[Robert A Cook PE]

Built CV-2 and CV-3 as conversions from battlecruisers. When CV-2 was sunk early in the war, the Navy built CV-16 (the one now on display in Corpus Christi that you saw) as an Essex class carrier number CV-16.

CV-1 	Langley 	Langley (lead ship) 	20 March 1922 	27 February 1942 	19 years, 11 months and 7 days 	Scuttled and Sunk 65 nm south of Cilacap, Java 	[15][16][17]
CV-2 	Lexington 	Lexington (lead ship) 	14 December 1927 	8 May 1942 	14 years, 4 months and 24 days 	Sunk in the Battle of the Coral Sea 	[17][18]
CV-3 	Saratoga 	Lexington class 	16 November 1927 	26 July 1946 	18 years, 8 months and 12 days 	Sunk in Operation Crossroads as a nuclear test target near Bikini Atoll in the Pacific Ocean 	[17][19]
CV-4 	Ranger 	        Ranger (lead ship) 	4 June 1934 	18 October 1946 	12 years, 4 months and 14 days 	Scrapped in 1947 in Chester, Pennsylvania 	[20]
CV-5 	Yorktown 	Yorktown (lead ship) 	30 September 1937 	7 June 1942 	4 years, 8 months and 8 days 	Sunk in the Battle of Midway 	[21]
CV-6 	Enterprise 	Yorktown class  	12 May 1938 	17 February 1947 	8 years, 9 months and 5 days 	Scrapped in 1960 	[22]
CV-7 	Wasp 	        Wasp (lead ship) 	25 April 1940 	15 September 1942 	2 years, 4 months and 21 days 	Sunk during the Guadalcanal campaign 	[23]
CV-8 	Hornet 	        Yorktown class 	        20 October 1941 	26 October 1942 	1 year and 6 days 	Sunk in the Battle of the Santa Cruz Islands 	[24][25]
CV-9 	Essex 	        Essex (lead ship) 	31 December 1942 	20 June 1969 	26 years, 5 months and 20 days 	Scrapped in 1975 	[26]
CV-10 	Yorktown 	Essex class 	        15 April 1943 	27 June 1970 	27 years, 2 months and 12 days 	Preserved at the Patriot's Point Naval & Maritime Museum—Mount Pleasant, South Carolina, USA 	[27]
CV-11 	Intrepid 	Essex class 	        16 August 1943 	15 March 1974 	30 years, 6 months and 27 days 	Preserved at the Intrepid Sea-Air-Space Museum—New York, New York, USA 	[28]
CV-12 	Hornet 	        Essex class 	        20 November 1943 	26 May 1970 	26 years, 6 months and 6 days 	Preserved at USS Hornet Museum—Alameda, California, USA 	[29]
CV-13&  Franklin        Essex class 	        31 January 1944 	17 February 1947 	2 years, 11 months and 17 days 	Scrapped in 1966 	[30]
CV-14 	Ticonderoga 	Essex (extended bow) 	8 May 1944 	1 September 1973 	29 years, 3 months and 24 days 	Scrapped in 1975 	[31]
CV-15 	Randolph 	Essex (extended bow) 	9 October 1944 	13 February 1969 	24 years, 4 months and 4 days 	Scrapped in 1975 	[32]
CV-16 	Lexington 	Essex 	                17 February 1943 	8 November 1991 	48 years, 8 months and 22 days 	Preserved at USS Lexington Museum On the Bay— Corpus Christi, Texas, USA 	[33][34]

[crz]

My Uncle served on the Langley for a while. He was transferred off sometime prior to WW2, came home for a while, and then was called back to duty in 1939-they knew there was going to be a war according to him. He then served on another carrier which was sunk just after he was again transferred off. It got so that some would pay attention to when he was transferred, the crew who knew him would try like hell to get off also since since the ships he got off from went out and went down.
He ended his ww2 tour by serving on the Missouri and was present at the surrender.

One thing that gripes me a little is that men and women in the military today howl about being away from home for their tours for so long. He left San Diego just after Pearl Harbor and never saw his family for the rest of the war, a little more than 4 years.

Over 30 years in the navy.