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Model comes on wood base with solid brass pedestals

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Independence Class Aircraft Carriers
Ship	Comm.	Fate
CVL-22 Independence	Jan 1943	Survived atomic tests at Bikini Atoll, sunk as target off California
CVL-23 Princeton	Feb 1943	Lost in action 24-9-44, Pacific Theatre
CVL-24 Belleau Wood	Mar 1943	Transferred to France1953,  renamed R-97 Bois Belleau . Returned to USN 1960, stricken and scrapped.
CVL-25 Cowpens	May 1943	Stricken 1959 and scrapped
CVL-26 Monterey	May 1943	Stricken 1970 and scrapped
CVL-27 Langley	Jun 1943	Transferred to France1951,  renamed R-96 Lafayette . Returned to USN  and scrapped 1963.
CVL-28 Cabot	Jun 1943	Decommissioned 1989, slated for scrapping, Cabot/Dedalo Foundation, attempting to preserve the ship.
CVL-29 Bataan	Nov 1943	Stricken 1959 and scrapped
CVL-30 San Jacinto	Dec 1943	Sold for scrap 1971

The Independence class of light aircraft carriers resulted from President Franklin D. Roosevelt's interest in Navy shipbuilding plans. He noted in August of 1941 that - with war clearly looming - no new fleet aircraft carriers were expected to be completed before 1944. He proposed to quickly convert some of the many cruisers then building, but studies of cruiser-size aircraft carriers had shown their serious limitations. However, following the December 1941 Pearl Harbor disaster, the Navy responded by greatly accelerating construction of the big Essex class carriers and re-ordered nine Cleveland class light cruisers as aircraft carriers.

The Independence class design featured a relatively short and narrow flight deck and hangar, with a small island. To compensate for this additional topside weight, the cruiser hulls were widened amidships by five feet.

The typical air group, originally intended to include 27 planes (nine each of fighters, scout-bombers and torpedo planes) was soon increased to number about 33 panes (24 fighters and 9 torpedo planes).

These were limited-capability ships whose principal virtue was near-term availability. Their small size made for sea keeping problems and a relatively high aircraft accident rate. Protection was modest and many munitions had to be stowed at the hangar level, a factor that contributed greatly to the loss of CVL-23 USS Princeton in October 1944.