USS Wasp (CV-18)

Click the thumbnails to enlarge them

Aircraft carrier USS Wasp CV-18

Aircraft carrier USS Wasp CV-18

Aircraft carrier USS Wasp CV-18 aerial view

Aircraft carrier USS Wasp CV-18 aerial view

Aircraft carrier USS WASP CV-18 with Air Group 86 1945

Aircraft carrier USS WASP CV-18 with Air Group 86 1945

Damage to USS Wasp after she endured a 26 August 1945 typhoon off Japan

Damage to USS Wasp after she endured a 26 August 1945 typhoon off Japan

Sailors play volleyball on the flight deck of USS Wasp in 1945

Sailors play volleyball on the flight deck of USS Wasp in 1945

Sons of Lost Crew Cheer Launch of New USS Wasp CV-18 17 August 1943

Sons of Lost Crew Cheer Launch of New USS Wasp CV-18 17 August 1943

USS Wasp CV-18 at Boston March 15, 1944

USS Wasp CV-18 at Boston March 15, 1944 - bow view

USS Wasp CV-18 at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton on June 2, 1945

USS Wasp CV-18 at Puget Sound Navy Yard in Bremerton on June 2, 1945

USS Wasp CV-18 underway in February 1944

USS Wasp CV-18 underway in February 1944

USS Wasp (CV-18) was an Essex-class aircraft carrier. The ship was laid down as Oriskany on 18 March 1942 at Quincy, Massachusetts, by the Bethlehem Steel Company, renamed Wasp on 13 November 1942, in honor of her fallen predecessor CV-7, launched on 17 August 1943. Sponsored by Miss Julia M. Walsh, the sister of Senator David I. Walsh of Massachusetts, and commissioned on 24 November 1943, Captain Clifton A. F. Sprague in command.