This is a great looking US NAVY - USS Wasp (CV-18) commemorative challenge coin.  Coin has reeded edges and is about 1 9/16" in diameter. Front side of coin is printed and colorized (black & white) while the rear side is raised lettering and gold plated. Coin is contained in an acrylic air tight holder and displayed in an attractive blue velvet presentation box which will make this a very impressive gift or presentation.

USS Wasp (CV/CVA/CVS-18) was one of 24 Essex-class aircraft carriers built during World War II for the United States Navy. The ship, the ninth US Navy ship to bear the name, was originally named Oriskany, but was renamed while under construction in honor of the previous Wasp (CV-7), which was sunk 15 September 1942. Wasp was commissioned in November 1943, and served in several campaigns in the Pacific Theater of Operations, earning eight battle stars. Like many of her sister ships, she was decommissioned shortly after the end of the war, but was modernized and recommissioned in the early 1950s as an attack carrier (CVA), and then eventually became an antisubmarine carrier (CVS). In her second career she operated mainly in the Atlantic, Mediterranean, and Caribbean. She played a prominent role in the manned space program, serving as the recovery ship for five missions: Gemini IV, Gemini VI, Gemini VII, Gemini IX and Gemini XII.

She was retired in 1972 and sold for scrap in 1973.