Overview and identity
USS Wasp served with United States Navy as a member of Wasp class.
USS Wasp can be distinguished by the hull or pennant designation CV-7, membership in Wasp class, and service with United States Navy. Its history belongs to interwar period and World War II and to the broader development of aircraft carriers. Aircraft-carrier design places the air group at the center of the ship's combat value. Flight-deck layout, launch and recovery systems, aviation fuel, maintenance spaces, command facilities, endurance, and protection all influence how effectively the ship can generate and sustain air operations at sea.
Construction and class context
USS Wasp was built by Bethlehem, Quincy. The construction chronology records laid down 1936-04-01, launched 1939-04-04, and completed 1940-04-25. Construction dates help place the ship within its class program and distinguish the original build from later changes in name, classification, armament, or mission.
USS Wasp was a one-ship carrier class designed to use remaining U.S. Treaty tonnage. The compact design incorporated experience from Ranger and Yorktown while accepting reduced protection and machinery power. The class history explains the common design; this article concentrates on the evidence specific to USS Wasp, including construction, assignments, modifications, transfers, and fate where documented.
Service history
The documented final disposition was sunk 15.9.1942.
As a member of Wasp class, USS Wasp began with the design, machinery, protection, and mission assumptions shared by the class. Those assumptions included fleet air operations and aircraft transport. Ship-specific refits, damage repair, transfers, reclassification, and changing assignments could alter that baseline. Class-level information is therefore used as context, not as proof that every feature remained aboard throughout this ship's career.
Technical configuration
No dated ship-specific technical configuration for USS Wasp is included in the sources reviewed. The class article supplies the shared technical baseline, while any claim about a particular refit, weapon, sensor, or configuration should be tied to dated ship-specific evidence.
Later service and disposition
USS Wasp was sunk. The associated date is 1942-09-15. Sunk 15.9.1942.
The sources reviewed do not identify USS Wasp as preserved. Its history must therefore be reconstructed through documents, photographs, technical records, and evidence connected to the class and operating navy.
Historical significance
USS Wasp is significant as an individual example of how Wasp class moved from a design program into operational service. Its value lies in connecting a specific vessel, its identities, and its known service outcome to the wider history of the class.
The evidence currently available for USS Wasp is strongest on its construction chronology, its recorded service, and its final status. The article separates those ship-specific facts from the shared characteristics of Wasp class, so readers can see both what is known about this vessel and where the historical record still needs stronger documentation.
Class relationship
This ship is recorded as a member of Wasp class. Shared design history belongs on the class page; this page concentrates on the individual hull where evidence is available.
Sources and further reading
- WASP aircraft carrier (1940) ↗Navypedia · accessed 2026-09-18
- Conway's All the World's Fighting Ships, 1922–1946Conway Maritime Press