Independence class (aircraft carrier)

Independence class

Overview
Type:	Light aircraft carrier
Surname:	Independence
Units:	9 built, all out of service
Period of service:	1943 (Independence) - 1947 (San Jacinto) 1948 (Cabot) - 1956 (Monterey)
Technical specifications
Displacement:	11,000 ts ( standard ) 13,000 ts (use)
Length:	approx. 190 m
Width:	21.8 m (waterline) 33.3 m (flight deck)
Draft:	7.9 m
Speed:	31.6 kn (~ 59 km / h)
Crew:	1,569 (see section 3. Crew )
Range:	5,800 nm (~ 10,700 km) at 25 kn (~ 46 km / h) 10,100 nm (~ 18,700 km) at 15 kn (~ 28 km / h)
Fuel supply:	2,419 ts (max. 2,789 ts)
Drive:	4 steam boilers 4 steam turbines with single gear 100,000 shaft HP on 4 propellers

The Independence class was a class of nine light aircraft carriers in the United States Navy . They were converted from Cleveland-class cruisers that had already been started and put into service in 1943 as a quick replacement for the fleet carriers lost in 1942 . The carriers were used in the Pacific theater of war, with one ship sunk. During the Korean War , a carrier was in use while two ships were loaned to France and one to Spain . The latter, the USS Cabot , served as a dédalo for 22 years before being decommissioned in 1989. The remaining ships remained in the reserve fleet until the end of the 1950s and partly also the 1960s, where they were occasionally used as aircraft transporters.

history

Launching of the USS Princeton on 18 October 1,942th

Planning and construction

The tense political situation with a possible war with the Empire of Japan and the fact that the first aircraft carriers of the new Essex-class under construction would not be put into active service until 1944 were of great concern to the then US- President Franklin D. Roosevelt reason enough to expand the aircraft carrier fleet as quickly as possible. Due to time constraints, the hulls of cruisers already under construction were to be converted into carriers. Commissioned studies criticized the much smaller number of possible combat aircraft to be carried due to the cruiser dimensions compared to previous aircraft carriers, which led the Admiralty to doubt this program.

The convincing work of the then Minister of the Navy, Frank Knox, prompted the top naval management to implement this construction program. The Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor a little later , which finally led to the feared war, illustrated the effectiveness of the carrier combat groups and confirmed the Admiralty in this project.

The Navy then accelerated the completion of aircraft carriers under construction and selected Cleveland-class cruiser hulls for conversion. The first Independence- class carrier was approved in January 1942, while further assignments were made in February (two units), March (three) and June (three). A total of nine units were therefore already under construction one year after the initial considerations. All Independence girders were built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation in Camden , New Jersey , on the Delaware River , and put into active service by the US Navy during 1943 at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard .

The first months of the war brought significant losses for the US Navy. While seven aircraft carriers were still in service at the time of the American entry into the war, the Enterprise was temporarily the only operational carrier that the Allies could muster against the Imperial Japanese Navy .

units

All nine ships were converted from existing hulls of light cruisers of the Cleveland class (identification CL ; see table). The first five units were put into service as aircraft carriers with the identifier CV ("Cruiser Volplane"), but on July 15, 1943 , they were renamed as a light aircraft carrier with the identifier CVL ("Cruiser Volplane, light"). The ships still under construction were given the CVL designation from the start.

In contrast to the battleships or destroyers, the US Navy did not have a uniform system for naming its aircraft carriers. This was also evident in these nine ships. Starting with the historical event of independence ("Independence") over past battles of the American War of Independence (" Princeton ", " Cowpens "), Texan War of Independence (" San Jacinto "), Mexican-American War (" Monterey "), First World War ( " Bois Belleau ", French for "Belleau Wood") and the Second World War (" Bataan "), as well as after the Italian navigator Giovanni Caboto and the American aviation pioneer Samuel Langley .

#	Surname	Ordered	Keel laying	Launch	Indienst- position	Außerdienst- position
CVL-22	Independence Amsterdam (CL-59) ^a)	Jan 10, 1942 Jul 1, 1940	May 1, 1941	22 Aug 1942	Jan 14, 1943	28 Aug 1946
CVL-23	Princeton Tallahassee (CL-61) ^a)	Feb 16, 1942 Jul 1, 1940	Jun 2, 1941	Oct 18, 1942	25 Feb 1943	Sunk on October 24, 1944
CVL-24	Belleau Wood New Haven (CL-76) ^a)	Feb 16, 1942 Sep 9, 1940	Aug 11, 1941	6 Dec 1942	31st Mar 1943	Jan 13, 1947
CVL-25	Cowpens Huntington (CL-77) ^a)	21 Mar 1942 ?	Nov 17, 1941	17th Jan 1943	May 28, 1943	Jan 13, 1947
CVL-26	Monterey Dayton (CL-78) ^a)	Mar 21, 1942 Sep 9, 1940	29th Dec 1941	28 Feb 1943	Jun 17, 1943 Sep 15, 1950	Feb 11, 1947 Jan 16, 1956
CVL-27	Langley Crown Point (CV-27) ^b) Fargo (CL-85) ^a)	Nov 13, 1942 March 18, 1942 ?	Apr 11, 1942	May 22, 1943	31 Aug 1943	11th Feb 1947
CVL-28	Cabot Wilmington (CL-79) ^a)	11 Jul 1942 ?	16 Mar 1942	Apr 4, 1943	Jul 24, 1943 Oct 27, 1948	Feb 11, 1947 Jan 21, 1955
CVL-29	Bataan Buffalo (CL-99) ^a)	11 Jul 1942 16 Dec 1940	31 Aug 1942	Aug 1, 1943	Nov 17, 1943 May 13, 1950	Feb 11, 1947 Apr 9, 1954
CVL-30	San Jacinto Reprisal (CV-30) Newark (CV-30) ^b) Newark (CL-100) ^a)	11 Jul 1943 23 Jun 1942 2 Jun 1942 ?	Oct 26, 1942	26 Sep 1943	Dec 15, 1943	1st Mar 1947

^{a): original name of the cruiser on whose fuselage the light aircraft carrier was based}

^{b): first proposed name of the aircraft carrier}

Use and whereabouts

The light cruiser Birmingham supports the fire fighting aboard the burning Princeton . The cruiser was later badly damaged by the magazine explosion on the aircraft carrier.

The nine ships entered service between January and December 1943, along with the first Essex- class units , the completion of which was massively accelerated after the USA entered the war. They served with the large aircraft carriers within the Fast Carrier Task Forces .

Together with the escort aircraft carriers , they formed an important force within the US Navy. Independence porters took part in the campaigns against the Gilbert and Marshall Islands . In June 1944, eight of the ships in the so-called took Marianas Turkey Shoot , where she alone 40% of all Allied hunting and 36% of all torpedo planes presented. They were also essential in the Gulf of Leyte and on the landings on Iwojima and Okinawa . In Leyte, the Independence, together with the fleet carrier Enterprise, formed the first aircraft carrier formation equipped with aircraft capable of night hunting, i.e. aircraft equipped with radar. In the course of the Leyte operations on October 24, 1944, the only Independence carrier, the Princeton, was lost . The fires triggered by a single Japanese bomb hit caused ammunition to explode. Five hours after the hit, the detonation of a magazine finally tore the entire aft section apart. This made clear the vulnerability of this class of ship, in which, due to the lack of space, the ammunition depots were located directly on or below the hangar deck and not, as with the larger fleet carriers, deep inside the ship below an armored deck.

Damage to the *Independence-* class aircraft carrier during the Pacific War
ship	date	surgery	root cause	Shipyard time	comment
Independence	Nov 20, 1943	Gilbert Islands	1 aircraft torpedo	24 weeks	3 propeller shafts destroyed considerable water ingress
Princeton	Oct 24, 1944	Leyte	1 plane bomb	severe fires on the hangar deck. Sinking by own efforts; 108 fatalities
Belleau Wood	Oct 30, 1944	Patrol east of Leyte	1 kamikaze	4½ weeks	Serious fires, 92 fatalities
Cabot	Nov 25, 1944	Patrol east of Luzon	2 kamikaze	2 weeks	minor fires and partial damage resumption of flight operations after 1 hour 62 fatalities
Langley	Jan 21, 1945	south china. sea	1 plane bomb	9 days	Medium damage from the effects of pressure. Minor fires. Resumption of flight operations after 2½ hours
San Jacinto	Apr 6, 1945	Okinawa	kamikaze		minor damage

After the end of the war and after completing the last “ Magic Carpet ” trips (return transport of the US soldiers deployed in the Pacific), all units were decommissioned and assigned to the reserve fleet. The type ship Independence was tested in 1946 in the first series of nuclear weapons tests in peacetime ( Operation Crossroads ). The ship, which had not sunk but was radioactively contaminated, ended up as a target ship on January 29, 1951 at the Farallon Islands off the coast of California . Belleau Wood and Langley were loaned out to the French Navy under the Mutual Defense Assistance Program in the early 1950s , where they took part in the Indochina War as Bois Belleau (R97) and Lafayette (R96) . The Belleau Wood returned to the United States in 1960 and was sold for scrapping that same year. The same was done with the Langley three years later .

Monterey and Bataan were reactivated in 1950. The Monterey was used as a training aircraft carrier in NAS Pensacola , Florida , and provided disaster relief in Honduras after Hurricane Gilda in 1954 , before being decommissioned two years later in Philadelphia . The Bataan was initially used as a transport ship for US Air Force personnel and equipment to Japan , but later took an active part in the Korean War with Marine Corps squadrons . It was removed from the Naval Vessel Register in 1959 and scrapped in 1961.

Cowpens and San Jacinto remained in the reserve fleet and were re-registered as AVT (Auxiliary Aircraft Transports) in 1959, together with the sister ships Monterey and Cabot , which served in the Atlantic fleet between 1948 and 1955 . Still, only the Cabot could begin another career, as Cowpens (1960), San Jacinto (1971) and Monterey (1971) were scrapped.

Cabot 1995 in New Orleans.

After twelve years and a two-year overhaul and modernization in the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard , the Cabot was put into service as Dédalo (R-01) in 1967 by the Spanish Navy . Initially used as a pure helicopter carrier, the ship later became the first aircraft carrier to be equipped with vertical take-offs of the Harrier type. The Dedalo served as the flagship until the Príncipe de Asturias was commissioned . In 1989 it was decommissioned and moved to New Orleans , where a company tried to keep the carrier as a museum, which was ultimately in vain. After a stopover in Port Isabel , Texas , the last World War II light aircraft carrier ended up in Brownsville , Texas, where it was scrapped from October 2000 to March 2003.

These nine ships could look back on a considerable collection of medals. They received 81 Battle Stars , three Presidential Unit Citations and a Navy Unit Commendation in World War II alone . The Bataan was awarded an additional seven Battle Stars for its Korean War service.

The future US President George HW Bush served as the youngest Navy pilot of World War II on board the San Jacinto.

Modifications

USS Bataan with Guardian anti-submarine aircraft in May 1953.

Since the end of the Second World War, five Independence porters have been put back into active service. In addition to the minor modernization (radar) and maintenance work, there was only major renovation work on the ships Cabot (CVL-28) and Bataan (CVL-29). These carriers have been for submarine hunting - converted (ASW Anti Submarine Warfare). The flight deck was fitted with a second catapult and reinforced to carry up to 20 heavier AF Guardian aircraft . The first and third chimneys were removed to compensate for the resulting increased top-heaviness. A reinforced mast was installed between the remaining two chimneys, allowing more electronic equipment to be mounted.

technology

hull

Size comparison of four different aircraft carrier classes ( Alameda , California , September 1945): Saratoga , Enterprise , Hornet and USS San Jacinto ( Independence class) starting in the foreground

The ship's hull , based on the Cleveland class, was 182.9 m long and 21.8 m wide at the waterline. In a closer comparison, the Independence-class carriers were only 27 m shorter than the smallest US aircraft carrier at the time, the Wasp (CV-7), and 20 m longer than the largest escort aircraft carrier of the Commencement Bay class . The deployment displacement of 13,000 ts , other sources also speak of 15,100 ts, caused a draft of 7.9 m. The hangar deck was placed on the main deck of the cruiser hull. The flight deck, which is 14 m (Essex class: 17.4 m) above the waterline, had wooden planking like on all other US carriers. The horizontal armor was on the main / hangar deck below, but with an armor thickness of 76 mm was significantly weaker than on the fleet carriers.

Caused by the heavy superstructure, there was an increased top-heaviness . According to calculations, 6,000 ts of ballast would have been necessary to compensate for this, but this would have placed the ship lower in the water and the achievable maximum speed would have been significantly lower. Since every additional knot facilitates the launch of the carrier aircraft, this solution was deviated and instead side bulges were added to the waterline. As a result of this design-related measure, in which the hull amidships was widened by approx. 1.5 m, the length-to-width ratio of the hull fell from originally 9: 1 (hull of a Cleveland-class cruiser) to 8.4: 1. As a further measure to reduce weight, for example, the doors of the officers' cabins were replaced by much lighter gray linen curtains . Despite the additional armor on the waterline of 38 to 127 mm, the CVL were almost defenseless against enemy torpedoes and mines. The top-heaviness could never be removed, which means that the ships tended to roll in heavy seas (→ Typhoon Cobra ).

Flight deck

A Hellcat fighter is pushed into the deck elevator of the USS Monterey (CVL-26).

According to the flight deck shape of a rectangle used at that time , it had the dimensions 174.4 m × 22.3 m. Since the fuselage was approx. 183 m longer than the flight deck, it did not reach the bow, which made the Independence class look similar to the aircraft carriers of the British Courageous class and most Japanese carriers ( Ryūjō , Sōryū ). The two centrally positioned elevators (12.8 × 13.4 m) were in front of and behind the island and delimited the 65.5 m × 17.6 m large hangar deck. As the flight deck was comparatively short, a hydraulic catapult of the type H-II was initially installed on the bow, which was supplemented by a second on some ships towards the end of the war. Eight brake cables were available for the landing aircraft . A timber-framed crane installed in front of the island had a load-bearing mass of 7 t.

island

Cowpens Island . The large antenna mounted on the foremast is the so-called SC radar. Behind it is the smaller SG radar and on the main mast the YE target radio beacon (predecessor of TACAN ). An SK antenna can be seen behind the island .

The first aircraft carrier in the US Navy, which combined the command center and the funnel in one deck structure ("island"), was the Yorktown (CV-5). Since then, this concept has been applied to almost every conventionally powered carrier. In the Independence class, however, this had to be done without. Due to the narrow flight deck and the large span of the aircraft stationed on these carriers ( Hellcat : 13 m; Avenger : 16.5 m), the island was moved beyond the starboard edge of the flight deck and supported accordingly with steel girders on the side wall. For reasons of stability, it was made small and a corresponding amount of cement was filled into the port side bulge as compensation ballast. Despite all attempts balancing the nine Independence aircraft carrier always had about five degrees list to starboard.

Since the island was placed at the end of the first third of the ship, the exhaust gases from the propulsion system could not be discharged via a central chimney integrated in the island, as this would have meant a considerably higher construction effort. For this reason, the smoke gases were let out through four curved chimneys, which were hung on the starboard wall and supported by a framework construction. Since the chimneys by only 3 towered above the flight deck m and the bridge by 2 m was higher, the vision was impaired depending on the wind direction and smoke intensity. Due to a lack of space, the operations center and the radar screens were located under the flight deck in front of the forward elevator.

drive

The four with an operating temperature of 455 ° C and at an operating pressure of 39 bar working boiler of Babcock & Wilcox drove four gear steam turbines of the brand General Electric on. The resulting total output of 100,000 hp drove four propellers with one shaft each and brought the ship to a top speed of 31.6 kn (~ 59 km / h). In comparison, the light cruisers of the Cleveland class, on whose hulls and engines the Independence class was based, achieved 32.5 knots. With a maximum supply of 2,789 ts of heavy fuel oil, each ship could travel 10,100 nautical miles (~ 18,700 km) at a speed of 15 kn (~ 28 km / h) (compared to aircraft carriers of the Yorktown- class : 7,400 ts and aircraft carriers of the Essex-class : 6161 ts). The average fuel consumption at this speed was 60 gallons per minute (~ 227 l / min ≈ 225 kg / min).

Armament

A 12.7 cm (5 inch ) L / 38 single gun from the destroyer USS Shaw (DD-373) , as used on the first two Independence-class ships.
A 40 mm quadruple flak on board the Hornet .

The original intention was to equip these ships with up to four 12.7 cm L / 38 individual guns, as could be found on the Lexington and Essex class carriers . This multi-purpose gun had a firing range of 16.6 km with a barrel elevation of 45 ° and a maximum shot height of 11.3 km with a barrel elevation of 85 °. The pure anti-aircraft armament was to consist of 16 40 mm L / 60 cannons on twin mounts and 16 20 mm L / 70 Oerlikon cannons on single mounts.

The carriers Independence and Princeton were nevertheless only equipped with two 12.7 cm guns, one each at the bow and one at the stern. The rest of the anti-aircraft armament was carried out according to plan, with the number of guns varying from ship to ship over the next few years. Since the light aircraft carriers operated primarily in the context of fast combat groups, the main load of the aircraft defense could be entrusted to the escort ships, while the carriers were limited to the light machine flak against low-flying aircraft. After about six weeks, the multi-purpose guns were replaced by 40 mm L / 60 quadruple flak, which provided an effective range of 10 km at 42 ° barrel elevation.

Towards the end of the war, the defensive armament consisted of 26 to 28 40 mm and four to 22 20 mm cannons. Due to the lack of space, the ammunition magazines were small and far away from the weapons. Therefore it happened that a large part of the ammunition was stored directly by the guns and on the hangar deck.

Reconnaissance and fire control

Radar tracking devices

Belleau Wood in the Philadelphia Navy Yard on April 18, 1943. Note the labeled radar antennas.

The standard radar equipment consisted of the of General Electric developed long wave -Radaren SK and SC-2 and from the SG - microwave -Radar. The SK radar was able to locate medium-sized aircraft from a range of approx. 185 km (± 91 m) and worked with a bearing accuracy of ± 3 °. The 4.5 m × 5 m antenna weighed 1100 kg and was installed on a small mast between chimneys two and three.

The smaller SC-2 radar with its 4.5 m × 1.5 m antenna was originally designed for destroyers and served as an emergency replacement device for the SK radar on the Independence carriers. Mounted on the island at a height of over 30 m, it achieved a range of 140 km (± 183 m; ± 3 °). It was later retrofitted with an IFF system . The characteristic feature of the SG radar developed by Raytheon was its 1.2 m × 1.1 m large parabolic antenna with the external transmitter and receiver unit . Its maximum detection range was approx. 27.8 km (± 91 m; ± 2 °). Originally conceived only for locating surface targets (ships), the SG radar was also aids in navigation and was also able Submarine - periscopes up to capture 9 km away and low-flying aircraft. As reliable as these radar systems were, they could not determine the altitude of enemy warplanes. It was only possible to estimate the height based on the greatest and smallest signal strength.

In the 1950s, these systems were replaced on some aircraft carriers by the Westinghouse SPS-6 radar . The 5.5 × 1.5 m large and approx. 400 kg heavy antenna produced an output of 500 kW, which enabled a detection range of up to 260 km. The ships Belleau Wood and Langley , which were lent to the French Navy , also received French DRBV 22 radars . The Cabot , which had been on duty in the Spanish Navy for a long time , was continuously upgraded to newer PLC variants.

Fire control systems

Scheme of the fire control device Mk 51

The first fire control systems were mainly installed on 40 mm machine flak from 1944 in order to achieve more precise gun control and thus to achieve a higher firing rate. The “Gun Fire Control Systems” used were of the Mk 51 and Mk 63 types.

Mk 51 was initially only installed on the two 40 mm L / 60 quad flaks. This apparatus consisted of a frame that the operator could turn and swivel using two handlebars similar to a bicycle. With the help of the optical Mark 14 sight, an enemy aircraft was sighted and tracked from a maximum distance of 3658 m. An integrated analog computer evaluated the altitude and distance and automatically swiveled the anti-aircraft gun around the calculated lead angle using two 440-volt AC motors. The design and principle of the Mk 63 fire control unit was identical to the Mk 51. In addition to the more modern optical Mark-29 sight, this system was also equipped with an Mk-19 radar, whereby the operating team was supplemented by a radar operator. The fire control system developed by MIT made it possible for the first time to target and "blind" fire at enemy aircraft, that is, under restricted visibility. A characteristic of this system was a round radar antenna with a diameter of approx. 80 cm installed on the 40 mm gun.

Camouflage paints

San Jacinto with their camouflage

Like many of the surface units in World War II, some of the light aircraft carriers were also camouflaged and patterned. These should make it more difficult for the enemy to recognize a ship from the sea or from the air and to determine its course and speed. It also served to make the identification of the ship class difficult or even impossible. Of the aircraft carriers of this class, the Langley (CVL-27) and the Cabot (CVL-28) never had a camouflage pattern, but only the camouflage scheme 21 .

Independence (CVL-22) and Bataan (CVL-29) operated with camouflage scheme 32 and camouflage pattern 8A . The Monterey (CVL-26) had camouflage scheme 33 and pattern 3D . Pattern 3D was originally developed for destroyers. The other carriers in this class, Princeton (CVL-23), Belleau Wood (CVL-24), Cowpens (CVL-25) and San Jacinto (CVL-30), ran with Scheme 33 and Pattern 7A .

crew

There are different details about the number of teams. Several sources speak of a crew of 1,569 men, although it is not clear whether the number of soldiers in the Air Wing has already been included. In May 1945 the Cabot had a crew of 87 officers and 1,315 NCOs and men. In addition, 60 officers and 36 men and officers from the Air Group, which comprises 24 fighters and nine torpedo planes, came. Thus there were a total of 1498 crew members. Another source on Independence speaks of 86 officers, 1,235 NCOs and men and a 114-strong air group. In comparison, the Cleveland-class cruisers, on whose hull the aircraft carriers were based, had a war crew of 70 officers and 1,285 men (Peace: 54 officers and 938 men).

The girders were built higher, but the already tight space for the hangar deck, ammunition depot, operations center and briefing rooms had to be available, which meant that the crews could not be accommodated particularly comfortably. 40,000 gallons (~ 151,500 l) of seawater were distilled into drinking water every day for the supply.

A delegation of 43 US Marines was on board for guard and representation tasks. This consisted of two officers ( major ; first lieutenant ), ten non-commissioned officers (one sergeant major , gunnery sergeant and staff sergeant each ; two sergeants ; five corporals ) and 31 private or private first class . In addition, the Marines manned six 20 mm anti-aircraft guns (four on port and two on starboard).

The personnel situation was precarious on the maiden voyages of all nine ships. In some cases 70% of the total crew had no sea experience at all, as they either came from the reserve or were very young recruited a few weeks earlier. It often didn't look any better with the officers. The commander in the rank of a captain was basically a long-serving member of the Navy and graduated from in Annapolis , the US state of Maryland , resident Naval Academy . The other staff officers , who each acted as heads of the ship departments ambulance , airborne squadron, air defense , communications , machines, navigation , ship security and supply , had the rank of commander and / or lieutenant commander . On average, five to six of these eight officers attended the Naval Academy, while nearly all of the other officers came from the reserve. In fact, only 15% of the officer corps of a ship consisted of long-term professional officers.

Air group

An Avenger on final approach to USS Cowpens during Marshall Islands operations in January 1944. Note the brake cables and the position of the landing signal officer on the port side of the aft flight deck.

The original plan envisaged the use of nine fighter, torpedo and reconnaissance or bomb aircraft. Based on the experience gained in the field, the group was enlarged and its composition changed, so an average Air Group stationed on the Independence carriers consisted of two dozen fighter and nine torpedo bombers , which meant that the capacities of the carriers were fully utilized. The types used during the Pacific War were almost exclusively the F6F Hellcat and TBM / TBF Avenger , only on the Independence were Dauntless dive bombers stationed in the summer of 1943 . Occasionally, the Air Group consisted entirely of 36 Hellcat fighters to protect the large fleet aircraft carriers from enemy warplanes, while the Air Group concentrated on attacks and had fewer fighters and more bombers on board. The background to this concept and one of the reasons for the always high proportion of fighters on the Independence class carriers was that fully loaded dive bombers and torpedo bombers take off with difficulty from the comparatively short flight deck, which was 100 m shorter than that of the Essex class could. The decks were sufficient for the lighter and more powerfully motorized fighters.

The Bataan was the only Independence-class carrier that took part in the Korean War . Here came F4U Corsair fighter-bombers of the US Marine Corps used.

The ship's supply of aviation fuel was 122,243 gallons (~ 462,700 l ). For comparison, the Yorktown- class carriers carried 178,000 gallons (~ 673,800 liters) and the Essex- class 440,000 gallons (~ 1,665,500 liters) of gasoline. Due to the small, especially narrow flight deck, there were more accidents than other US Navy aircraft carriers.

Air Groups on *Independence-* class aircraft carriers
#	set up	1. Mission tour		2. Mission tour
21st	May 1943	Jul - Nov 1944	Belleau Wood	-
22nd	Sep 1942	Sep - Nov 1943	Independence	Sep '44 - Jan 1945	Cowpens
23	Nov 1942	Sep '43 - Apr 1944	Princeton	Feb - Apr 1945	Langley
24	Dec 1942	Sep '43 - Jun 1944	Belleau Wood	-
25th	Feb 1943	Oct '43 - Jun 1944	Cowpens	-
27	May 1943	Jun - Oct 1944	Princeton	Jul - Aug 1945	Independence
28	May 1942	Jun - Dec 1944	Monterey	Sep - Oct 1945	Belleau Wood
29	Jul 1942	Oct '44 - Apr 1945	Cabot	-
30th	Apr 1943	Nov '43 - Apr 1944	Monterey	Feb - Jun 1945	Belleau Wood
31	May 1943	Jan - Sep 1944	Cabot	Jul - Aug 1945	Belleau Wood
32	Jun 1943	Jan - Sep 1944	Langley	Aug - Oct 1945	Cabot
34	Apr 1945	Apr 1945	Monterey	-
41 (N)	Aug 1944	Sep '44 - Jan 1945	Independence	-
44	Feb 1944	Oct '44 - Jan 1945	Langley	-
45	Apr 1944	Nov '44 - Apr 1945	San Jacinto	-
46	Apr 1944	Feb '44 - Jun 1945	Independence	-
47	May 1944	Mar - Aug 1945 Aug 1945	Bataan San Jacinto	-
49	Aug 1944	May '44 - Aug 1945	San Jacinto	-
50	Aug 1943	Apr - Jul 1944	Bataan	Jun - Aug 1945	Cowpens
51	Sep 1943	May - Nov 1944	San Jacinto	-

literature

Stefan Terzibaschitsch : US Navy aircraft carrier - fleet aircraft carrier / escort aircraft carrier . 3. Edition. Bernard & Graefe, Bonn 2001, ISBN 3-7637-6200-0 .

Web links

Commons : Independence Class (Aircraft Carrier) - Album with pictures, videos and audio files

Independence class at globalsecurity.org (English)
Independence Class (CVL) light fleet aircraft carrier. In: oocities.org. Retrieved January 4, 2013 .
Independence class small aircraft carriers, (CVL 22-30). Retrieved January 4, 2013 .
Independence class (English)
Independence class according to microworks.net (English)
Light aircraft carriers of the US Navy (English)
Saga of The Sundowners: The Independence-Class Light Carriers (English)

Individual evidence

↑ USS LANGLEY (CV-27) - Operational and Building Data. In: NavSource Naval History. Retrieved August 12, 2007 .

^ Scot MacDonald: Evolution of Aircraft Carriers . 1964, p. 48 ( pdf [accessed on September 18, 2007]).

↑ ^a ^b CV-22 Independence. In: www.globalsecurity.org. Retrieved August 14, 2007 .

^ J. Ed Hudson: A History of the USS CABOT (CVL-28): A Fast Carrier in World War II . 1986, p. 162 ( A History of the USS CABOT (CVL-28): A Fast Carrier in World War II [accessed August 20, 2007]).

↑ ^a ^b USS INDEPENDENCE (CV-22) - Specifications. In: NavSource Naval History. Retrieved July 26, 2007 .

↑ J. Ed Hudson , p. 134; Retrieved December 22, 2007

↑ USS Cabot - Specifications. In: Air Group 31. Retrieved August 17, 2007 .

↑ United States Navy - Light Aircraft Carriers - Independence - Dimensions. In: pacific.valka.cz. Retrieved September 22, 2007 .

↑ ^a ^b ^c J. Ed Hudson , p. 129; Retrieved December 22, 2007

↑ Hans Christian Adamson: Halsey's Typhoons - A first hand account of how two typhoons, more powerful than the Japanese, dealt death and destruction to Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet . New York 1967 (online at Halsey's Typhoons - A firsthand account of how two typhoons, more powerful than the Japanese, dealt death and destruction to Admiral Halsey's Third Fleet [accessed February 27, 2008] excerpt).

^ Independence class - Armament and Equipment. In: www.microworks.net. Retrieved July 28, 2007 .

^ Radar Research and Development Sub-Committee of the Joint Committee on New Weapons and Equipment: US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar, Classified by Tactical Application (FTP 217) . Washington DC 1943, p. 15th ff . ( US Radar: Operational Characteristics of Radar, Classified by Tactical Application (FTP 217) [accessed August 6, 2007]).

^ Morgan McMahon and Radar - SG-1 NAVY SURFACE SEARCH RADAR. In: www.smecc.org. Retrieved September 3, 2007 .

↑ Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Combat systems of the US Navy . Hamburg 2001, p. 114 f . ISBN 3-7822-0806-4 .

^ Mk 51 Gun Director. (No longer available online.) In: www.usstexasbb35.com. Archived from the original on November 21, 2008 ; Retrieved August 28, 2007 .

^ Fire Directors. (No longer available online.) In: www.de220.com. Archived from the original on August 12, 2007 ; Retrieved September 3, 2007 .

^ Stefan Terzibaschitsch: Aircraft carrier of the US Navy - Fleet aircraft carrier / escort aircraft carrier . Bonn 2001, p. 346 . ISBN 3-7637-6200-0 .

↑ J. Ed Hudson , p. 145; Retrieved August 20, 2007

^ The History Of The Mighty I - Stats. In: USS Independence CVL-22 Reunion Group Inc. website. Retrieved August 15, 2007 .

↑ J. Ed Hudson , p. 2; Retrieved August 17, 2007

↑ J. Ed Hudson , p. 137; Retrieved December 24, 2007

^ Air Group 31 , USS Cabot - Specifications; Retrieved August 22, 2007

^ The Ship - Dimensions and Propulsion. In: USS Enterprise CV-6 - The Most Decorated Ship of the Second World War. Retrieved August 31, 2007 .

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↑ J. Ed Hudson , p. 147; Retrieved August 22, 2007

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