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Independence Class



Specifications: (USS Independence Class-original design)
Displacement: 13,208 tonnes (13,000 tons)
Length: 190 m (623 ft)
Height: 7.6 m (25 ft 11 in)
Propulsion: Quadruple screw turbines
Speed: 31.6 knots
Armament: Two 12.7 cm (5 in) guns
Crew: 1569
Aircraft: 45
Vessels of Class: 9
The Independence class of Light carrier was a stop-gap measure to fill the dwindiling ranks of the US Navy Carrier fleet while larger more powerful carriers where being built, at an average of 1 carrier built every nine months.
The class was a hybrid of a Cleavland or Balitmore class Light Cruiser hull, with Destroyer turbines, cruiser engines with few guns and little or no armor plating.
These ships like CVE's where manned by USMC fighter divisions, and rarely had USN crews.
The class consisted of:
USS Independence CVL-22
USS Princeton (first ship of the name) CVL-23
USS Belleau Wood CVL-24
USS Cowpens CVL-25
USS Monterey CVL-26
USS Langley (second ship of name) CVL-27
USS Cabot CVL-28
USS Bataan CVL-29
USS San Jacinto CVL-30
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