USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31, later CVA-31) was an American aircraft carrier the keel of which was laid in February 1943, launched in April 1944, and commissioned in the US Navy in November 1944. The length of the ship - at the time of launching - was 250 m, width 45 m, and full displacement - 36,400 tons. The maximum speed of the USS Bon Homme Richard aircraft carrier was up to 33 knots, and its main armament comprised from 90 to 100 airplanes.
USS Bon Homme Richard was the tenth Essex-class aircraft carrier. Ships of this type were the main American aircraft carriers during the Pacific War of 1943-1945. This type included as many as 24 aircraft carriers that entered the line until Japan signed the surrender in September 1945! Their construction was based on the experience gained from the operation of Lexington and Yorktown units, as well as not having to comply with any tonnage restrictions. They focus primarily on the number of planes taken and the maximum speed at the expense of the armor of the landing deck. Interestingly, the Essex-class aircraft carriers were built in such a way that the hangar was not an integral part of the fuselage, but a structure suspended under the flight deck. Such a solution made the ships of this type relatively easy to damage, but much more difficult to sink as a result of an air attack. In the course of the war in the Pacific, anti-aircraft weapons were systematically strengthened on ships of this type. The USS Bon Homme Richard (CV-31 / CVA-31) aircraft carrier began its service in World War II only in March 1945, when it was included in the Pacific Fleet. Shortly thereafter, he was forwarded to Pearl Harbor base, and in June 1945 he would join Task Force 38 in the Okinawa area. He took a limited part in the fighting for the island, and later his planes participated in air raids of on-board aviation against the Japanese fleet stationed in their native waters. After the end of World War II, the USS Bon Homme Richard was placed in the reserve, but returned to active service in January 1951 due to the outbreak of the Korean War (1950-1953). He took part in the fights on the Korean. In the period 1953-1955, the ship underwent a thorough modernization, which allowed it to carry out operations with jet planes. USS Bon Homme Richard took an active part in the initial period of the Vietnam War (1964 / 1965-1975). The unit was withdrawn from the line in 1971 and finally scrapped in 1992.