CV-1 Langley Langley (lead ship) 20 March 1922 27 February 1942 19 years, 11 months and 7 days Scuttled and Sunk 65 nm south of Cilacap, Java [15][16][17] CV-2 Lexington Lexington (lead ship) 14 December 1927 8 May 1942 14 years, 4 months and 24 days Sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea [17][18] CV-3 Saratoga Lexington class 16 November 1927 26 July 1946 18 years, 8 months and 12 days Sunk in Operation Crossroads as a nuclear test target near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean [17][19] CV-4 Ranger Ranger (lead ship) 4 June 1934 18 October 1946 12 years, 4 months and 14 days Scrapped in 1947 in Chester, Pennsylvania [20] CV-5 Yorktown Yorktown (lead ship) 30 September 1937 7 June 1942 4 years, 8 months and 8 days Sunk in the Battle of Midway [21] CV-6 Enterprise Yorktown class 12 May 1938 17 February 1947 8 years, 9 months and 5 days Scrapped in 1960 [22] CV-7 Wasp Wasp (lead ship) 25 April 1940 15 September 1942 2 years, 4 months and 21 days Sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign [23] CV-8 Hornet Yorktown class 20 October 1941 26 October 1942 1 year and 6 days Sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands [24][25] CV-9 Essex Essex (lead ship) 31 December 1942 20 June 1969 26 years, 5 months and 20 days Scrapped in 1975 [26] CV-10 Yorktown Essex class 15 April 1943 27 June 1970 27 years, 2 months and 12 days Preserved at the Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime MuseumMount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA [27] CV-11 Intrepid Essex class 16 August 1943 15 March 1974 30 years, 6 months and 27 days Preserved at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space MuseumNew York, New York, USA [28] CV-12 Hornet Essex class 20 November 1943 26 May 1970 26 years, 6 months and 6 days Preserved at USS Hornet MuseumAlameda, California, USA [29] CV-13& Franklin Essex class 31 January 1944 17 February 1947 2 years, 11 months and 17 days Scrapped in 1966 [30] CV-14 Ticonderoga Essex (extended bow) 8 May 1944 1 September 1973 29 years, 3 months and 24 days Scrapped in 1975 [31] CV-15 Randolph Essex (extended bow) 9 October 1944 13 February 1969 24 years, 4 months and 4 days Scrapped in 1975 [32] CV-16 Lexington Essex 17 February 1943 8 November 1991 48 years, 8 months and 22 days Preserved at USS Lexington Museum On the Bay Corpus Christi, Texas, USA [33][34]
One thing that gripes me a little is that men and women in the military today howl about being away from home for their tours for so long. He left San Diego just after Pearl Harbor and never saw his family for the rest of the war, a little more than 4 years.
Over 30 years in the navy.