Pacific ships

Photos and the story

Monterey

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ClassIndependence class
TypeLight carrier (CVL)
HullCVL-26
FateAfloat. Not sunk. Survived the war.
Armament (class)Light carrier converted from a cruiser hull. Flight deck and an island.
Command

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.

Monterey
Gilberts Operation, November 1943: U.S. Navy ships of Task Force 50 en route to the Gilberts and Marshalls to support the invasions of Makin and Tarawa, 12 November 1943. Ships are (l-r): USS Alabama (BB-60); USS Indiana (BB-58), in the distance, wearing dazzle camouflage; and USS Monterey (CVL-26). Public domain.

USS Monterey (CVL-26) was an Independence-class light carrier of the United States Navy. She was a light carrier, a flight-deck ship identified by that hull number.

John Ballachey Lyon became her captain on 20 March 1945. His command began in the weeks before the only operation named for her in this account.

On 1 April 1945 Monterey was off Okinawa with the fast carriers. That date places her in company with those carriers for the Okinawa operation.

She was not sunk off Okinawa. The fast-carrier force still had her that day, afloat and with the ships she had joined there.

Monterey survived the war. Captain Lyon remained in command until 17 February 1946, when he was relieved.

The pictures on this page are the originals.