Independence

Independence (CVL-22) (also CV-22) is a United States Navy light aircraft carrier, lead ship of her class and served during World War II. Converted from the hull of a cruiser, she was built by the New York Shipbuilding Corporation and commissioned in January 1943. She took part in the attacks on Rabaul and Tarawa before being torpedoed by Japanese aircraft, necessitating repairs in San Francisco from January to July 1944. After repairs, she launched many strikes against targets in Luzon and Okinawa. Independence was part of the carrier group that sank the remnants of the Japanese Mobile Fleet in the Battle of Leyte Gulf and several other Japanese ships in the Surigao Strait. Until the surrender of Japan, she was assigned to strike duties against targets in the Philippines and Japan. She finished her operational duty off the coast of Japan supporting occupation forces until being assigned to return American veterans back to the United States as part of Operation Magic Carpet. Independence was later used as a target during the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests. After being transported back to Pearl Harbor and San Francisco for study, she was later sunk near the Farallon Islands.