USS Essex ( CV - 9 ) USS " Essex " ( CV / CVA / CVS - 9 ) was an aircraft carrier , the lead ship of the 24 - ship built for the United States Navy during World War II . She was the fourth US Navy ship to bear the name . Commissioned in December 1942 , " Essex " participated in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations , earning the Presidential Unit Citation and 13 battle star s . Decommissioned shortly after the end of the war , she was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier ( CVA ) , and then eventually became an antisubmarine aircraft carrier ( CVS ) . In her second career she served mainly in the Atlantic , playing a role in the Cuban missile crisis . She also participated in the Korean War , earning four battle stars and the Navy Unit Commendation . She was the primary recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 space mission . She was decommissioned for the last time in 1969 and sold for scrap in 1975 . Construction and Commissioning . " Essex " was laid down on 28 April 1941 by Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Co . After the Pearl Harbor attack her building contract ( along with the same for CV - 10 and CV - 12 ) was reworked and her construction was accelerated she and launched on 31 July 1942 , sponsored by Mrs . Artemus L . Gates , the wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air . She was commissioned on 31 December 1942 with Captain Donald B . Duncan commanding . Service history . World War II . Following her builders trials and shakedown cruise ( both also accelerated ) , " Essex " steamed to the Pacific in May 1943 to begin a succession of victories which would bring her to Tokyo Bay . Departing from Pearl Harbor , she participated with Task Force 16 ( TF 16 ) in carrier operations against Marcus Island ( 31 August 1943 ) ; was designated the flagship of TF 14 and struck Wake Island ( 5 – 6 October ) ; participated in carrier operations during the Rabaul strike ( 11 November 1943 ) , along with and ; launched an attack with Task Group 50 . 3 ( TG 50 . 3 ) against the Gilbert Islands where she also took part in her first amphibious assault , the landing on Tarawa Atoll ( 18 – 23 November ) . Refueling at sea , she cruised as flagship of TG 50 . 3 to attack Kwajalein ( 4 December ) . Her second amphibious assault delivered in company with TG 58 . 2 was against the Marshall Islands ( 29 January – 2 February 1944 ) . " Essex " — in TG 58 . 2 – now joined with TG 58 . 1 and TG 58 . 3 to constitute Task Force 58 ( the " Fast Carrier Task Force " ) , to launch an attack against Truk ( 17 – 18 February ) during which eight Japanese ships were sunk . En route to the Mariana Islands to sever Japanese supply line s , the carrier force was detected and received a prolonged aerial attack which it repelled in a businesslike manner and then continued with the scheduled attack upon Saipan , Tinian and Guam ( 23 February ) . After this operation , " Essex " proceeded to San Francisco for her single wartime overhaul . Following her overhaul , " Essex " became the carrier for Air Group 15 , the " Fabled Fifteen , " commanded by the U . S . Navy ' s top ace of the war , David McCampbell . She then joined carriers and in TG 12 . 1 to strike Marcus Island ( 19 – 20 May ) and Wake ( 23 May ) . She deployed with TF 58 to support the occupation of the Marianas ( 12 June – 10 August ) ; sortied with TG 38 . 3 to lead an attack against the Palau Islands ( 6 – 8 September ) , and Mindanao ( 9 – 10 September ) with enemy shipping as the main target , and remained in the area to support landings on Peleliu . On 2 October , she weathered a typhoon and four days later departed with Task Force 38 ( TF 38 ) for the Ryukyus . ( TF 38 was actually the same formation as TF 58 , the nomenclature being changed to reflect the rotation of command staffs employed by the Navy for efficiency in executing multiple operations ; this rotation allowed constant front - line deployment of the ships and their crews while providing operational planning time at better - equipped , rear - area base facilities for the command structure not currently afloat ) . For the remainder of 1944 , she continued her frontline action , participating in strikes against Okinawa ( 10 October ) , and Formosa ( 12 – 14 October ) , covering the Leyte landings , taking part in the Battle for Leyte Gulf ( 24 – 25 October ) , and continuing the search for enemy fleet units until 30 October , when she returned to Ulithi , Caroline Islands , for replenishment . She resumed the offensive and delivered attacks on Manila and the northern Philippine Islands during November . On 25 November , for the first time in her far - ranging operations and destruction to the enemy , " Essex " received damage . A " kamikaze " hit the port edge of her flight deck landing among planes gassed for takeoff , causing extensive damage , killing 15 , and wounding 44 . Following quick repairs , she operated with the task force off Leyte supporting the occupation of Mindoro ( 14 – 16 December ) . She rode out the typhoon of 18 December and made special search for survivors afterwards . With TG 38 . 3 , she participated in the Lingayen Gulf operations , launched strikes against Formosa , Sakishima , Okinawa , and Luzon . Entering the South China Sea in search of enemy surface forces , the task force pounded shipping and conducted strikes on Formosa , the China coast , Hainan , and Hong Kong . " Essex " withstood the onslaught of the third typhoon in four months ( 20 – 21 January 1945 ) before striking again at Formosa , Miyako - jima and Okinawa ( 26 – 27 January ) . For the remainder of the war , she operated with TF 58 , conducting attacks against the Tokyo area ( 16 – 17 , and 25 February ) both to neutralize the enemy ' s air power before the landings on Iwo Jima and to cripple the aircraft manufacturing industry . She sent support missions against Iwo Jima and neighboring islands , but from 23 March – 28 May was employed primarily to support the conquest of Okinawa . In the closing days of the war , " Essex " took part in the final telling raids against the Japanese home islands ( 10 July – 15 August ) . Following the surrender , she continued defensive combat air patrol s until 3 September , when she was ordered to Bremerton , Washington for inactivation . On 9 January 1947 , she was placed out of commission in reserve . Modernization endowed " Essex " with a new flight deck , and a streamlined island superstructure on 16 January 1951 , when she was recommissioned , with Captain A . W . Wheelock commanding . Korean War . After a brief cruise in Hawaiian waters , she began the first of three tours in Far Eastern waters during the Korean War . She served as flagship for Carrier Division 1 ( CarDiv 1 ) and Task Force 77 . She was the first carrier to launch F2H Banshee s on combat missions ; on 16 September 1951 , one of these planes , damaged in combat , crashed into aircraft parked on the forward flight deck causing an explosion and fire which killed seven . After repairs at Yokosuka , she returned to frontline action on 3 October to launch strikes up to the Yalu River and provide close air support for U . N . troops . Her two deployments in the Korean War were from August 1951 – March 1952 and July 1952 – January 1953 . On 1 December 1953 , she started her final tour of the war , sailing in the East China Sea with what official U . S . Navy records describe as the " Peace Patrol " . From November 1954 – June 1955 , she engaged in training exercises , operated for three months with the United States Seventh Fleet , assisted in the Tachen Islands evacuation , and engaged in air operations and fleet maneuvers off Okinawa . Pacific Fleet . In July 1955 , " Essex " entered Puget Sound Naval Shipyard for repairs and extensive alterations . The SCB - 125 modernization program included installation of an angled flight deck and an enclosed hurricane bow , as well as relocation of the aft elevator to the starboard deck edge . Modernization completed , she rejoined the Pacific Fleet in March 1956 . For the next 14 months , the carrier operated off the West Coast , except for a six - month cruise with the 7th Fleet in the Far East . Ordered to join the Atlantic Fleet for the first time in her long career , she sailed from San Diego on 21 June 1957 , rounded Cape Horn , and arrived in Mayport , Florida on 1 August . Atlantic and Mediterranean . In the fall of 1957 , " Essex " participated as an anti - submarine carrier in the NATO exercise Strikeback and in February 1958 , deployed with the 6th Fleet until May , when she shifted to the eastern Mediterranean . Alerted to the Middle East crisis on 14 July 1958 , she sped to support the U . S . Peace Force landing in Beirut , Lebanon , launching reconnaissance and patrol missions until 20 August . Once again , she was ordered to proceed to Asian waters , and transited the Suez Canal to arrive in the Taiwan operational area , where she joined TF 77 in conducting flight operations before rounding the Horn and proceeding back to Mayport . " Essex " joined with the 2nd Fleet and British ships in Atlantic exercises and with NATO forces in the eastern Mediterranean during the fall of 1959 . In December she aided victims of a disastrous flood at Frejus , France . In the spring of 1960 , she was converted into an ASW Support Carrier and was thereafter homeported at Quonset Point , Rhode Island . Since that time she operated as the flagship of CarDiv 18 and Antisubmarine Carrier Group Three . She conducted rescue and salvage operations off the New Jersey coast for a downed blimp ; cruised with midshipmen , and was deployed on NATO and CENTO exercises that took her through the Suez Canal into the Indian Ocean . Ports of call included Karachi and the British Crown Colony of Aden . In November she joined the French navy in Operation " Jet Stream " . Bay of Pigs and Cuban Missile Crisis . In April 1961 , " Essex " steamed out of Naval Station Mayport , Florida on a two - week " routine training " cruise , purportedly to support the carrier qualification of a squadron of Navy pilots . Twelve A4D - 2 Skyhawk s had been loaded aboard , the aircraft , pilots and support crews all from attack squadron VA - 34 , the " Blue Blasters " . The A4D - 2Ns were armed with 20 mm cannon , and after several days at sea all their identifying markings were crudely obscured with flat gray paint . They began flying mysterious missions day and night with at least one returning bearing battle damage . Not generally known to " Essex " crew was that they had been tasked to provide air support to CIA - sponsored bombers during the ill - fated Bay of Pigs Invasion . The naval aviation part of the mission was aborted by President Kennedy at the last moment and the " Essex " crew sworn to secrecy . Later in 1961 , " Essex " completed a " People to People " cruise to Northern Europe with ports of call in Rotterdam , Hamburg , and Greenock , Scotland . During the Hamburg visit over one million visitors toured " Essex " . During her departure , " Essex " almost ran aground in the shallow Elbe River . On her return voyage to CONUS , she ran into a severe North Atlantic storm ( January 1962 ) and suffered major structural damage . In early 1962 , she went into drydock in the Brooklyn Navy Yard for a major overhaul . " Essex " had just finished her six - month long overhaul and was at Guantanamo Bay Naval Base for sea trials when President John F . Kennedy placed a naval " quarantine " on Cuba in October 1962 , in response to the discovered presence of Soviet missiles in that country ( see Cuban Missile Crisis ) . ( The word quarantine was used rather than blockade for reasons of international law — Kennedy reasoned that a blockade would be an act of war , and war had not been declared between the U . S . and Cuba . ) " Essex " spent over a month in the Caribbean as one of the US Navy ships enforcing this " quarantine " , returning home just before Thanksgiving . " Nautilus " incident . While conducting replenishment exercises with NATO forces in November 1966 , " Essex " collided with the submerged submarine USS " Nautilus " ( SSN - 571 ) . The " Nautilus " sustained extensive sail damage , returning to port unassisted . Aboard " Essex " , the hull was opened and the ship ' s speed indicator equipment was destroyed , but the carrier was still able to make port unassisted . " Essex " subsequently reported to the Boston Naval Shipyard for extensive overhaul and hull repairs . Apollo missions . " Essex " was scheduled to be the prime recovery carrier for the ill fated Apollo 1 space mission . It was to pick up " Apollo 1 " astronauts north of Puerto Rico on 7 March 1967 after a 14 - day spaceflight . However , the mission did not take place because on 27 January 1967 , the " Apollo 1 " s crew was killed by a flash fire in their spacecraft on LC - 34 at the Cape Canaveral Air Force Station , Florida . " Essex " was the prime recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 mission . She recovered the " Apollo 7 " s crew on 22 October 1968 after a splashdown north of Puerto Rico . " Essex " was the main vessel on which future Apollo 11 astronaut Neil Armstrong served during the Korean War . Decommissioning and Disposal . " Essex " was decommissioned on 30 June 1969 and was moored at the Boston Navy Yard . She was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 June 1973 , and sold by the Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service ( DRMS ) for scrapping on 1 June 1975 .