Ahoy Shipmates…

Welcome to Issue 2 of a new column here at MSW, Namesakes. We will learn the faces behind a ships name. Why a certain person, place, or thing was used to name a ship. Sit, sit back enjoy and if you wish to know about any certain ship, let me know.

Coming soon….Varyag, Victory, and?????

Well since this one was mentioned I figured I would do this one next. The name for ships come originally from the English county named Essex. This area is located on the eastern side of the England. It is bordered by the North Sea, Thames River, Hertfordshire to the west, and Suffolk to the north. The word Essex is believed to some from the old English word Ēastseaxe, or the eastern kingdom of the Saxons.

The following is a quick history of Essex County in England.
In pre-Roman Britain the territories of Suffolk and Essex were home to the Trinovantes tribe, which had grown wealthy through intensive trade with the Roman Empire, contemporary to the decline of Atlantic sea trade as roads and better in-land trade-routes were established in Romanized Gaul. Catuvellaunian and Trinovantian territory was the first to be annexed by the Roman Emperor Claudius in AD 43 when he began his invasion of Britain (Cunliffe, 2001). Colchester was the capital of the province of Britannia, but was attacked and destroyed during Boudica's rebellion in AD 61. Sometime after the destruction, London became the capital of the province of Britannia.
The East Saxon lands bordered those of the Angle peoples of East Anglia (the latter comprising Norfolk, Suffolk and Cambridgeshire).

The Kingdom of Essex was traditionally founded by Aescwine in 527 AD, occupying territory to the north of the River Thames, incorporating much of what would later become Middlesex and Hertfordshire, though its territory was later restricted to lands east of the River Lee. Colchester in the north east of the county is Britain's oldest recorded town, dating back to before the Roman conquest, when it was known as Camulodunum, and was sufficiently well-developed to have its own mint. Subsequently the Kingdom of Essex was subsumed into the Kingdom of England and Essex eventually became a county.

When the east coast of North America began to be settled the names given to these areas echoed those in Europe. So, one of the first names used for a new county in Massachusetts was Essex. The county was founded in 1643. One of the first towns founded in Essex County was Salem in 1626. Salem was known for two things witch trials and ship building. For the later Salem and Essex helped forge the new nation.
The Royal Navy has had 4 ships named fro Essex County in England. These include HMS Essex(1653), HMS Essex (1679), HMS Essex (1760), and HMS Essex (1901). There was a fifth ship in the Royal navy to carry the name Essex, but it was originally a US ship which was captured.
The 1653 Essex was a 60 gun ship launched in 1653. She was captured in the Four Day’s battle of 1666. She was a Speaker-class frigate built for the Navy of the Commonwealth of England at Deptford. She was built as a 48 gun ship, but this was increased to 60 by the time she was captured by the Dutch. The ship was captured on the final day of the battle and little is known of her fate.
The 1679 Essex was built as a 70-gun third rate ship of the line at the Blackwall yard. She underwent rebuilding in 1700, 1713, and 1736. During the 1736 rebuilding she was ordered to be taken to pieces and rebuilt to the 1733 Proposals of the 1719 Establishments. Got that? To put it simply, she was rebuilt to follow the guidelines put forth by the Royal Navy to standardize its ships. After 80 years in service she ran aground while chasing the French flagship Soleil Royale after the Battle of Quiberon Bay.
The 1760 Essex served little time in the Royal Navy. She was built as a 64-gun third rate ship of the line at Rotherhithe. She was on harbor service from 1777 until 1799 when she was sold out of service.
The final Royal Navy Essex was the one from 1901. She was a Monmouth class Armored Cruiser. She was built at the Penbroke Dock and launched August 29, 1901. She served with the remainder of her sisters during World War I. She was sold for scrap and was eventually broken up in Germany in the 1920’s.
So now we move across the Atlantic to the United States. The US Navy has had five different ships to carry the name in battle, USS Essex (1799), USS Essex (1856), USS Essex (1876), USS Essex (CV-9), and USS Essex (LHD-2).

1799 Essex was built and launched at the Salem yards. She was built as a 32-gun sailing Frigate. Her cost was paid for by the people of Salem and Essex County, $139,362. Her fist commander was Captain Edward Preble. She saw service during the Quasi War with France, the First Barbary War, and the War of 1812. For a short time she was carried as in ordinary, basically in reserve, in the Naval Registry. She was reactivated to take part in the War of 1812. She headed south and rounded Cape Horn into the Pacific Ocean. She then started to carry out a war against the British whaling fleet. She took 13 prizes before returning to Valparaiso Chile. She was trapped for six weeks before making a break for it. After a 2 ½ hour battle she was captured by the British ships. She then became HMS Essex and served as a prison ship. She was broken up in 1837.

Essex (1856) was originally built as the steam ship New Era. In 1861 she was purchased by the US Army and modified into a timber clad gunboat. She was renamed USS Essex sometime in later November 1861. Her Commanding officer William Porter, grand son of Essex 1799’s Captain, had her rebuilt and upgraded into a true iron glad. She was present at Vicksburg and engaged the CSS Arkansas more than once. She joined a squadron commanded by Admiral David Farragut, adopted son of Essex 1799’s Captain. She was one of the most active Union river boats of the war. With her weak iron skin she was often damaged in combat. She was sold after the war, renamed New Era, and was scrapped in 1870.

Essex 1876 was one of the last all wooden ships commissioned by the “Old Navy”. She spent most of her time as a training ship after a few uneventful deployments to the Asiatic Station. She was used to train cadets from the Naval Academy from 1894-1903. She served the Ohio Naval Militia from 1904-1916 then the Ninth Naval District from 1917 to 1926. She ended her career with the Naval Reserve of the State of Minnesota. She was sold fro scrap in 1930 and was finally burned near Duluth. Her remains are visible today along the shore of Lake Superior and are also listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Essex, CV-9, was the lead ship of a class of ships that went a long way to winning World War II in the Pacific. She was commissioned in December 1942 and eventually went on to win 13 battle stars for her participation in the Pacific war. After the end of the war Essex was ordered to Bremerton Washington for inactivation. She was placed out of commission in 1947. Her first modernization took place in 1949 when she received the SCB-27A upgrade. In 1951 she was the first carrier to launch F2H Banshees on combat missions. She spent the remainder of her years in commission in the Atlantic. She took part in the blockade of Cuba during the Cuban Missile Crisis and the Bay of Pigs Invasion. She then acted as recovery carrier for the Apollo 7 mission. On June 30, 1969 she was decommissioned and placed in reserve. She was struck from the registry in 1973 and sold for scrap.

Essex LHD-2 is the current Essex in Any Navy. She is a Wasp class amphibious assault ship. She is the fifth US ship to be named for Essex County Massachusetts. Commissioned in 1992 she is currently the command ship for Expeditionary Strike Group Seven led by the Commander, Task Force 76. She carries 3 LCACs, or 2 LCU’s, 1,800 Marines, 73 officers, 1109 sailors, and up to 36 aircraft. She can carry the following aircraft UH-1N Huey, AH-1W Cobra, CH-53 Super Stallion, CH-46 Sea Knight, MH-60 Seahawk, and the AV-8B Harrier. Essex can also operate the AH-64 Apache attack helicopter.

LHD-2 has taken part in many military operations during her service life. She has also taken part in many humanitarian missions including St. Stephen’s Day 2004 Tsunami in Indonesia and the 2008 Cyclone in Myanmar, Cyclone Nargis. She has been awarded many Battle Efficiency awards, Golden Anchor awards for crew retention, and even Ney food service awards. Essex is currently home ported in Sasebo Japan making her the largest forward deployed amphibious command ship.

Essex has also been carried over into the civilian shipping world as well. This ship was simply known as Essex. She was a whale ship from Nantucket Massachusetts. She left her home port on a two and a half year voyage to the whaling grounds of the South Pacific. By the accounts of the crew her hunting was rather good and she was filling her hold with barrels of whale oil. On November 20, 1820 Essex encountered a sperm whale that was much larger than normal. The whale rammed the ship twice finally sinking her. The 21 crew members made it into whale boats. They arrived at Henderson Island to find birds, fruits, and a small fresh water stream.

After a week on the island the men and consumed the islands resources. Three men decided to stay behind and the remainder left in the three boats. These men turned to cannibalism to survive. One group was rescued 93 days after the Essex was sunk. Another group was rescued 95 days after the sinking. The three men on Henderson Island were also rescued. Of the 21 men who left Essex, only 8 men were left alive. First Mate Owen Chase wrote his account of the sinking. The account was used by Herman Melville as a source to write his novel “Moby Dick.”

Essex will live on in our future as well. Thanks to the wonders of science fiction USS Essex will be a built as a Daedalus class starship in the Star Trek universe. She crashed on Mab-Bu VI . Her wreck was discovered by the crew of the Enterprise 200 years later. Essex is also the name given to a pair of different engines in the Ford Motor Company line, a V6 and V4.

Essex has sailed the oceans for over 350 years. She has grown from a small sailing ship to a large command ship. Along the way she has fought on the high seas and along rivers. Wood was replaced by iron and the by steel. Wind power was replaced by steam. She has carried crews ranging from 21 up to over 2600.