USN · CVL
AfloatLead ship of the Independence class of light carriers, built on a cruiser hull begun as Amsterdam. She raided Marcus and Wake, was torpedoed at Tarawa in November 1943, and later flew night fighters and night scouts for the fast carriers through Leyte, Luzon and Okinawa. Not sunk in the war.
| Class | Independence class |
|---|---|
| Type | Light carrier (CVL) |
| Hull | CVL-22 |
| Builder | New York Shipbuilding, Camden |
| Launched | 1942-08-22 |
| Commissioned | 1943-01-14 |
| Fate | Afloat. Torpedoed at Tarawa on 20 November 1943 and survived. Used as a target ship in the 1946 Bikini atomic tests and scuttled off the Farallon Islands, California, on 29 January 1951. |
| Armament (class) | Light carrier converted from a cruiser hull. Flight deck and an island. |
| Command |
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Laid down, displacement, length, beam, draft, speed, and complement are not stored for each hull, so this table leaves them out.
The armament line is the class drawing, not a measurement of this hull.
USS Independence (CVL-22) in San Francisco Bay on 15 July 1943, the day she was redesignated CVL. U.S. Navy photograph 80-G-74436. Wikimedia Commons File:USS Independence (CVL-22) in San Francisco Bay on 15 July 1943 (80-G-74436).jpg. Public domain.
The pictures on this page are the originals.
No color version yet. Colored pictures and film will be added here.
Command
Gilbert Islands, November 1943
1943-11-20 · raids on Tarawa from 18 November 1943; torpedoed by a Japanese plane on 20 November and badly damaged; not sunk
Battle of the Sibuyan Sea
1944-10-24 · Task Group 38.2; her planes joined the strikes that sank Musashi on 24 October 1944; not sunk
Battle off Cape Engaño
1944-10-25 · TG 38.2 light carrier, the night carrier; her night search on the 24th reported Kurita turning back toward San Bernardino Strait. Not sunk
Battle off Samar
1944-10-25 · night scout planes shadowed Ozawa's carriers to dawn on 26 October 1944; not sunk
Okinawa
1945-04-01 · strikes on 30 and 31 March 1945 and air patrol and strikes after the landing of 1 April, until 10 June; not sunk
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