Click on any of the images to see uncropped larger
versions.
I've reviewed several histories about earlier Wasps,
most were in our shipmates' crews books, and they
are inconsistent. I've attempted to match up the various drawings
and paintings with the appropriate Wasp.
Due to the variety of information available, and my lack of expertise
in Naval history, I am not too confident that this work is all
that reliable. Take it for what it is, an entertaining history
of U.S. Navy ships named Wasp.
I welcome any information, clarification, photos, or illustrations
you may wish to provide to make this list of Wasps
more accurate or enlightening.
Click the "Hazegray
DANFS" button when you see it, to read more about
the various Wasp's listed below from the Dictionary
of American Naval Fighting Ships.
Wasp #10 - USS Wasp
LHD-1, carries on the long tradition and is
home ported in Norfolk, Virginia. The current Wasp
is the first of a new class of multi-purpose amphibious assault
ships. It was commissioned in 1989(?) with a primary mission
of embarkation, deployment, landing and support for a Marine
landing force. Wasp's Webmaster,
Sherri Onorati, sent along
these images of Wasp on duty at sea. All three photos were taken
by LCPL Hardwood of the 24th
Marine Expeditionary Unit.
"Click" any
LHD-1 picture to see a larger image.
Wasp #9 - The USS Wasp, CV/CVA/CVS-18. The hull was constructed in Quincy,
Massachusetts and was originally planned for and named "Oriskany."
After Wasp, CV-7,
met her end in the Pacific in 1942, the Navy honored her by renaming
and commissioning CV-18 in 1943 as the ninth USS
Wasp. This Wasp
was commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts, then scrapped in 1972,
after 29 years of service. Wasp IX
is the subject of this website.
Wasp
#8 - The USS Wasp, CV-7,
was also built in Quincy and commissioned in Boston, Massachusetts
on April 25, 1940. Wasp VIII
began service on the east coast. In July 1941, she ferried army
fighter aircraft to Iceland and provided other military support
for Britain in her war with the Nazis. After the U.S. entered
the war, Wasp VIII served
on both sides of the Atlantic until transferring to the Pacific
in the summer of 1942. She participated in several battles, including
recovery of the Solomon Islands. On September 15, 1942, Wasp was struck in the bow 3 of 6
"Type 95" torpedoes from the Japanese submarine I-19.
One of torpedoes "broached" and struck amidship above
the waterline. The torpedoes hit near storage areas for gasoline
and munitions; several explosions rocked her within minutes.
Wasp VIII
sank about 6 hours later, after the crew was ordered to
abandon ship.
Mario Sivilli was on battleship USS North Carolina
nearby when Wasp VIII was
hit by the torpedoes. He sent in a few comments about the day's
events (respctfully edited by yours truly):
Wasp
(CV-7) was struck
by 3 of 6 "Type 95" torpedoes, one of which "broached"
and struck amidship above the waterline. I know 4 of the original
I-19 survivors and was told this by Mr. Ohtani, a signalman/torpedoeman
from I-19's crew. I was on the battleship USS North
Carolina which was hit by one of the three torpedoes that
missed Wasp. We were 4-6
miles beyond Wasp at the time; the destroyer USS O'Brien
was also hit while protecting our flank. All three ships (Wasp,
North Carolina, and
O'Brien) were hit within about 6 minutes.
In 1986, I was Vice President
and Newsletter Editor of our BB55 Tarheel. We held a special
annual reunion in Wilmington on the ship. We had discovered 14
survivors of the I-19 and invited them to come to the
reunion to compare notes and "bury the hatchet". It
was an outstanding affair. I was one of 8 hosts who spend 3 days
prior to the reunion with the I-19 crewmembers who attended.
It was during these briefings we learned of one torpedo having
jumped out of the water and hitting Wasp above the waterline. We also were
told numerous other things I can't put down here. Cdr. Kinashi
fired a spread of six torpedoes, three hit
Wasp and three
continued on to Task Force 16 (USS Hornet) some miles
away. One of these three other torpedoes hit the O'Brien
and one hit us. I was on the Main Deck some 50 feet from where
the torpedoe hit (below). Had I been closer to the lifeline,
this message would be coming from Heaven.
CV-7
earned two battle stars before she went down.
Wasp
#7 - This USS Wasp
was originally christened "Columbia,"
a steam yacht. She was built in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, in
1898. The U.S. Navy acquired the yacht and commissioned her as
the seventh Wasp on April
11, 1898, in New York, New York. She stood duty during the Spanish-American
War, participating in the blockade of Cuba and reconnaissance
missions. Wasp VII
served as a training ship in several locations and ended her
tour at Annapolis. She was decommissioned in 1919 and sold 2
years later.
Wasp #6 - The sixth USS
Wasp was a side wheel steamer with an iron hull.
She began as "Emma Henry." In 1964,
during our Civil War, "Emma Henry" was
captured by the Union as she tried to run a blockade in December
1864. The U.S. Navy later purchased her at a New York court and
commissioned her under her original name. In 1865, her name was
changed and she became the sixth Wasp.
She served in South America, along the coast and on inland rivers,
protecting Americans and their interests in a combat zone. Wasp VI survived the conflict, then
was decommissioned and sold in 1876.
Wasp #5 - USS Wasp V was a sloop-of-war
constructed in 1813 at Newburyport, Massachusetts. She was commissioned
in 1814.
The fifth USS
Wasp served gallantly against the British, destroying
and capturing ships from the English Channel to Rio de Janeiro.
This painting shows Wasp in an engagement with "HMS
Reindeer" in 1814. Wasp
V captured the "Reindeer"
after 19 minutes of severe fighting under command of Commandant
J. Blakely.
This drawing shows Wasp
V taking "HMS Avon" on
September 1, 1814. Wasp didn't
take "Avon" as a war prize though, a
sudden appearance of British forces arrived on the scene and
rescued "Avon's" crew. Wasp V was lost at sea while
sailing to the Caribbean from South America in 1816, apparently
during a storm. This is one Wasp
put to rest in a place no one knows.
Wasp #4 - This Wasp was a privately owned sloop
chartered on Lake Champlain late in the summer of 1813, USS Wasp IV served
as a tender in 1813-14 and saw no combat duty. She was returned
to her owners in 1814, after her battery was transferred to a
new schooner, the "Ticonderoga."
Wasp #3 - A schooner
built in Baltimore in 1810, USS Wasp
III was chartered to the U.S. Navy
as a dispatch boat in the summer of 1813 and returned to her
owners, without incident, within a few months.
Wasp #2 -
The second Wasp was
a sloop of war built at the Washington Navy Yard in 1806 and
commissioned the following year. The photograph is from a model
of Wasp II that was
once owned by President Roosevelt. In June 1812, she joined the
war against Great Britain while serving along the coast of the
Mid-Atlantic states.
In
October 1812, Wasp II defeated
"HMB Frolic."
While securing "Frolic,"
Wasp was
herself captured by the "Poictiers,"
a British 74-gun Ship-of-the-Line. This drawing shows Wasp II under tow (on far right)
by the "Poictiers." Wasp
then served in the Royal Navy for a short time as the "Peacock,"
before losing to the sea off the Virginia capes in 1813.
Wasp #1 -
A small 8 gun sloop, originally a merchant schooner,
named "Scorpion." She was purchased by
the Continental Navy in 1775 and refitted into a warship at Baltimore.
Wasp I was commissioned
as the Wasp in December
1775 or January 1776. Wasp and
the "Hornet" were the first two ships
to go to sea for the Continental Navy. Wasp
was on temporary escort duty for a convoy carrying Silas
Deane to France as an agent of Congress. Wasp
I served in the Revolutionary War along the Atlantic
coast, from the Bahamas to New England, until the fall of 1777.
She ran aground on the eastern shore of Maryland and burned while
trying to maintain control of a river below British-held Philadelphia.
Wasp's commanding officer,
Lt. John Baldwin, was court martialled for loss of the vessel,
but was later acquitted of the charge.
to the Wasp
History Page
