USS Essex (CV-9/CVA-9/CVS-9) was the epitome of US naval construction and ingenuity. Ordered on 28 April 1941 from Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock, she was commissioned on 31 July 1942, with Mrs. Artemus L. Gates, former Assistant Secretary of the Navy for Air, as sponsor. Commissioned 31 December 1942 under the command of Capt. D.B. Duncan, Essex was first classified as an aircraft carrier (CV-9). Over the years, it saw reclassification, to attack aircraft carrier (CVA-9), on 1 October 1952, and finally, to antisubmarine, warfare supports aircraft carrier (CVS-9), on 8 March 1960.
One month later, the USS Essex departed for the Pacific and started her series of victorious campaigns that she would conduct up to Tokyo Bay. One wartime overhaul in San Francisco and was in the thick of the fight through the balance of the year 1944, including such actions as strikes at Okinawa and Formosa, supporting the Leyte landings, and the Battle for Leyte Gulf. Then, in the closing days of World War II, Essex took part in final raids against the Japanese home islands and continued to conduct defensive combat air patrols until 3 September 1945, when she was ordered to Bremerton, Washington, for inactivation. On 9 January 1947, she was placed out of commission in reserve.
Modernization work Essex was recommissioned 15 January 1951 having now an angle-deck and an improved island superstructure commanded by Captain A. W. Wheelock. By 1 December 1953, she started her sixth and last tour of action of the Korean War patrolling through the China Sea. Beginning in July 1955, at Puget Sound Naval Shipyard where she underwent extensive repairs and alterations which involved the installation of an angled deck –. Returning to the Pacific Fleet in March 1956, Essex was converted to an ASW support carrier in the spring of 1960, with her home port at Quonset Point, Rhode Island. She served as a flagship for Carrier Division 18 and Antisubmarine Carrier Group 3, went on rescue and salvage deployments, took part in midshipmen cruises, and served in NATO and CENTO exercises. She participated in the November 1960 Operation “Jetstream” with the French Navy.
On another note, the humanization of warships is presented as quite a powerful force throughout many games, including KanColle, Azur Lane, and Warship Girls. In these games, the ships that are presented are overlaid with human names and personalities, providing a frame layer of anthropomorphism. For instance, the US heavy cruiser USS Wichita would look like some bizarrely rigged thing, with turrets as her arms and twin torpedo launchers as her legs. The character has green eyes and long brown hair with twin-tails, while her sisterly personality is marked note G disorienting, she speaks with a Midwestern accent and ends many of her lines with a word in Japanese, this sets off her historical importance as she was a pioneer for US heavy cruiser design.
The USS Wichita has a major introduction in the very games by World of Warships, where she is portrayed as a destroyer leader and screening vessel, courtesy of her long barrels capable of diving into eight inches of armor steel. The relatability of her very action dialogue, such as handling paperwork and taking care of the guns, is what brings out the charm in her as a character and endears her to the fan base.
The combination of historical fact with imaginative humanization offers an enlightening way in which to view naval history that seems to tell more about these formidable vessels and their contributions to the effusion of warfare at sea.