page_title: USS Kearsarge (CV-33)
hierarchical_section_title: USS Kearsarge (CV-33)
caption_attribution_description: English: The crew of the U.S. Navy aircraft carrier USS Kearsarge (CVS-33) spells out the words "Mercury 9" on the ship's flight deck while on the way to the recovery area where astronaut Gordon Cooper was expected to splash down in his "Faith 7" Mercury space capsule. The destroyers USS Fletcher (DD-445) and USS John A. Bole (DD-755) are steaming with Kearsarge.
context_page_description: USS Kearsarge 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, 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. 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.
context_section_description: 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.
caption: Kearsarge before the Faith 7 recovery, 1963
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