By Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, U.S. Navy (Ret.) - New Jersey ...

Lawrence B. Brennan NJ-Built Aircraft Carriers Page 1
Lawrence Brennan~NJ-BUILT U.S. FAST AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: Part I
NEW JERSEY-BUILT: 13 FAST AIRCRAFT CARRIERS THAT SERVED
IN THE UNITED STATES NAVY BETWEEN 1927 AND 2009.
PART I: INTRODUCTION AND USS SARATOGA (CV-3)
By: Captain Lawrence B. Brennan, JAGC, USN (Ret.) 1
The term “fast carriers” describes aircraft carriers capable of making sustained speeds in
excess of 30 knots, enabling them to operate with the battle fleet and to launch and recover
tactical aircraft. “Wind over the deck” was necessary to launch and recover aircraft; and high
speeds created higher relative wind (the sum of the actual wind in the reciprocal direction of the
heading of the ship plus the speed of the ship; by way of illustration, a natural wind of 20 knots
plus a speed of 25 knots generates a relative wind of 45 knots.). The first U.S. aircraft carrier,
USS LANGLEY (CV-1), a converted collier (ex USS JUPITER AC-3), was not capable of
operating at fleet speed and was severely limited in the number of aircraft she could handle.
LANGLEY was not considered a fast carrier.
The light carriers (CVLs) also had relatively small Carrier Air Groups (CAGs) of about
30-35 aircraft. The larger fleet carriers of the YORKTOWN and ESSEX classes had Air Groups
of more than 90 aircraft. The terms “CV” and “CVL” are Navy designations for aircraft carrier
and light aircraft carrier respectively. Other common designations include CVE - escort carrier,
CVB - heavy aircraft carrier, CVA – attack aircraft carrier and CVS anti-submarine aircraft
carrier. 2 For the past eight decades, New Jersey-built carriers have played an important role in the
United States Navy, from Coolidge through the George W. Bush (43) administration, serving in
combat during World War II, Korea, Vietnam, Desert Storm,
Desert Shield, and the ongoing Global War on Terrorism. The
first and last conventionally powered fast aircraft carriers in the
United States Navy were built in New Jersey, as were an
additional 11 carriers.
NY Shipbuilding, Camden, NJ 3
All of the ships discussed here were built at a single
shipyard, New York Shipbuilding, located in Camden, New
Jersey. Ten of the 13 initially were designed as cruisers and
converted to aircraft carriers during construction. Two more were
designed as light carriers built on cruiser hulls. The 13th was the
first ship of her class, the only carrier class-leader not designed by
Newport News Shipbuilding.
The first 10 ships served in combat during World War II; the next two were completed
too late to see wartime service but one was in combat during Korea. The first New Jersey-built
carrier served more than 18 consecutive years and was the oldest surviving US carrier of World
War II despite repeated battle damage from submarine torpedoes and aerial strikes. Only one of
the New Jersey-built carriers was sunk by the enemy during World War II. Two of these ships
had the distinction of having future presidents serve as members of the crew or air wing during
Vol. 36/No. 3
127
NJPH
Whole No. 171 August 2008
Published by the New Jersey Postal History Society
Originally published in the pages of NJPH