nassio%cfassp12@harvard.harvard.edu (George Nassiopoulos) (11/20/89)
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
baldwin@cad.usna.mil (J.D. Baldwin) (11/22/89)
From: "J.D. Baldwin" <baldwin@cad.usna.mil> In article <11548@cbnews.ATT.COM> George Nassiopoulos writes: >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. You assume correctly. I got curious about this myself, so I called up the Naval Institute (which is about 200 yds from here) and asked. The mountain is in Merrimac (!) County in New Hampshire. The info I got from USNI confirms everything else George said.
jap2_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (The Mad Mathematician) (11/30/89)
From: jap2_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu (The Mad Mathematician) The thrid ship of the Wasp class LHDs will be named Kearsage, according to Jane's of 1988-1989. Not a battleship, but still a big ship. -- The Mad Mathematician jap2_ss@uhura.cc.rochester.edu Mad, adj. Affected with a high degree of intellectual independence. Ambrose Bierce, _The_Devil's_Dictionary_