Laid down as a fleet carrier in 1941, USS Intrepid (CV11) was one of a class of 24 vessels constructed during, and immediately after, the Second World War. As such she belongs to a remarkable group of ships - remarkable not for any great design innovation but for their proved effectiveness and reliability as warships and for the great size of the construction programmes of which they formed a part. In numbers of ships the Essex class was the largest class of fleet carriers ever constructed and as such could also claim to be the largest group of capital ships constructed during the steam age. The FY40 (Financial Year 1940) programme provided for 11, of which 5 - Essex (CV9), Yorktown (CV10), Intrepid (CV11), Lexington (CV16) and Bunker Hill (CV17) - were begun prior to the outbreak of war. The remaining 6, together with 2 more provided under FY41, and an additional 13 provided under the wartime FY42 (10 units) and FY43 (3 units) were laid down during the war. Of these ships no less than 17 had entered service by the end of the war while 7 were completed postwar and 2 cancelled. Another 6 ships were included in FY44 but these were subsequently cancelled and were never laid down.
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