
Built by New York Navy. Laid down 1 July 1955, launched 6 June 1958, commissioned 10 Jan 1959. Redesignated as a multimission carrier (CV 62) 28 February 1973. after being modified to operate ASW aircraft. SLEP at Philadelphia Navy Yard 4/1985 to mid-1988.
Replaced Midway as forward-deployed carrier in Japan, 1991. Island was extensively enlarged during SLEP and other modernizations. Replaced by Kitty Hawk in July 1998 and decommissioned to reserve on 30 September 1998. Struck from the Navy list on 8 March 2004.
Status: Stricken, to be disposed of (Maintenance Category X).
Berth: NAVSEA Inactive Ships On-site Maintenance Office, Bremerton, WA.
Planned disposition: In April 2004 Navy officials identified ex-Independence as
one of 24 decommissioned ships available to be sunk as artificial reefs. As of February 2008, however,
she was scheduled to be dismantled in the next five years.
| Click On Image
For Full Size Image |
Size | Image Description | Contributed
By And/Or Copyright |
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|---|---|---|---|---|
![]() NS026238 |
184k | Leaving Brooklyn Navy Yard, February 1959. From the collection of Edmund H. Cokely, CWO2, USN (Retired) who was Electrical Ship Superintendent for USS Independence. |
John Dupre | |
![]() NS026226 |
110k | USS Independence (CVA-62) photographed in April 1959, during her shakedown cruise. Planes on deck include the following types: Douglas A3D Skywarrior (including Bu # 135420, an A3D-1); Douglas A4D-2 Skyhawk (including Bu #s 142708 and 142712); McDonnell F3H-2 Demon (including Bu #s 143434, 143447, 143448 and 143474); Vought F8U-1 Crusader (including Bu #s 145386 and 145429). Note paint pattern on the carrier's landing path. Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1041841). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026244 |
197k | USS Independence (CVA 62) with Carrier Air Group 7 (CVG-7) aboard, headed for Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Official USN photograph, USN 1023567, dated April 1959. Released. From US Naval Photographic Center, US Naval Station, Washington DC. |
David Buell | |
![]() NS026228 |
96k | USS Hawkins (DDR-873) alongside the newly-completed USS Independence (CVA-62) during replenishment exercises, May 1959. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center (# NH 99066). |
NHC | |
NS026206 |
34k | Profile view, undated. | © Jim Clarke BT3 | |
![]() NS026222 |
125k | USS Independence (CVA-62), USS Saratoga (CVA-60), and USS Intrepid (CVA-11) (listed from bottom to top) underway in 1961, with crewmen paraded on deck in a spellout commemorating the 50th birthday of Naval Aviation. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97716). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026231 |
112k | Naples, late May 1962. |
Photo by Jack C. Sofield | |
![]() NS026227 |
97k | Crewmembers man the rail as the ship is visited by Prince Rainer and Princess Grace of Monaco, while anchored off Cannes, France, 5 July 1962. USS Compton (DD-705) is in the background. Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# USN 1061608). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026205 |
69k | In July 1962, I was an AG-2 stationed aboard the USS Randolph (CVS-15). We were homeport out of Norfolk and operated as Task Group Alpha. In the Summer of 1962, Task Group Alpha went on a Med Cruise to give the USNA Middies a little at-sea time. While in the Med, we joined up with the USS Shangri-La (CVA-38) and USS Independence (CVA-62). With the three Carrier Task Forces combined, we had the largest gathering of US Naval Warships in the Med since the latter days of WWII. | © Frank K. Roshto | |
![]() NS026219 |
92k | USS Independence (CVA-62) is welcomed to New York Harbor by a fire tug, 3 July 1964. The carrier, whose rails are manned in this photo, was en route to a 4th of July visit to the World's Fair. Photographed by PH1 R.C. Lister. Note that Independence has three types of attack aircraft embarked: A-1, A-4 and A-6, as well as F-4 and F-8 fighters and E-1 early warning planes. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97713). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026204 |
44k | Hampton Roads, Virginia, July 21, 1964. | © Richard Leonhardt. | |
![]() NS026216 |
59k | An A-3B Skywarrior ("Whale"), BuNo 138974, assigned to VAH-11 "Checkertails" goes for #3 wire on USS Independence, probably in the second half of 1964. Good view of 5"/54 mounts. | Edward Cleary | |
![]() NS026223 |
67k | USS Independence (CVA-62) (foreground) and USS Enterprise (CVAN-65) rendezvous in the Indian Ocean on 21 November 1965. Independence was en route to Norfolk, Virginia, after six months "on the line" off Vietnam. Enterprise was headed for combat duty in Vietnamese waters. Photographed by PH3 E.R. Pomponio. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97717). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026220 |
101k | USS Independence (CV-62) photographed circa the 1970s. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97714-KN). |
NHC | |
NS026202 |
138k | Good detail of the ship's starboard side. Taken in January of 1974 on her return trip to the States from a 73-74 Med. cruise. | USN | |
![]() NS026218 |
102k | Underway in the eastern Mediterranean Sea, 1 October 1974. Official U.S. Navy Photograph (# KN-22669). |
Scott Dyben | |
![]() NS026224 |
78k | Catapult crewmen check the tension on the launch cable while preparing to catapult a F-4 Phantom II fighter, during flight operations in the Atlantic Ocean, October 1974. Photographed by JOCS R.P. Benjamin. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97718). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026225 |
76k | Lieutenant Michael F. Jordan (center), Landing Signal Officer of Attack Carrier Air Wing Seven (CVW-7), and two other landing signal personnel, man their stations during aircraft recovery on board Independence. The carrier was operating in the Mediterranean Sea. Photographed by PH1 Donald Grantham. This image was received by the Naval Photographic Center in October 1974. Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97719). |
NHC | |
![]() NS026207 |
57k | I took this picture in the Mediterranean in 1976. It is of USS Independence (CV-62) and USS Paul (FF-1080). | Jeffrey Padell | |
![]() NS026209 |
23k | Off Barcelona, Spain, on April 10, 1976. Despite the distance the antennas of her SPS-30 height finder and her long-range air search SPS-43A can be clearly seen on the island (fore and aft, respectively). Note, also, the location of the port side elevator, forward of the island, and how crowded the flight deck looks. | © Fabio Peña | |
![]() NS026201 |
26k | Small image, probably taken in the late 70s-early 80s. | USN | |
![]() NS026232 |
114k | A port bow view of the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) underway in the Caribbean Sea, 19 January 1979. US Navy photo by PH1 Lincoln (DVIC id: DNSC8200354). | Defense Visual Information Center | |
![]() NS026233 |
142k | A stern view of the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) underway. Photo is dated 12 November 1979, but this might be incorrect. US Navy photo by PH1 R.J. Lincoln (DVIC id: DNSC8200353). | Defense Visual Information Center | |
![]() NS026234 |
83k | An overhead view of the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) underway in the Atlantic Ocean as crewmen form the word "Indy" on the flight deck, 12 December 1979. The carrier was heading home from her 14th deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. US Navy photo by PHC C. Pedrick (DVIC id: DNSC8200286). | Defense Visual Information Center | |
![]() NS026235 |
50k | Atlantic Ocean, 12 December 1979 Aerial view of the USS Independence (CV-62) battle group as it heads home from deployment in the Mediterranean Sea. The ships are, clockwise from top, USS Farragut (DDG-37), USS McCandless (FF-1084), USS Independence (CV-62), USS Detroit (AOE-4), USS Garcia (FF-1040), USS Mahan (DDG-42), USS Caron (DD-970) and USS Peterson (DD-969). US Navy photo by PHC C. Pedrick (DVIC id: DNSC8200297). | Defense Visual Information Center | |
![]() NS026229 |
50k | Underway, circa the early 1980s. |
John Rutherford | |
![]() NS026242 |
108k | Captain Jerry Breast (CO, left) and crewmen paint a green C, for communications efficiency, on USS Independence (CV-62), while underway in the Caribbean Sea, February 20, 1982. U.S. Navy photo by PH2 M. Doran (DVIC id: DN-SN-82-10630). |
Defense Visual Information Center | |
![]() NS026221 |
115k | USS Independence (CV-62) underway, 1988-1989 (note F/A-18 Hornet on port catapult and corresponding bridle catcher still in place). Official U.S. Navy Photograph, from the collections of the Naval Historical Center. (# NH 97715). (Thanks to William F. Baca, who helped date this photo). |
NHC | |
| Cruise Book: WestPac, Indian
Ocean, Persian Gulf (Operation Desert Shield), 23 June-20 December 1990 |
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![]() NS026239 |
93k | USS Independence (CV-62) underway. |
William F. Baca, USS Independence, 1988-1992 |
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![]() NS026240 |
87k | Indy relieved on station by USS Midway (CV-41), November 1990. |
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![]() NS026241 |
97k | San Diego Homecoming, December 20, 1990. |
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![]() NS026215 |
56k | North Island, San Diego, early 1991. | Photo by AMS3 Rick Rowan | |
![]() NS091919901 |
243k | USNS Tippecanoe (T-AO 199) transferring fuel to Independence (CV-62) in March 1996 off Taiwan, during the Taiwan Crisis. US Navy photo. |
MSC web site | |
![]() NS026203 |
155k | USS Independence entering Apra Harbor, Guam, on 28 February 1997. Indy was the first carrier to enter Apra Harbor since USS Midway, 36 years earlier. | USN | |
![]() NS026811 |
46k | The forward-deployed aircraft carriers USS Nimitz (CVN-68), left, and USS Independence (CV-62), center, perform an underway turn-over Sept. 25, 1997, while steaming off the coast of Japan. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Chris Ware. [970925-N-4778W-117]. |
USN | |
![]() NS026237 |
144k | Yokosuka, Japan, January 21, 1998 Secretary of Defense William Cohen arrives aboard the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) via a U.S. Army Helicopter during his tour of Asia. Independence Battle Group, at its Forward Deployed homeport of Yokosuka, Japan, would soon deploy to replace the USS Nimitz Battle Group in the Persian Gulf as announced by the Secretary during his visit. U.S. Navy photo by Photographer's Mate 2nd Class Daniel A. Taylor (# 980121-N-0000T-001). |
Bill Gonyo | |
![]() NS026243 |
113k | USS Independence (CVA-62) was commissioned January 10, 1959, CAPT R. Y. McElroy, commanding. Here she makes a tight turn while patroling the Persian Gulf during Operation Southern Watch, February 11, 1998. Indy had Carrier Air Wing Five (CVW-5) embarked. U.S. Navy photo by PH2 Felix Garza (# 980211-N-4142G-014). |
Alex Tatchin | |
![]() NS026236a |
126k | The aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62) pulls into Pearl Harbor, Hawaii passing the USS Arizona Memorial (right background) with the aid of tugboats, for the last time (July 17, 1998) as she was decommissioned in September 1998. USN photo (# 980717-N-5961C-001) by PH1(NAC) Spike Call, available from the Defense Visual Information Center, id.: DN-SD-00-01116. |
Bill Gonyo | |
![]() NS026236 |
133k | Naval Station Pearl Harbor, July 17, 1998 The aircraft carrier USS Kitty Hawk (CV-63) (left) docks alongside the aircraft carrier USS Independence (CV-62). Following a turnover with the Independence, Kitty Hawk would take her place in Yokusuka, Japan, as the nation's only forward deployed carrier. U.S. Navy photo by Chief Photographer's Mate Mahlon K. Miller (# 980717-N-0226M-005). |
Bill Gonyo | |
![]() NS026230 |
2.60Mb | EA-6B Prowler landing aboard USS Independence. U.S. Navy video. |
USN | |
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Last update: 9 March 2008