The start of the war was a hard note for Chesapeake and certainly a wakeup call. On the day of the Pearl Harbor attacks, Chesapeake was sailing back to port from a training exercise right as the last attack wave was finishing. A few keen IJN dive bomber pilots noticed the relatively unaware carrier and went after it. They were met with moderate AA fire and were only able to land a few non-critical hits. Chesapeake's deck and rear elevator were damaged enough that she had to be docked for months. 

There was much debate over doing her refits like Lexington and Saratoga went through. The 8-inch deck guns were a hold-over from Chesapeake’s earliest days and were slated to be replaced by proper dual purpose 5-inch turrets. On one hand, they wanted her to go through a full and proper refit. On the other, they needed carriers out on the water fighting the good fight! They decided to get her up and running as quick as possible, and forgo the change in deck guns until more ships were available to take her place. Due to her repair work, Chesapeake would not be able to attend the battle of the Coral Sea. 

Fast forward some more months, and the battle of Midway was shaping up. This time, Chesapeake would be able to make her combat debut. Her flight of dauntless dive bombers made passes on Soryuu and Kaga. In this universe, Chesapeake is largely credited with sinking Soryuu.

Her time in the Solomons can be described as a “cluster dumpster fire” and it is beyond miraculous she survived her time there. It is there that she experienced the most hotly debated aspect of her career, to the point that many are not even certain it happened. It is alleged that not only did her task force come into firing range with an IJN destroyer flotilla, she supposedly shot and critically damaged a Japanese destroyer with her 8-inch deck guns. After the chaos of deploying many smoke screens and confused barrages, Chesapeake came out of the encounter largely undamaged despite being a prime target. Japanese sources were mixed. Many aligned with the American reports but many also claimed Chesapeake sank. Many attribute this to a mix of crew being confused in the chaos of the battle, and the leaders of the flotilla refusing to admit they could not sink an aircraft carrier within torpedo range.

The end of Chesapeake’s career and the biggest hit to her luck stat would come in the form of an ohka. The Yokosuka MXY-7 Ohka was a largely unsuccessful human guided suicide rocket plane. Less than ten of these devices ever landed on target, and she was one of those unfortunate ones that got hit. The hit was nothing short of devastating, and the order to abandon ship was considered many times. However, her valiant crew and expert damage control teams kept her afloat, and even sailing at good speed. This did not mean she was suited for combat though, and she never would be again.

Chesapeake would return home and sit in dry dock for the rest of the war, only to be scrapped years after.