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Model comes on wood base with solid brass pedestals
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CV-10 with camouflage scheme used during the
Marianas Operation in June of 1944

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Photography by Action Asia Photo
© 2002-8 Action Asia Photo - All Rights Reserved
www.actionasiaphoto.com-
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The Essex class was a modified version of the earlier Yorktown Class in order to provide better underwater protection. Over 60 feet longer, nearly 10 feet beamier and more than a third heavier, Essex aircraft carriers had a longer and wider flight deck with a deck-edge elevator that allowed for a larger air group.

Machinery arrangement and armor protection was greatly improved and the provision of more anti-aircraft guns gave the ships much greater survivability. In all, 24 Essex class carriers were commissioned making it the largest class of fleet aircraft carriers ever built by any nation.
The Essex Class was interspersed by 3 sub-classes:
1) Ticonderoga variant, Essex long hull with more AA guns
2) Intrepid variant, Essex with upgraded catapults
3) Oriskany variant, Essex built to SBC-27A specifications to handle heavier aircraft

The hulls of Essex class carriers go from CV-9 to CV-47, but there are  two other classes of aircraft carriers that have their hull numbers interspersed between the Essex class hull numbers:
1) Independence Class Light Carriers which were converted light cruisers with hulls CV-22 to CV-30,
2) the Midway Class with hulls from CV-41 to CV-44.

Generally, all of the above aircraft carriers had inefficient straight flight decks.  They were collectively superseded by the Forrestal Class - a completely new design of aircraft carrier that incorporated an angled flight deck to permit the simultaneous launching and recovery of aircraft. Later, many surviving ships of the Essex class were extensively upgraded to add the angled flight deck while also having the bow enclosed to facilitate operation of high-performance jet fighters.

CV-10 "USS Yorktown"

Hull # CV-10 was the second carrier in the Essex Class. Originally named Bon Homme Richard, the ship was renamed Yorktown in honor of CV-5 USS Yorktown, first carrier of the earlier Yorktown class that was sunk at the Battle of Midway in June 1942. CV-10 USS Yorktown was launched in January 1943 and commissioned 3 months later. She soon transited the Panama Canal and went to war in the Pacific. For her numerous exploits  the ship was nicknamed the "Fighting Lady" and received a Presidential Unit Citation and eleven battle stars.

Following Japan's capitulation in August 1945, Yorktown helped cover occupation efforts and also brought servicemen home from the western Pacific. Generally inactive from early 1946, the carrier was decommissioned in January 1947.

In 1951, CV-10 began a major modernization to be able to operate heavier aircraft. The ship re-entered active service in February 1953 re-designated CVA-10. In August she departed for the Far East to begin the first of eleven 7th Fleet cruises. In 1955 she was further modernized and got an angled flight deck and an enclosed bow that allowed the launching of jets. In 1957-58 the ship did two more western Pacific tours as an attack carrier. Then she became an ASW support aircraft carrier and was redesignated CVS-10. From the mid-1960s, she lend support for the Vietnam War.

In 1968, Yorktown played a major role in the motion picture "Tora!Tora!Tora!" and also recovered the crew of Apollo 8 - the first manned mission to orbit the moon. Yorktown was decommissioned in June 1970 and then became a memorial at Charleston, South Carolina where she still serves today.

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