Throughout the very large program to build Essex class aircraft carriers, modifications were constantly made. The number of 40mm and 20mm anti-aircraft machine guns was greatly increased, new and improved radars were added, the original hangar deck catapult installation was deleted, the ventillation system was massively revised, details of protection were altered and hundreds of other large and small changes were executed. In fact, to the skilled observer, no two ships of the class looked exactly the same.

Beginning in March 1943, one visually very significant change was authorized for ships then in the early stages of construction. This involved reshaping the bow into a rather elegant "clipper" form to provide deck space for two 40mm quadruple gun mountings, thus greatly improving forward air defences. Thirteen ships were completed to this "long-hull", or Ticonderoga, class. Four of these were finished in 1944, in time to join their Essex class near-sisters in Pacific combat operations. The rest went into commission between early 1945 and late 1946.

Five of the Ticonderoga class were laid up in 1946-47, along with all of the Essexes. Eight stayed on active duty to form, with the three much larger Midways, the backbone of the post-war Navy's combat strength. Though the Truman Administration's defense economies sent three of the active Ticonderogas into "mothballs" in 1949, these soon came back into commission after the Korean War began. Ultimately, all thirteen had active Cold War service. Five of them were thoroughly rebuilt in the early 1950s under the SCB-27 program, and four of these were further modernized a few years later to the SCB-125 design. Another got a combined SCB-27 and SCB-125 redo, while yet another was given a modest reworking to test the revolutionary "angled deck" landing area.

Of the six unmodernized Ticonderogas, three decommissioned in the late '50s and early '60s and were promptly reclassified as aircraft transports (AVT), reflecting their very limited ability to safely operate modern aircraft. The other three, converted to amphibious assault ships (LPH), were active until about 1970. The two least modernized units went into reserve in the mid-1960s, and the rest passed out of the active fleet between 1969 and 1976. All were scrapped, most in the 1970s, although Shangri La survived until the late 1980s.

The Ticonderoga class numbered thirteen completed ships. Another (CV-34) was finished after heavy modifications, two more (CVs 35 and 46) were scrapped incomplete and six Fiscal Year 1945 ships were cancelled before being laid down. Construction of all twenty-two was assigned to six east coast shipyards:


Ticonderoga (CV-14) (name changed from Hancock in May 1943). Built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Keel laid in February 1943; launched in February 1944; commissioned in May 1944.

Randolph (CV-15). Built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Keel laid in May 1943; launched in June 1944; commissioned in October 1944.

Hancock (CV-19) (name changed from Ticonderoga in May 1943). Built by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts. Keel laid in January 1943; launched in January 1944; commissioned in April 1944.

Boxer (CV-21). Built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Keel laid in September 1943; launched in December 1944; commissioned in April 1945.

Leyte (CV-32) (name changed from Crown Point in May 1945). Built by the Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company, Newport News, Virginia. Keel laid in February 1944; launched in August 1945; commissioned in April 1946.

Kearsarge (CV-33). Built by the New York Navy Yard, Brooklyn, New York. Keel laid in March 1944; launched in May 1945; commissioned in March 1946.

Antietam (CV-36). Built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Keel laid in March 1943; launched in August 1944; commissioned in January 1945.

Princeton (CV-37) (name changed from Valley Forge in November 1944). Built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Keel laid in September 1943; launched in July 1945; commissioned in November 1945.

Shangri-La (CV-38). Built by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia. Keel laid in January 1943; launched in February 1944; commissioned in September 1944.

Lake Champlain (CV-39). Built by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia. Keel laid in March 1943; launched in November 1944; commissioned in June 1945.

Tarawa (CV-40). Built by the Norfolk Navy Yard, Portsmouth, Virginia. Keel laid in March 1944; launched in May 1945; commissioned in December 1945.

Valley Forge (CV-45). Built by the Philadelphia Navy Yard, Pennsylvania. Keel laid in September 1944; launched in November 1945; commissioned in November 1946.

Philippine Sea (CV-47) (name changed from Wright in February 1945). Built by the Bethlehem Steel Company, Quincy, Massachusetts. Keel laid in August 1944; launched in September 1945; commissioned in May 1946.

In addition to these thirteen carriers, Oriskany (CV-34), built at the New York Navy Yard, was completed in 1950 to the much modified SCB-27A design; Reprisal (CV-35), laid down in July 1944 at the New York Navy Yard and launched in 1945, was scrapped incomplete after tests; and Iwo Jima (CV-46) was laid down at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry Dock Company in January 1945 but cancelled in August 1945 and broken up on the shipways. The six Fiscal Year 1945 ships, none of which received names, were assigned to Bethlehem Steel Company (CV-50), New York Navy Yard (CVs 51 & 52), Philadelphia Navy Yard (CV-53) and Norfolk Navy Yard (CVs 54 and 55). Their construction was cancelled in March 1945.

Ticonderoga class "as-built" design characteristics were identical to those of the Essex class except that overall length was 888 feet.