USS Kearsarge (CV/CVA/CVS-33) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers completed during or shortly after World War II for the United States Navy. The ship was the third US Navy ship to bear the name, and was named for a Civil War-era steam sloop. Kearsarge was commissioned in March 1946. Modernized in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), she served in the Korean War, for which she earned two battle stars. In the late 1950s she was further modified to become an anti-submarine carrier (CVS). Kearsarge was the recovery ship for the last two manned Project Mercury space missions in 1962–1963. She completed her career serving in the Vietnam War, earning five battle stars.

The Essex class is a retired class of aircraft carriers of the United States Navy. The 20th century's most numerous class of capital ship, the class consisted of 24 vessels, which came in "short-hull" and "long-hull" versions. Thirty-two ships were ordered, but as World War II wound down, six were canceled before construction, and two were canceled after construction had begun. Fourteen saw combat during World War II. None were lost to enemy action, though several sustained crippling damage due to kamikaze attacks. Essex-class carriers were the backbone of the U.S. Navy from mid-1943 and, with the three Midway-class carriers added just after the war, continued to be the heart of U.S. naval strength until supercarriers joined the fleet in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s. Several of the carriers were rebuilt to handle heavier and faster aircraft of the early jet age, and some served until well after the Vietnam War. Of the 24 ships in the class, four of the carriers: Yorktown, Hornet, Lexington, and Intrepid, have been preserved as museum ships.