Independence Photographs | World War II Database


Independence soon after completion, circa early 1943	Light Carrier USS Independence in port, 1943	Aviation Ordinanceman poses aiming the twin Browning M1919 .30 caliber machine of an SBD Dauntless scout bomber aboard light carrier USS Independence during her shakedown cruise to Trinidad, 30 Apr 1943.	Gun crews on a twin 40mm Bofors anti-aircraft mount take their meals at general quarters aboard the Light Carrier USS Independence in the Caribbean Sea, 30 Apr 1943.

Note the broad wings of the TBF Avenger, the largest US carrier plane of WWII, as it makes its take-off run down the flight deck of the Light Carrier USS Independence, Caribbean Sea, 1 May 1943.	Carrier Independence under overhaul at Mare Island Naval Shipyard, California, United States, 11 Jul 1943; note hulls of submarines Spadefish and Trepang nearby	Independence off Mare Island Navy Yard, 13 Jul 1943, photo 1 of 3	Independence off Mare Island Navy Yard, 13 Jul 1943, photo 2 of 3

Independence off Mare Island Navy Yard, 13 Jul 1943, photo 3 of 3	USS Independence in San Francisco Bay, California, United States, 15 Jul 1943, photo 1 of 2	USS Independence in San Francisco Bay, California, United States, 15 Jul 1943, photo 2 of 2	Aerial view straight down onto Ford Island, Pearl Harbor, Oahu, Hawaii, 18 Aug 1943.

USS Cowpens (foreground, in camouflage Measure 33, Design 7a) and USS Independence (background, in camouflage Measure 32, Design 8a) in the Pacific Ocean sailing towards Palau, Caroline Islands, 31 Aug 1944	Damaged aircraft on the hangar deck of the USS Independence, 6 Oct 1944 following heavy seas 3 days earlier. Note the hand-tied rope lashings to secure the aircraft. Note also the AIA radar antenna in the damaged radome	USS Hornet (Essex-class), distance, steaming with USS Independence and USS Enterprise on their way back to Ulithi Atoll in the Caroline Islands, 25 Jan 1945.	USS Independence anchored in Bikini Atoll as a target ship for the Operation Crossroads atomic bomb tests, Jul 1946.

Independence showing atomic bomb damage off Bikini Islands, 1 Jul 1946, photo 1 of 2	Independence showing atomic bomb damage off Bikini Islands, 1 Jul 1946, photo 2 of 2	USS Independence, damaged in atomic bomb tests, in San Francisco Bay being prepared for sinking after efforts to wash off the radioactivity were unsuccessful, Jan 1951	2015 computer enhanced sonar image of the sunken USS Independence in 2,600 feet of water off Half Moon Bay, California. Note that the colors are to better show the features and are not the true colors of the wreck.