Spacecraft Recovery
7 June 1965: Gemini 4
16 December 1965: Gemini 6
18 December 1965: Gemini 7
6 June 1966: Gemini 9
15 November 1966: Gemini 12
General Characteristics:
Awarded: 1940
Keel laid: March 18, 1942
Launched: August 17, 1943
Commissioned: November 24, 1943
Decommissioned: July 1, 1972
Builder: Bethlehem Steel Co., Quincy, Mass.
Propulsion system: 8 boilers
Propellers: four
Aircraft elevators: three
Arresting gear cables: four
Catapults: two
Length: 876 feet (267 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. 40,600 tons full load
Speed: 33 knots
Planes: 80-100 planes
Crew: approx. 3448 as CVS: 115 officers and 1500 enlisted
Armament:
1945: 12 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns, 68 40mm guns, 29 20mm guns and 6 machine guns
1952: 8 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns and 28 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns
1956: 8 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns and 14 3-inch (7.6 cm) 50 caliber guns
1961: 7 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns
1964: 4 5-inch (12.7 cm) 38 caliber guns
The USS Wasp (ex CV-18 and CVA-18) was originally to be named Oriskany, but was changed to honor the USS Wasp (CV-7) lost 15 September 1942 in the southwestern Pacific while support forces on Guadalcanal.
More information on the USS Wasp from the United States Navy.
The ship was sold on 21 May 1973 to the Union Minerals and Alloys Corp., of New York City, and subsequently scrapped.
