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 was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed "Hornet" shortly afterwards.