The original Essex and the earlier
ships in the class were 872 feet in length, and were later to be called the Short-Hull
Essex. As finished, the ships of the short-hull variant had a single
quadruple 40mm mount on the forecastle underneath the front edge overhang of the
flight deck. It was quickly discovered that this bow AA position was almost
useless as its field of fire was extremely constricted because of the overhang
of the flight deck. The solution was to lengthen the bow and cut back the
forward edge of the flight deck. An additional sixteen feet was added to the
design with a lengthened bow and a stern sponson for two quadruple Bofors
mounts. Dramatically, the above water shape was completely changed. Gone was the
rounded shape of the short-hull variant and in its place was a more dramatic and
lengthier Clipper Bow cutwater upon which a squared off forecastle deck
rested. By lengthening, widening and squaring off the forward tip of the bow,
two quadruple Bofors could be fitted, rather than one and by lengthening the
hull by 16 feet to 888-feet OA and reducing the forward edge of the flight deck
by 11 feet, these mounts had a clear field of fire.
The modified design was called the Long-Hull Essex. As constructed,
the bulk of the Essex Class were in
the long hull category. The 888-feet long-hull variant was found on Ticonderoga CV-14, Randolph CV-15, Hancock CV-19, Boxer CV-21, Antietam CV-36, Shangri-La CV-38, Lake
Champlain CV-39 and the seven of the class completed after the
war, Leyte CV-32, Kearsarge CV-33, Oriskany CV-34, Princeton CV-37, Tarawa CV-40, Valley
Forge CV-45 and Philippine Sea CV-47.
Neptun produces an excellent model of USS
Ticonderoga CV-14. The model is N1310b.
 |
_____________________________________________________________________________________________
|
