Warbird Information Exchange

A little history on the USS Independence CVL-22.

USS Independence (CVL-22, originally CV-22), 1943-1951

USS Independence, lead ship of a class of nine 11,000 ton small aircraft carriers, was built at Camden, New Jersey. Begun as the light cruiser Amsterdam (CL-59), she was converted to a carrier before launching and commissioned in January 1943 with the hull number CV-22. In July 1943, following shakedown operations in the Caribbean, Independence joined the Pacific Fleet and was redesignated CVL-22. During the rest of 1943, she took part in raids on the Japanese bases at Marcus, Wake and Rabaul and in the campaign to seize the Gilbert Islands. She was damaged by a Japanese aerial torpedo attack on 20 November, while operating off the Gilberts, and had to return to the United States for repairs.

Independence returned to the Pacific operational area in July 1944 and trained to serve as a night carrier. She participated in the Palaus operation in September 1944, air strikes in the Philippines and Okinawa and the Battle of Leyte Gulf in October, and further offensive operations in the Western Pacific during November-December 1944 and January 1945. After an overhaul, Independence rejoined the fast carrier task force in March. Over the next six months, she took part in the Ryukyus campaign and conducted strikes against targets in the Japanese Home Islands. Following Japan's capitulation in mid-August 1945, the carrier supported occupation operations and helped bring U.S. service veterans home as part of Operation "Magic Carpet". In 1946, Independence was assigned to target duty as part of the atomic bomb tests at Bikini. She was badly damaged by the 1 July 1946 air burst and further contaminated by radioactivity in the 25 July underwater test. Formally decommissioned in August 1946, she was later used as a radiological research hulk. USS Independence was sunk as a target off the California coast in January 1951. Source: http://www.history.navy.mil/photos/sh-u ... /cvl22.htm










INDEPENDENCE CVL-22, shown here on 30 December 1944, conducted night operations and shifted into the protective formation of Task Group 38.2


Task Group 38.2 underway from Ulithi on 30 December 1944. Aircraft carriers are (front to back) INDEPENDENCE CVL-22, HORNET CV-12 and LEXINGTON CV-16

Squadrons that served aboard CVL-22 were:
VF-6, VF-21, VT-21, VC-22, VF-22, VT-22, VF-27, VT-27, VFN-41, VTN-41, VF-46, VT-46 (and VF-33 for one day at Rabaul).


VF-46 original artwork 1944. Squadron established 15 April 1944 at NAS Atlantic City and disestablished on 14 September 1945


VF-27 US Navy Fighting Twenty Seven VF-27 was a WWII fighter squadron deployed aboard the USS Independence from 14 June 1945 through 25 September 1945.


F6F Hellcat of VF-27 pictured after landing on the light carrier Independence (CVL 22), 1944-1945


Flight deck crewmen swarm around an F6F Hellcat of VF-27 after an errant landing on board the light carrier Independence (CVL 22), 1944-1945


F6F-5 Hellcat of VF-27 assigned to the light carrier Independence (CVL 22)


VF-27 Hellcat landing aboard the USS Independence. The checkerboard markings, I'm to believe, would be shortly painted over.


F6F Hellcat of VF-27 is flying from the flight deck of the USS Independence (CVL-22) c 1945


F6F-5 Hellcat assigned to the light carrier Independence (CVL 22)


F6F Hellcat of VF-27 on the flight deck of the USS Independence CVL-22 c 1945

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Zero Surprise!!...

Part 2

The next several photos are an interesting look at what I would imagine was common work for crew members on several carriers during wartime operations. I would also imagine that several times the outcome wasn't as positive as this one was. (hopefully I have the sequences correctly shown)
































USS Independence Flight deck cleanup after a Hellcat accident.

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Zero Surprise!!...

Awesome set of photos Mark, thanks.

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Ain't no sunshine when she's gone!

What a great set of photos. Thank you for sharing them.

Great photos. The bow-on shot really shows the Independence-class cruiser roots to good effect.

Each time I see photos of these light carriers, it unfortunately reminds me of the whole Cabot fiasco. A unique piece of history slipped through everyone's fingers except the scrap man's. The Navy will move mountains to keep people from getting anywhere near a wrecked or submerged airplane, but didn't even lift a finger to try to save a vital piece of their own history that was floating on the surface. Even though the Navy admits they blew it with the scrapping of the CV-6 Enterprise, they seem to have failed to learn their lesson from it.

Ok...rant over.

[quote="SaxMan"]Great photos. The bow-on shot really shows the Independence-class cruiser roots to good effect.

Each time I see photos of these light carriers, it unfortunately reminds me of the whole Cabot fiasco. A unique piece of history slipped through everyone's fingers except the scrap man's. The Navy will move mountains to keep people from getting anywhere near a wrecked or submerged airplane, but didn't even lift a finger to try to save a vital piece of their own history that was floating on the surface. Even though the Navy admits they blew it with the scrapping of the CV-6 Enterprise, they seem to have failed to learn their lesson from it.

Ok...rant over.[/quote Had Enterprise been saved she would have taken a rightful place right next to old ironsides in historical significance.I guess folks way back in the day had a more serious view of history than they did in the 50s.

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Hang The Expense

Very interesting Mark,as always.Thanks for posting.I 'm re-reading a superb book about the Independence that covers day to day activities from the shipyard to the last days of the ship.It uses both the operational daily log of the ship and diary entries of several crew members and contains hundreds of pictures.It's the best book that I've read about shipboard life in the Fast Carriers.It's a bit expensive ( just under $43 on Amazon),but it's well worth the money.I read most of the way through the book about a year ago and I'm half way through it a second time.I highly recommend this book to anyone with an interest in this subject.

I found some information in the book in my previous post above concerning the sequence of pictures of the F6F going over the side in this thread. According to the book,this incident took place at 1029 hours on Tuesday 2 October 1945 off Saipan. The pilot was Lt. L.B.Norris. He was admitted to sickbay for treatment of a fractured left hand. There are additional details,but the outcome was a minor injury to the pilot,no other injuries and minor damage to a couple of antenna booms and the port catwalk on the ship.

Thanks Larry, I was wondering about the details of that incident. Thanks again

M

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Zero Surprise!!...

The amazing thing is that the tail hook has the captured wire in its grasp for the entire sequence of pictures. This likely retarded the foundering of the Hellcat. Perhaps the spool brake failed?