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From: nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos)
Newsgroups: sci.military
Subject: Kearsarge
Message-ID: <11548@cbnews.ATT.COM>
Date: 20 Nov 89 00:50:35 GMT
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Approved: military@att.att.com



From: nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos)

in a previous article  military-request@att.att.com (Bill Thacker) writes:

> Kearsarge is an old "classic" name in US warship history.  Previous to
> BB-5, an 1862 vessel had carried the name, and in 1944, it was given to
> an Essex-class carrier.  
>
> So what in the blazes is a Kearsarge ?  Person, place, or thing ?  And 
> why its significance ? This is the only name ever given a battleship other 
> than a state name.

Someone has already written pointing out that there is a Mt. Kearsarge in
New Hampshire.  I assume that the civil war ship was named after the mountain.

BB-5 Kearsarge was specifically named after the U.S.S. Kearsarge of Civil
War fame.  The Civil War Kearsarge fought and defeated the C.S.S. Alabama
off the Coast of France (Cherbourg) in what was then regarded as a famous
battle (as i recall from my reading, French men and women actually lined
the coast to watch the two ships fighting.)

By the time BB-5 was built, the original Kearsarge had just about rotted
away, so someone petitioned the president and Congress to allow BB-5 to
be named Kearsarge.  There was actually a law which required States names
to be given to ``battleships'', so Congress had to pass special legislation
to allow the naming.

As Bill Thacker pointed out, an Essex-Class carrier was named Kearsarge during
WWII, and soon, a Wasp Class Amphibious Assault ship will bear the name.

In case anyone is interested:

LHD-1 Wasp
LHD-2 Essex
LHD-3 Kearsarge


George Nassiopoulos
nassio@cfa.harvard.edu