USS KEARSARGE

USS Kearsarge is the name given to several notable ships in United States Navy history, most famously the sloop-of-war commissioned in 1862. During the American Civil War, USS Kearsarge gained renown by defeating the Confederate raider CSS Alabama off the coast of France in 1864, a pivotal naval engagement that bolstered Union morale. Later, the name was carried by a series of aircraft carriers, beginning with USS Kearsarge (CV-33), an Essex-class carrier commissioned in 1946 that served in the Korean War and Vietnam War. The legacy continues today with USS Kearsarge (LHD-3), a Wasp-class amphibious assault ship commissioned in 1993, supporting a wide range of military operations and humanitarian missions around the globe.