USS Essex steams toward Rotterdam, Holland,
for the Christmas Holidays, 1961.
Spacecraft Recovery
22 October 1968: Apollo 7
General Characteristics:
Awarded: 3 July 1940
Keel laid: 28 April 1941
Launched: 31 July 1942
Commissioned: 31 December 1942
Decommissioned: 9 January 1947
Recommissioned: 15 January 1951
Decommissioned: 30 Ju 1969
Stricken: 1 June 1973
Builder: Newport News Shipbuilding, Newport News, Va.
Propulsion system: 8 boilers
Propellers: four
Aircraft elevators: three
Arresting gear cables: four
Catapults: two
Length: 890 feet (271.3 meters)
Flight Deck Width: 191.9 feet (58.5 meters)
Beam: 101 feet (30.8 meters)
Draft: 30.8 feet (9.4 meters)
Displacement: approx. 41,200 tons full load
Speed: 32 knots
Planes: 80-100 planes
Crew: approx. 2300-2900
Armament:
1943: 12 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns, 32 40mm guns and 44 20mm guns
1951: 8 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns and 28 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns
1957: 7 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns and 14 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns
1959: 7 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns
1964: 4 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns
More information on the USS Essex from the United States Navy.
Stricken 1 Jun 1973. Sold by Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service (DRMS) for scrapping 1 Jun 1975.
