Navis Neptun 1/1250 1311 USS Independence, American WW2 Light Fleet Carrier
After Pearl Harbor, the Americans wanted more carriers quickly and converted cruiser hulls already building until the Essex Class Fleet Carriers could enter service. In practice, both carrier classes entered service around the same time!
Despite shooting down six of her attackers, CVL-22 was torpedoed and seriously damaged by Japanese aircraft off Rabaul in November 1943. Independence was subsequently damaged beyond economic repar in the 'Able' atomic bomb test at Bikini atoll on 1st July 1946.