USS Wasp (CV-7) was a United States Navy aircraft carrier commissioned in 1940 and lost in action in 1942. She was the eighth ship named USSÂ Wasp, and the sole ship of a class built to use up the remaining tonnage allowed to the U.S. for aircraft carriers under the treaties of the time. As a reduced-size version of the Yorktown-class aircraft carrier hull, Wasp was more vulnerable than other United States aircraft carriers available at the opening of hostilities. Wasp was initially employed in the Atlantic campaign, where Axis naval forces were perceived as less capable of inflicting decisive damage. After supporting the occupation of Iceland in 1941, Wasp joined the British Home Fleet in April 1942 and twice ferried British fighter aircraft to Malta.
Wasp entering Hampton Roads
Wasp was the first carrier fitted with a deck-edge elevator.
P-40Bs aboard Wasp in October 1940
Wasp on 27 December 1940
The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the world's most powerful navy and the largest by tonnage, at 4.5 million tons in 2021 and in 2009 an estimated battle fleet tonnage that exceeded the next 13 navies combined. It has the world's largest aircraft carrier fleet, with 11 in service, 1 undergoing trials, two new carriers under construction, and six other carriers planned as of 2024. With 336,978 personnel on active duty and 101,583 in the Ready Reserve, the U.S. Navy is the third largest of the United States military service branches in terms of personnel. It has 299 deployable combat vessels and about 4,012 operational aircraft as of July 18, 2023.
USS Constitution vs HMS Guerriere during the War of 1812
The Great White Fleet demonstrating U.S. naval power in 1907; it was proof that the U.S. Navy had blue-water capability.
Battleship USS Idaho shelling Okinawa on 1 April 1945
On Navy Day, October 27, 1945, the U.S. Post Office issued a commemorative stamp in honor of the Navy and the end of WW2.