Wasp attempted to place most of a Yorktown's aviation function into roughly 25 percent less space and only about 14,900 standard tons. Its 75,000-shaft-horsepower machinery was far below the Yorktown class's 120,000 horsepower, although the resulting 29.5-knot speed and range remained useful. The ship was a far more capable carrier than Ranger at almost the same displacement, showing that the American design had advanced. The bargain nevertheless removed torpedo protection and side protection for boilers and internal aviation-fuel storage. Wasp illustrates the danger of assigning fleet-carrier missions to a ship procured on a light-carrier displacement budget.
Notable Point · 1:12:09-1:15:19
Wasp squeezed a fleet carrier into too little tonnage
Wasp delivered much of a Yorktown's aviation capability on a smaller treaty allowance by accepting weaker machinery and almost no underwater protection.