World War II Database

Contributor: C. Peter Chen

ww2dbaseThe aircraft later known as USS Wasp (CV-18) was originally laid down under the name of Oriskany, but the name was changed before launch after the loss of the previous USS Wasp (CV-7) which took place in Sep 1942. The new USS Wasp was commissioned into service in Nov 1943 with Captain Clifton A. F. Sprague in command and served off the east coast of the United States until early Mar 1944, when she set sail for Pearl Harbor, US Territory of Hawaii. Her air group's first combat operation was conducted against Japanese positions on Marcus and Wake Islands in May 1944, and shortly after the group would see action over the Mariana Islands in support of the invasion; in the latter action, she would participate in the Battle of the Philippine Sea. After a brief rest at Eniwetok, Marshall Islands in Jun 1944, she sailed with other carriers to attack Japanese positions in the Bonin Islands, Palau Islands, and Mariana Islands; at Mariana Islands on 21 Jul 1944, her aircraft provided aerial cover for the invasion of Guam. In Sep 1944, she supported the Palau Islands invasion by attacking Japanese targets at the Palau Islands and in the Philippine Islands. By Oct, Task Force 38, which USS Wasp was a part of, would be striking Japanese positions on Taiwan and northern Philippine Islands. In Dec, her aircraft struck targets in the Philippine Islands, in the Ryukyu Islands, and on Taiwan. By Feb 1945, her aircraft were operating over the Japanese Home Islands. The period between 17 and 23 Mar 1945 would later be known as her busiest week, as her air group shot down 14 Japanese aircraft, destroyed six aircraft on the ground, scored five 500-pound (230-kilogram) and four 1,000-pound (450-kilogram) bomb hits on naval vessels, and damaged a submarine by strafing; from a defensive stance, her anti-aircraft gunners expended more than 10,000 rounds fending off attacking Japanese aircraft during this period. After a brief time at Puget Sound Navy Yard, Bremerton, Washington, United States for repairs, she returned to waters off Japan in late Jul 1945, where she would be when the war ended. In the immediate days after WW2, she transported Italian prisoners of war from United States to Italy. She was placed into the Atlantic Reserve Fleet in 1947.

ww2dbaseIn the summer of 1948, USS Wasp was taken out of the reserve fleet for modernization. She was recommissioned on 10 Sep 1951 with jets aboard her flight deck. Between 1952 and 1972, she saw service in the Atlantic Ocean, Caribbean Sea, Gulf of Mexico, Mediterranean Sea, and the Pacific Ocean; hosted dignitaries such as President Chiang Kaishek of the Republic of China and President Ramon Magsaysay of the Republic of the Philippines; participated in the recovery of American astronauts, and visited ports as far ranging as Yokosuka in Japan, Beirut in Lebanon, and Plymouth in the United Kingdom. She was decommissioned for the second and final time in 1972, and was sold for scrapping in the following year.

Aircraft Carrier Wasp (Essex-class) (CV-18) Interactive Map

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Wasp (Essex-class) Operational Timeline

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