Kearsarge (CVS 33) - Naval Cruise Book

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USS KEARSARGE BATTLESHIP A scant year after the untimely demise of the USS MOUNT KEARSARGE, on the treacherous Roncador Reef near the East Coast of Nicaraugua, the now famous name was designated by Congress for a battleship. This vessel was to be sister ship of the USS KENTUCKY. In 1898 USS KEARSARGE eased out to sea to take her place in a growing fleet. KEARSARGE had a main battery of four 1 3 inch guns, four 8 inch breech loading guns, and a field piece. She could make 16 knots and during the early 1900 ' s was con- sidered the pride of the U.S. Navy. In 1908 President Theodore Roosevelt sent KEARSARGE around the world as an integral part of the Great White Fleet. Twenty years after her commissioning as a battleship, she was converted to a crane ship and was later to distinguish herself in salvage operations in Pearl Harbor immediately after the Japanese attack on 7 December 1941. This KEARSARGE served her country well until 1955 when she was decommissioned. A long 57 year career had ended. . .

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USS KEARSARGE AIRCRAFT CARRIER By the early 1940 ' s carrier aviation had found its niche in fleet operations and the stage was set for the third and most famous KEARSARGE to take its place as a ship of the line. Commissioned in 1946 USS KEARSARGE (CV-33) patrolled the Atlantic until 1950 and the outbreak of hostilities in Korea. She immediately underwent conversion from Essex to Oriskany Class, and by early 1952 was an attack carrier, ready to perform a vital role as part of Task Force 77 operating off the coast of Korea. The years that followed the long deployment to Korea were filled with service and accom- plishment. During 1954-55 KEARSARGE took part in the evacuation of the Tachen Islands while planes of embarked Air Group ELEVEN flew covering missions. Back in the U.S. in 1956 she was modified with the angled deck and hurricane bow. Late in 1958 Mighty Kay moved from San Diego to Long Beach and launched into her new mission as an Anti- submarine Hunter-Killer Carrier. A most glamourous footnote in KEARSARGE history was the recovery of astronaut CDR W.M. Shirra and his Sigma 7 spacecraft after the six orbit space flight on 3 October 1962, and the subseciuent recovery of Major L. Gorden Cooper at the con- clusion of his 22 orbit MA-9 space flight. . .It was a proud and famous Lady, steeped in tradition and history that put to sea on 19 June 1964 to take her place in the U.S. Far Eastern arsenal.