WWII Tribute to ESSEX Airmen, 1943 - 1945
This Website's Index
Start Page The splash page and Acknowledgements.
HomePage Links to all the pages and to Webrings.
The Fighter Pilots The men that flew the Essex fighter planes.
HellDivers The SB2C Bomber Pilots and their radiomen/gunners.
Avengers The Pilots and their crews that flew the TBM/TBF Torpedo Bombers.
The Aces The Aces and their squadrons that flew from Essex.
The Aircraft Planes (images) that flew for and against Essex. With links to these pages.
SBD5 Dauntless F6f Hellcat SB2C HellDiver TBM/TBF Avenger F4U Corsair
G4M Betty B5N Kate D3A & D4Y Val A6MB Zero
First Ace Memoirs of Cmdr. Hamilton McWhorter III; About his book.
The Wake Raid excerpt from Cdr. McWhorters book.
Commander McCampbell's Medal of Honor Most decorated Navy flier of WWII - and a link to the World War Two museum.
Essex At War page 24 photos taken on or about Essex during the war in the Pacific.
The Fast Carriers A short description of the Fast carrier Task Force.
Yamato The sinking of Japan's First, and Last, Super battleship.
Battle of the Phillipine Sea From "History of US Naval Operations During WWII", RADM. Samuel Eliot Morison.
Battle of Leyte Gulf ESSEX and VB15 in the Battle of Leyte Gulf , Oct. 24 and 25, 1944.
Kamikaze About the Kamikaze, and the Kamikaze hit on Essex 11/25/44.
THE SQUADRONS
VF9 Fighting squadron VF Nine.Airgroup 15 Article by Morriss Markey, Liberty Magazine, 1945.
VT15 Squadron LogBook Pages from 14 May 1944 to 23 May 1944
VB15 Combat Stats. History of Bombing squadron 15
Airgroup 83 Airgroup 83, and the Essex Tradition.
Fighting VF83 Fighting squadron VF83
Torpedo 83 History VT 83 History and combat statistics
Stories, Photos, Memories and Memorials
WWII Killed in action The men that didn't come home.Enlisted Combat Aircrewmen Roll of Honor Honoring the enlisted men who flew the backseat.
The War Diary of Bombing 15 Gunner Jack Miller, ARM1c
A WWII Fighter Pilot A fighter pilots experiences in the Pacific.
VT9 Turret Gunner, and the Strike on Fortress Rabaul A tail gunners story.
Rescue from a South Pacific Island
Shotdown in the Pacific The story of John Montgomery and Bill Rising.
Torpedo Run Dave Miller recalls, a Torpedo run.
USS ESSEX Buccaneer Ship's news - June 25, 1944 issue.
Photo Gallery Photos taken on or about Essex during the Pacific campaign
Restored TBM Randal McFarlane's restored VT83 TBM-3E, with a note from one of the crew that flew in the aircraft in 1945.
SEA DEVIL Rescue Sea Devil's third patrol, and rescue of three Essex downed pilots.
A Letter from a British POW to Airgroup 83.
USS Essex Korean Conflict Combat Action Reports
The Reality Behind the Bridges of Toko-Ri
F2H Banshee Crashes Aboard Essex 1951
USS Essex Korean War Killed in Action
USS Essex Korean Photo Gallery
The First ESSEX 1798 The Salem Frigate.
First ESSEX 1812 - 1813 The Pacific cruise.
The Chain Locker
Links Page US Navy and Essex related links.Website Map A navigation Map of this Website
View the Ships Log View and sign the Guestbook
The Essex Library A reading list
WWII Posters Images from US Government printing office during the war years.
Ships Images on this site, other than ESSEX
CV12 USS HORNET
About the Essex Class Carriers
The mainstay of the carrier fleet during World War II was the Essex-class fleet carrier. More Essex-class carriers were built than any other fleet type. A total of 32 carriers were ordered, of which 24 were completed and commissioned.
Although designed prior to the outbreak of the war, these ships provided excellent service throughout the conflict. The basic soundness of the design is evidenced by the fact that, with modernisation, these carriers continued to serve for many years after WWII. The last serving Essex-class carrier, CV-16 USS Lexington, was not retired until 1991. From first keel to last retirement, that gives a total service life of 50 years! No other type of carrier has provided such service.
In fact, four of the Essex-class carriers continue to serve in retirement, as museum ships. These are:
CV-10 USS Yorktown at the Patriots Point Naval and Maritime Museum, Patriots Point, South Carolina;
CV-11 USS Intrepid as the Intrepid Sea /Air /Space Museum in New York Harbor, New York City;
CV-12 USS Hornet as the Aircraft Carrier Hornet Foundation Museum at Naval Air Station Alameda, Alameda, California; and
CV-16 USS Lexington as the USS Lexington Museum on the Bay at Corpus Christi, Texas.
Except for the four museum ships, none survive to the present day.
Note: The USS ESSEX Association is at the present, preparing a space aboard the USS Hornet that will be dedicated to the USS ESSEX.
Surrender of Japan, 1945
U.S. Third Fleet carrier planes fly in massed formation over the fleet's ships, as it awaited orders to move into Japanese ports, 23 August 1945. More than a thousand aircraft participated in the flyover. The ships were operating within a few hours' steaming time of the Japanese coast.Official U.S. Navy Photograph, now in the collections of the National Archives.
Thank you for visiting this website; Please return often as this site is under constant upgrading. R.S.
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This page last updated, December 11, 2005