Description

USS Kearsarge CVA-33 Aircraft Carrier Model

Fly off of the USS Kearsarge CVA-33 Aircraft Carrier Model in this handcrafted wooden model. Each model is carved from wood and handcrafted to provide a piece you’ll love.

• Length – 24 inches
• Made from Mahogany
• US Veteran Owned Business
• The product is not intended to be used by children 12 years and younger.

USS Kearsarge (CV/CVA/CVS-33) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the third US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for a Civil War-era steam sloop. Kearsarge was commissioned in March 1946. Modernized in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), she served in the Korean War, for which she earned two battle stars. In the late 1950s she was further modified to become an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). Kearsarge was the recovery ship for the last two manned Project Mercury space missions in 1962–1963. She completed her career serving in the Vietnam War, earning five battle stars.

She was decommissioned in 1970, and sold for scrap in 1974.

Construction and commissioning
Kearsarge was one of the “long-hull” Essex-class ships. She was laid down on 1 March 1944 at the New York Navy Yard, and was launched on 5 May 1945, sponsored by Mrs. Gwyneth Fitch (née Conger), wife of Admiral Aubrey W. Fitch, Deputy Chief of Naval Operations (Air). Kearsarge commissioned on 2 March 1946, with Captain Francis J. McKenna in command.

KEARSARGE Original Hull Number (CV-12 Renamed to HORNET): The Chief of Naval Operations had ordered three Essex-class carriers on 10 May 1940 in anticipation of Congress passing the Two-Ocean Navy Act, although the ship that later became Hornet originally had the name Kearsarge with the hull number of CV-12. The contract to build her was awarded to Newport News Shipbuilding on 9 September 1940, and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942. The seventh Hornet (CV-8) was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed Hornet shortly afterwards.