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Show First of Our Nt-.v Carrier Fleet Launched j i, .11 '. ,. jl !' . .. v;;i ' I 1 ' .. ' i :M '--s-t . J . :l ,1 - ' - - " -A , ' V - i 1 The U.S.S. Essex, first U. S. aircraft carrier to be completed since Pearl Harbor and the first of a frreat fleet of such carriers, is shown sliding down the ways at Newport News last Sunday. The 25,009 ton craft was completed 15 months and 3 days after her keel was laid. Mrs. Artemus L. Gates, wife of the Assistant Secretary of the Navy and Air, cracked the traditional bottle of champagne on the bow of the new ship. |