Construction: 1940 To 1943
The contract to build Kearsarge had been given to Newport News Shipbuilding on 9 September 1940, and her keel was laid down on 3 August 1942. The seventh Hornet (CV-8) was sunk in the Battle of Santa Cruz on 26 October 1942, and the CV-12 hull was renamed Hornet (the name Kearsarge is still stamped into her keel plate). She was launched on 30 August 1943 and commissioned on 29 November 1943. Her first commander was Captain (later Rear Admiral) Miles R. Browning.
Read more about this topic: USS Hornet (CV-12)