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Allied Fleet Carriers of the Pacific War

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Lexington (CV-2)  seen prewar,  still carrying original 8-inch guns  (80.4k)

Lexington (CV-2)  second prewar view,  starboard side  (36.6k)

Saratoga (CV-3, Lexington Class)  as she appeared in 1944 after reconstruction (profile drawing) (26.2k)

Saratoga (CV-3) seen late in World War II  - (19.7k)

Task Force 38 (Group 3) entering Ulithi after Typhoon Cobra, Langley and Ticonderoga in lead  - (66k)

Saratoga (CV-2) Enterprise (CV-6) Hornet (CV-12), San Jacinto (CVL-30) at Nas Alameda 1945  - ( 83k)

Yorktown (CV-5)  prewar photograph  (44k)

Yorktown (CV-3)  pre-war photograph  (48k)

Yorktown (CV-5)  in Pearl Harbor drydock,  May '42 just before Midway, under repair  - (68k)

Yorktown (CV-5)  SBD dive-bombers ready to attack the Japanese fleet at Midway, 4 June 1942 - (59k)

Yorktown (CV-5)  damaged after bombing by Japanese carrier aircraft at Midway 4 June 1942 (28k)

Yorktown(CV-5)  second view after bomb damage at Midway 4 June 1942 (40k)

Yorktown (CV-5)  listing after being torpedoed by carrier aircraft at Midway, 4 June 1942 (45.4k)

Hornet (CV-8)  shortly after completion (40.2k)

Enterprise (CV-6,  Yorktown Class)  -  (Image is 16.4k)

Enterprise (CV-6)  prewar photograph  -  (75.7k)

Enterprise (CV-6)  seen in December 1943 (61.9k)

Enterprise (CV-6)  in 1944  -  (95k)

Wasp  (CV7) (50.4k)

Wasp  (CV-7)  burning after being torpedoed by submarine off Guadalcanal,  15 September 1942 - (36k)

Essex (CV-9, Essex Class)  -  (44.2k)

Lexington (CV-16, Essex Class) Mitscher's flagship at Philippine Sea and Leyte Gulf - (38.9k)

Lexington (CV-16) view aft as F6F-3 Hellcat lands aboard during the Marianas campaign (121k)

Lexington (CV-16) Grumman F6F- 3 being launched 23 November 1943, during Gilberts campaign - (73k)

Franklin (CV-13, Essex Class) aerial view 21 February 1944,  shortly after the ship's completion (37k / 81k)

Franklin (CV-13, Essex Class)  19 March 1945, ablaze after being bombed off the Japanese coast  - (46k /107k)

Franklin (CV-13, Essex Class) also on 19 March 1945  (25k)

Yorktown (CV-10, Essex Class) - sea-level view  -  (38.0k)

Yorktown (CV-10) - starboard side aerial view  -  (43.9k)

Yorktown (CV-10) - port side aerial view (32k)

Intrepid (CV-11, Essex Class)  aerial view  (30.7k)

Ticonderoga (CV-14, Essex Class)  -  (44.2k)

Ticonderoga (CV-14) and other ships of Task Force 38 in Ulithi atoll,  8 December 1944 - (88k)

Hancock (CV-19,  'long-hulled' Essex Class carrier)  -  (81k)

Bunker Hill (CV-17, Essex Class)  -  (141k)

Bunker Hill (CV-17) ablaze off Okinawa after kamikaze attack,  11 May 1945  -  (17.5k)

Wasp (CV-18, Essex Class) view from the flight deck of another of the Essex Class, 11 December 1944 - ( 36.7k)

Quadruple 40mm AA (Bofors) gunin action aboard a fast carrier under kamikaze attack  - (72.8k)

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Independence (CVL-22, light carrier)  -  (68.4k)

Princeton (CVL-23, Independence Class light carrier) aerial view  -  (17.5k)

Cowpens (CVL-25, Independence Class light carrier) aerial view (33.5k)

Cowpens (CVL-25)  -  (41k)

Cabot (CVL-28, Independence Class light carrier)  aerial view  (30.4k)

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Illustrious  - British fleet carrier,  view from aircraft landing on - (67.9k)

Illustrious prewar view,  Swordfish biplane torpedo-aircraft on flight deck  (98.3k)

Victorious  (Illustrious Class)  British armour-decked fleet carrier  (105k)

Formidable (Illustrious Class) seen here just after being launched,  17 August 1939  (63.6k)
 

The Battle of the Philippine Sea

The Battle for Leyte Gulf

The Fast Carrier Task Force and its Ships

Dave James' Maritime & Aviation pages


Acknowledgments

The Imperial War Museum,  London SE1

"Jane's War at Sea  1897-1997  Centennial Edition"  B. Ireland and E. Grove
(Harper Collins,  1997)

Richard Hough  "Dreadnought"  (Michael Joseph,  London 1965)

P. H. Silverstone  "US Warships of World War II"  (Ian Allan,  Shepperton,  Surrey)

Christopher Chant / John Batchelor  "Warships of the 20th Century"
(Tiger Books International,  London 1996)

Hugh Lyon  "The Encyclopedia of the World's Warships  -  a Technical Directory"
(Salamander,  London 1978)

John Keegan  "The Price of Admiralty / Battle at Sea"  (Pimlico,  London 1988)

Jane's "Battleships of the 20th Century"  (Harper Collins,  London 1996)

John Keegan (General Editor) "Encyclopedia of World War II"  (Bison Books,  London 1977)

Eric Grove / Martin Stephen  "Sea Battles in Close-Up  -  World War Two"  (Ian Allan,  1998)

H.T. Lenton  &  J.J. Colledge  "Warships of World War Two"  (Ian Allan,  1964)

Thaddeus Tuleja  "Climax at Midway"  (Dent,  London 1960)

  Robert D. Ballard  "The Lost Ships of Guadalcanal"  (Madison,  Toronto 1993)

Kenneth Poolman  "Illustrious"  (William Kimber,  London 1955)

Geoffrey Till  "Air Power and the Royal Navy 1914-1945"
(Jane's Publishing Company,  London 1979)

John Pimlott  "World War Two in Photographs"
(Guild Publishing,  London 1984)

Peter Kilduff  "US Carriers at War"  (Ian Allan,  London 1981)

Basil Collier  "Japan at War  -  An Illustrated History"  (Sidgwick & Jackson,  London 1975)

Samuel Eliot Morison  "History of United States Naval Operations in World War II"
(Little Brown,  Boston)