Courtesy of Navis/Neptun www.navis-neptun.de

1:1250 Scale

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

2/2/09

15:26

Page 18

18 ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

1:700 to 1:720 Scale T

he first model in this most popular of scale ranges was the release by Revell of the USS Franklin in 1967. Around 1970 Japanese companies agreed to issue warship kits in waterline format in a constant 1:700 scale. They divided the subjects among themselves and Hasegawa had the Essex class concession. The competition between the Revell offering and the Hasegawa products was barely discernable, as the Japanese products were clearly superior. Recently, however, both have been totally eclipsed by new issues not by one but by two Chinese model companies, Dragon Models Limited of Hong Kong, and Trumpeter Models.

One oddity is that the much older Hasegawa kits are the closest to exact 1:700 scale. The Dragon kits are slightly larger than 1:700 scale and the Trumpeter kits are slightly smaller.

REVELL FRANKLIN

The first model of an Essex class aircraft carrier in the most popular scale range, this 1:720 Franklin was released in 1967 and is still available from time to time masquerading as various

1:720 Scale

members of the short-hull division of the class. Interestingly, the model can be built waterline or full hull. The Revell Franklin portrays the ship in her appearance on 19 March 1945 when she suffered catastrophic damage from two bomb strikes. The bow is all wrong, with the squared-off forecastle of a long-hull Essex (Franklin was a short-hull ship), and the profile of the cutwater appears to be a hybrid between short and long-hull shapes. A grossly oversized stack cap does not enhance the superstructure, and hull detail is almost nonexistent. Other major inaccuracies include huge anchors, gigantically wide vertical ladders on the hull sides and a total lack of portholes. Flight deck planking detail is rudimentary with widely spaced raised lines running across the deck. Smaller fittings are poor, with cartoons for the 40mm Bofors mounts, oversized Oerlikons, bizarre twin 5in mounts and a host of other sins. For most modellers, this would be no more than a cheap starter kit for junior. ■Sample: Author’s Collection

HASEGAWA ESSEX

The Hasegawa 1:700 scale Essex is significantly better than the Revell Franklin but has its own warts. The model in the box may be suitable for many latewar short-hull members of the class, but not the Essex. The kit has two flight deck catapults as carried after the April 1944 refit, but of equal length, which is incorrect, as the port catapult was longer. It has the stern sponson for two quadruple Bofors mounts and the three starboard hull side sponsons underneath the island, but Essex was the only member of the class that had

1:700 Scale

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

3/2/09

14:47

Page 36

36 ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

W

TRUMPETER INTREPID 1:350 scale ally Bigelow, a well-known figure in the US naval modelling world, ran a hobby store and was a regular contributor to a number of warship modelling internet sites. In August 2007 his build of a Trumpeter 1:350 scale short-hull Essex won the prize for the 2007 US IPMS National Convention in Orange County, California. This was a very rare and singular achievement, as the national

By WALLY BIGELOW

convention, as is true with regional events, is dominated by aircraft and armour. After the convention Wally came down with a fatal disease and was in hospital when this volume was first started. Tragically, Wally passed on in spring 2008 so his build of Intrepid stands as a memorial to this fine gentleman’s skill as a modeller. Special thanks are due to Scott Rowland, who took the photographs.

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

3/2/09

14:48

Page 37

MODELMAKERS’ SHOWCASE 37

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

3/2/09

14:48

Page 47

COLOUR SCHEMES 47

USS Essex (CV-9) April – November 1944 Measure 32 – Design 6-10D Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Light Gray (5-L) Dull Black (BK)

USS Intrepid (CV-11) June – December 1944 Measure 32 – Design 3A Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Light Gray (5-L) Ocean Gray (5-O) Dull Black (BK)

USS Ticonderoga (CV-14) May 1944 – February 1945 Measure 33 – Design 10A Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Light Gray (5-L) Ocean Gray (5-O) Navy Blue (5-N)

Essex class - sections 2 & 3

3/2/09

14:48

Page 48

48 ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

USS Bunker Hill (CV-17) January 1944 – January 1945 Measure 32 – Design 6A Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Light Gray (5-L) Ocean Gray (5-O) Dull Black (BK)

USS Bennington (CV-20) August – December 1944 Measure 32 – Design 17A- 1 Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Pale Gray (5-P)

Ocean Gray (5-O)

Light Gray (5-L)

Navy Blue (5-N)

Haze Gray (5-H)

Dull Black (BK)

USS Antietam (CV-36) January – May 1945 Measure 32 – Design 17A- 2 Steel decks and all horizontal surfaces: Deck Blue (20-B) Flight decks: Flight Deck Stain 21

Haze Gray (5-H) Ocean Gray (5-O) Navy Blue (5-N)

Essex class - section 4

3/2/09

18:06

Page 49

49

W

Differences and Appearance Changes

ith such a long run of aircraft carriers of the same design, it is natural that there were many differences among members of the class. Most of the modifications to the Essexes stemmed from a need for increased anti-aircraft defence. There were also changes made to improve aircraft operation, as well as peculiarities of various yards in which the ships were built.

SHORT HULL AND LONG HULL

The most noticeable distinction among the ships of the Essex class was the shape of the cutwater and overall length, altered to improve anti-aircraft capabilities. The quadruple 40mm Bofors gun was an excellent weapon and as the war progressed more mounts were desired. A large, wide sponson was added to the stern that could accommodate two quadruple mounts, but to similarly double the number at the bow required a more radical redesign of the forecastle. The cutwater was swept further forward and flaired outwards to carry a wide two-quad sponson. The new bow shape and the addition of the stern sponson added 16 feet 5 inches to the design, resulting in a subdivision of the class into two variants, the original short-hull design and the revised long-hull version. With the single exception of Essex, all the short-hull ships received the two-mount stern sponson during wartime refits, but of course the bow shape remained unchanged.

DECK DESIGN AND CATAPULTS

As part of the plan to increase the effectiveness of AA defence for the long-hull ships, it was proposed to shorten the deck by eleven feet at the bow and seven feet at the stern in order to improve the fields of fire of the bow and stern guns. Additionally, it was proposed to use a forward port sponson in lieu of the existing hangar deck catapult outrigger as a position for an additional Mk 37 AA director. This would require cutting a notch in the deck to allow better coverage for the radar, reducing the width of the flight

deck at that point by six feet. Aviation personnel were adamantly opposed to both the shortened deck and the reduced width.

In the end they had their way, as most of the long-hull members of the Essex class were not given shorter decks, and none received a port side Mk 37 director. However, the first long-hull ships, Ticonderoga and Hancock, had the shorter deck and notch for the port side director at first. By 1945 Ticonderoga had the notch filled in and longer deck installed but Hancock may have finished the war with the shorter deck; the notch was subsequently removed on Hancock as well.

Randolph may have had the shorter deck with no notch upon completion, but the long deck had been restored by the time she reached the Pacific.

The location of the catapults also varied among members of the class. The original design called for one deck catapult on the starboard side and a hangar deck catapult forward, which in theory allowed aircraft to

An Avenger being catapulted from the hanger of an Essex class ship in 1943.

Originally intended to give the carrier the ability to launch aircraft with a badly damaged flight deck, the catapult ran across the breadth of the ship, but could only launch aircraft to port. It was only fitted to Yorktown, Bunker Hill, Intrepid, Wasp, Hornet and Franklin.

It was found to be of little value in action, and was eventually removed.

â– CATAPULTS OF THE ESSEX CLASS Designed For

Location

Length

Capacity/Speed

H Mk II

Yorktown class

Starboard, Essex only

55ft

7,000lb/70mph

H Mk IVA

Essex class

Hangar on 6 ships

73ft

16,000lb/85mph

H Mk IVB

Essex class

Starboard

97ft

18,000lb/90mph

H Mk IV-1

Midway class

Port

150ft

28,000lb/90mph

Essex class - section 4

3/2/09

18:06

Page 50

50 ESSEX CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS

The long-hull Ticonderoga as completed, 30 May 1944. Note the large cutout in the portside flight deck just abaft the forward 5in sponson, originally intended to accommodate a third Mk 37 gun director that was never installed; the deck edge was later filled in. As completed, the flight deck was also shortened forward, giving the two quad 40mm mounts on the bow sponson wide arcs of fire, but in 1945 the ship reverted to the class norm in this respect also. Note the position of the 40mm directors, abaft and to starboard of the gun mounts. The ship had had two flight deck catapults from the outset.

be launched out of the opening in the port side of the ship. However, in the case of Essex, no flight deck catapults were fitted initially, but she received a temporary fix at Pearl Harbor at the beginning of 1943, when a spare H II catapult designed for the Yorktown class was installed on the starboard side of the flight deck. The ships which were initially equipped with the H IVA hangar catapult were Yorktown, Bunker Hill, Intrepid, Wasp, Hornet and Franklin, these six ships having large catapult extension outriggers that stowed vertically on either side of the flight deck but lowered horizontally outboard for operations. The hangar catapults were subsequently removed, allowing the port side catapult support sponson to be enlarged and used for 40mm gun positions. A small bracket for the outrigger attachment was found on the starboard side. The H IV B catapult was on the starboard side of the flight deck for all members of the class, except Essex until April 1944. An additional port side flight deck catapult was added to all of the early units through Hornet during refits during the war. This was the H IV-1 type designed for the Midway class and was much longer

than the H IVB on the starboard side.

Starting with Hancock, the ships were completed with both flight deck catapults.

ANTI-AIRCRAFT GUNS

It was in the area of the anti-aircraft gun fit that the Essex class saw the greatest number of changes. As designed, the carriers were to carry the standard types of AA guns then existing in the USN. For heavy AA there was the new 5in/38, whose longer barrel increased the range over the earlier 5in/25. Eight were mounted in four twin turrets with two turrets fore and aft of the island. Four additional single guns were placed in galleries on the port side to counter low flying attackers coming in from the port side. The 5in armament was not altered as the war progressed.

For the lighter AA ordnance the Essex design called for quadruple 1.1in (28mm) medium AA cannons and .50 calibre machine gun light AA. In 1939 the 1.1in gun was the best AA gun that the USN possessed but it was a rather poor weapon.

Heavy and prone to jamming, it was nicknamed the Chicago Piano. The Essex was initially designed to carry sixteen 1.1in guns in four quadruple mounts, one fore and aft of the island and one in each port 5in gallery. An early design change added two more quadruple 1.1in mounts on the island. Fortunately for the USN, when the first Essex class carriers were under construction, the United States acquired production rights for the excellent Swedish Bofors 40mm cannon. Undoubtedly the most effective medium AA gun of World War Two, the long-barrelled Bofors was primarily produced in two- and four-gun mounts.

When production first started, supplies of the new gun were limited and as late as 1945 some of the smaller ships still had the old 1.1in. However, the Essex class never carried any 1.1in, since before completion the planned quad mounts were replaced, one for one, by quad 40mm Bofors, with additional mounts at bow and stern.

Only Essex and Yorktown were commissioned with eight 40mm quadruple mounts, as the combat experience of 1942 clearly indicated that enhanced anti-aircraft defence was essential (see table for the mounting positions). This began a process of steadily increasing the number of Bofors quadruple mounts carried. The long-hull reworked cutwater increased the bow armament to two mounts, but short-hull Essex ships retained their single forecastle mount throughout the war. A large stern sponson for two mounts was also added. Except for Essex, the short-hull ships did receive this modification when time allowed during refits, and some were completed with the stern sponson. Additional space for further 40mm quadruple mounts came in the form of an increasing number of side sponsons to port and starboard.

One of the first of these in early short