How many Essex-class carriers were planned before the United States entered World War II?
Short answerAbout eleven were in the initial programme; the rest of the class was ordered after American entry into the war.
NotesThe answer reconstructs the programme from hull numbers and order dates. Plans ran from CV-9 through CV-19, amounting to about eleven carriers. The remaining Essex orders followed in December 1941 after the United States had entered the war. The distinction shows how an already ambitious carrier programme became a mass wartime construction effort.