Essex (CVA 9) - Naval Cruise Book

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The ESSEX fulfilled Captain Duncan ' s hopes. As a unit of various task forces during World War II, she pounded Marcus Island on August 31, 1943, struck at Wake Island early in October, and surprised Rabaul on November 11. The ESSEX was one of several carriers supporting amphibious opera tions in the Mar- shall and Gilbert Islands. Later she partici- pated in strikes against Truk and Saipan before returning to the West Coast for repairs. On April 16, 1944, the ESSEX departed from San Francisco and in the following months conducted strikes against Marcus and Wake Islands, supported the occupation of the Marianas, and hit the Palau Islands. Between October 10 and November 14, she launched strikes against Nansei Shoto, Formosa, and the Philippine Islands, where she virtually annihilated the remaining shipping in Manila Bay. It was during this period that the ESSEX received the proud title of the Fightin ' est Ship in the Fleet. Unfortunately, the next operation was neither long nor successful. While operating East of Luzon Island on November 25, the ESSEX was struck by a suicide radial engine Judy at about 1300 hours. The plane caused a large gasoline explosion just forward of the Number Two elevator on the flight deck. Repair parties had the flight deck back in commission in about 30 minutes. After strikes against China, Hong Kong, and the Japanese mainland early in 1945, the ESSEX participated in the occupation of Okinawa Jima, the action beyond which all else was an anticlimax. For 79 days the ship was constantly at sea, while her group flew a total of 6,460 sorties. The ESSEX spent the month of June resting and replenishing in Leyte Gulf, before departing on July 1, 1945, to conduct strikes against the Japanese homeland lasting until the end of World War II on August 15. How- ever, it was not until September that the ship set a course for Bremerton, Washington, for a long overdue period of overhaul. She was decommissioned on January 9, 1947, having steamed 233,419 nautical miles. But late in 1949 the Cold War grew warm. The ESSEX was redesigned, remodel- led, rebuilt, and recommissioned on January 15, 1951. During her first Korean cruise, the ship launched some 6,600 combat sorties and be- came the first carrier to launch the F2H Banshee twin-jet fighter on combat strikes. She returned to the States, to depart again from San Diego on June 16, 1952, for her second Korean cruise. For eight and one half months she steamed some 72,000 miles before returning to the U. S. on February 6, 1953, for alterations and repairs at Bremerton. On December 1, 1953, the ESSEX sailed again from San Diego for her third Far Eastern cruise. Captain Frank Turner relieved Captain Christian H. Duborg on February 13, 1954, while the ship was operating in the East China Sea. The ESSEX returned to San Diego on July 12, 1954. The ship ' s fourth Far Eastern cruise began on November 1, 1954. During the latter part of January and the first half of February of 1955, the ESSEX operated with Task Force 77, launching the planes of Carrier Air Group Two on missions covering the evacuation of the Tachen Islands. One year after assuming command. Captain Turner was relieved by Captain Raymond N. Sharp, who became the twelvth commanding ofiicer of the USS ESSEX. fr.fl«wMss?4r

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The present ESSEX is the first aircraft carrier of her class, the fourth man-of-war to carry a name which has been written in the annals of United States naval history from 1799 to the present time. Named for Essex county in Massachusetts, the first ESSEX was completed on September 30, 1799, at a cost of | 139,362. 141 feet in length, she could have been neatly stowed into one corner of the hangar deck. During her three cruises, she became the first U. S. man-of-war to double the Cape of Good Hope and a unit of the first squadron ever sent by the U. S. to the Mediterranean. Under the command of Captain David Porter during the War of 1812, the ESSEX reached Valparaiso, Chile, on her third cruise in March, 1813, being the first man-of-war to show our flag in the Pacific. She raised havoc in the Pacific, capturing 12 of 20 British whalers reported on the West Coast. One of the prizes taken, a small ship with 20 light guns, was renamed the ESSEX JUNIOR and utilized as an auxiliary. Late in March of 1814 both ships were finally captured by the British frigate PHOEBE and sloop CHERUB off Valparaiso, the ESSEX JUNIOR being per- mitted to convey the Americans back to New York. The second ESSEX was originally a ferry boat called the NEW ARA, built in 1856 and purchased for $20,000 on September 20, 1861. She was converted into an ironclad center wheel steamer and placed under the command of Captain David D. Porter, son of the famed skipper of the previous ESSEX. The second ESSEX saw action during the Civil War on the side of the Union. In one engagement she sighted the C. S. Ram ARKANSAS, which the Confederates hastily beached and burned without giving battle on August 6, 1862. The second ESSEX was sold at public auction in November, 1865. A wooden screw steamer, the third ESSEX was commissioned in 1876. Her career was as quiet as the times. She cruised to Africa and Asia, then was used as an apprentice training ship until placed out of commission in April, 1898. Recalled to duty during World War I, the ESSEX was used as a training ship until sold and stricken from the Navy List in 1930. The keel of the present ESSEX was laid in April, 1941, and she was launched July 31, 1942, at a cost of approximately $69,000,000, over 500 times greater than the cost of the first ESSEX. Mrs . Artemus L. Gates, wife of the then Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, sponsored the launching. Rushed to completion to bolster naval striking power in the Pacific, the ESSEX was commissioned December 31, 1942, at Norfolk Navy Yard. In a terse message to his officers and men the ship ' s skipper. Captain D. B. Duncan, said, It is my intention and expec- tation that between us we shall make the name of ESSEX carry fear and destruction to our enemies, with praise to our friends, and be an everlasting credit to our country and our flag. -. ' :;:. .:

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Commandir nil Captain Frank Turner, USN |||| Captain Frank Turner, USN, relieved Captain C. H. Duborg, USN, as Commanding Officer of the USS Essex on February 13, 1954, while ihe fhip was ojcialirg in the East China Sea. A graduate of the Naval Academy, ENS Tuirer seivcd aloaid the LSS Maryland for two years. In June of 1929 he reported to NAS, Pensacola, for flight trairirg. As a Naval Aviator, ENS Turner served with Scouting Squadron Six aboard the USS Detroit and USS Omaha. As a Lieutenant (junior grade;, he saw duty with Patrol Squadron Six at FAB, Pearl Harbor, and Fighter Squadron Five. Promoted to Lieutenant in June of 1936, he spent six months with Patrol Squadron Eleven, before returning to NAS, Pensacola, for two years as a flight instructor. From June of 1939 to June of 1942, he was attached to Scouting Squadron Seventy Two aboard the USS Wasp, eventually serving as Commanding Officer. LCDR Turner then reported as Air Operations Officer for the Gulf Sea Frontier. Ordered in Nove.nber of 1942 to the Moroccan Sea Frontier, LCDR Turner was awarded the Bronze Star for participation in assault landings during the North African campaign. In July of 1943, he was promoted to Commander and served as Operations Officer in the Flight Division, Navy Department. His present rank of Captain dates from March of 1945. As Commanding Officer of the USS Nassau, a CVE operating in the Pacific, Captain Turner was awarded another Bronze Star. He was Deputy Head of the Training Division in the Navy Department from 1946 to 1949. Captain Turner then commanded the Fleet All-Weather Training Unit, Pacific, and was Operations Officer on the staff of ComAirPac. He attended the National War College from August of 1951 to July of 1952. After serving on the Staff of Heavy Attack Wing One, NAS, Norfolk, Captain Turner reported to the USS Essex.