0800 Hours, 31 December 1942, Norfolk, Virginia – The last day of December 1942 saw significant developments for the US Navy and the Royal Navy. Most important, the new aircraft carrier USS Essex commissioned into the fleet at Norfolk, VA. The first of a new class of carriers that would carry the war to the Japanese and see stellar service into the 1970s and ultimately become one of the most successful classes of warships ever built. After commissioning, Essex was due for sea trials with a scheduled departure for Pearl Harbor in May 1943.
In addition to welcoming Essex into the fleet, the US Navy decided to suspend construction on the Alaska class battlecruiser USS Guam and cancel the four remaining ships in the class (USS Hawaii, USS Philippines, USS Samoa, and USS Puerto Rico). Construction on USS Alaska would continue while Guam’s hull was floated and moved out of the slipway to facilitate LST construction, similar to what was done with the hull of the battleship USS Kentucky in June 1942. While the US Navy held out the possibility that both Kentucky and Guam could eventually see completion work was never restarted on either ship. Additionally, the battleship USS Illinois, due to be laid down in mid-January 1943 was cancelled in order to free up shipyard space, skilled labor, and materials.
Similarly, at the same time the Eastern Fleet was treating HMS Resolution and HMS Revenge like a couple of crippled race horses, the Royal Navy made the painful decision to cancel the new battleship HMS Vanguard. Laid down over year earlier, her construction was already well behind schedule due to a shortage of skilled labor. However, what ultimately drove the decision was that since Vanguard was laid down in October 1941, six capital ships of the Royal Navy – HMS Barham, HMS Prince of Wales, HMS Repulse, HMS Revenge, HMS Resolution, and HMS Warspite had been sunk or heavily damaged from submarine launched or air launched torpedoes. The message was clear, and the Admiralty could no longer justify expending the necessary resources for Vanguard’s construction, particularly when put against competing priorities.
In order to win over the Prime Minister who did not want to see HMS Vanguard cancelled the Admiralty promised that to the maximum extent possible, materials and labor saved from the cancellation of Vanguard would go toward accelerating the completion of the aircraft carriers HMS Implacable and HMS Indefatigable, both behind schedule. Some estimates this reallocation of resources could shave six months off the projected completion dates for both ships. This argument combined with a reminder of the results of OPERATION COBALT successfully placated Mr. Churchill.