CVS18 Wasp Carrier Ship....is there a such thing ??

Yeo Mangry, I was aboard the USS Intrepid (CVS11), which was the sister ship to the Wasp...both ships shared a single carrier pier at Quonset Point, RI. Both ships are Essex class, thus extremely minute differences between ships would be found only by "an extreme eye." The difference between CVA and CVS is more of which type aircraft flew from them and their mission rather than a physical change to the ship proper. My point here is that a model of Ticonderoga, Lexington, Hornet, Wasp, Intrepid, or Essex (hence the name of the class) "Essex Class" carrier would be nearly identical. Note, CVA, CV for carrier A for Attack, CVS was antisub (asw) flew Grumman S2f (stoofs). Lastly the new big Nuke jobs are CVAN with the CVS role being incorporated into current CVA vessels. Fighters that flew from Essex carriers were F8 bobcats (before my Navy days) and my fav. the Douglas A4(e) the f models were used by the blue angels. F4 Phantoms were too heavy for the arresting gear on Essex class birdfarms. We did have E2 and E3 hawkeyes flying in addition to the "Willie Fud" which was an S2 with an aerodynamic radome fixed directly centered over the fuselage. Intrepid was the first to have Steam Catapults and returned to the dry docks for retrofits for angled deck. Finally, Essex carriers had 4 gun tubs (on each corner, mounts 51-54) sporting a single 5in 38cal gun. The 20 and 40mm mounts were all removed in the mid 50's due to obsolesce. The Lexington was a training carrier in her last days, and I don't know what happened to her or the Ticonderoga. I was on the decommissioning crew on the Intrepid after being part of the ships company for 3 years. Intrepid was the first US Aircraft Carrier to be decom/mothballed alongside the pier in Naval History. Intrepid (the fighting I ) today is in New York City and serves as a floating museum. On a historical accuracy note, there are several airplanes on her decks that never flew off that ship. Wouldn't it be something to see an Essex Class carrier launch a SR-71 Blackbird? (snicker snicker, guffaw). The USN has a site featuring pictures of all naval ships by name/hull number and it's easy to find with google. I have seen a few models of Essex class ships, and I believe that Wasp or Hornet by name as they were famous for retrieval of space capsules. There is another outfit that builds Carrier models from scratch, but they are exquisitely expensive and a wonder to behold....enough to make your master-card wheeze. HTH Bruce Apple

Revell had an Essex back in the '50s and '60s. It was around 1/540 scale, I think. They are somewhat expensive now. The last one I saw had an asking tag of $45 and that was over 5 years ago. Onboard aircraft were F-8s, A-4s, and A-3s(?).

Bill Banaszak, MFE

Look for the Revell USS Lexington and that'll do you. This kit was also released as several of the other Essex class angled deck ships over the years with a ever changing air wing but most recently as the Lexington with T-28's and T-2's (or is it the T-33 thingys, Seastars?) As a CVS Wasp would have carried S-2's, SH-3's and A-4's and maybe F-8's or E-1's. You'll have to scrounge around for these as some were released in earlier versions of the kit and some may be available in the aftermarket.

John Benson ------------------------ IPMS El Paso Web Guy