[Joe 6-pack]

"There is a reason that navy yards cranked out smaller carriers toward the end of World War II and didn't replace the big ones like the Lexington, Yorktown and Hornet which were sunk in combat."

At the end of the war, the Essex class were being phased out for the even bigger and heavier Midway class carriers that just missed the end of WWII, but went on to handle modern jets during Korea, Viet Nam and up through Desert Storm.

[Destroyer Sailor]

Essex class were updated after the war (angled flight decks). Midway class missed the war but only three were built. The updated Essex class served until the 1970’s. The Forestall class were built in the 50’s and 60’s and were the backbone of the carrier fleet till the advent of Nimitz class CVN’s.