Independence (CV 62) - Naval Cruise Book

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- ......v-.f- ..i,..,....,.-.. ..- .,, .-., ,....,. . . - -., , Qfjgjg- - gg the Brooklyn Naval Shipyard- The HUUUT- , , ablg Thgmag S, GENES, SQCI'E?l3.1'y of the Navy presided overthe ceremony. In 1962, she took part in the naval blockade during the Cuban Missile Crisis. ggpgg In 1965, INDEPENDENCE saw her first action in Vietnam. During this deployment, tbeA- 6 Intruder was used in combat for the first time. In 1983, INDEPENDENCE participated in Dperation Urgent Fury :qi 'ltsl the as s ault of li A I 3' pi, Cfrenada. -I After 1- I + 1 I this, she steamedfor the Mediterranean where her aircraft saw action against Syrian targets in Lebanon. El In 1988, after completing the Ser- vice Life Extension Program, she re- ported to a new During herfour year Service Life Extension Y' , at l lf 'E Program in 1985 t the Philadelph Naval Shipyard Independence was strippedfrom keel t mast and brought back to life.

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- The fourth INDEPENDENCE, the first of several aircraft carriers to be con- verted from cruiser hulls, was launched in 1942. She fought in various actions throughout the Pacific including the Marcus Islands, Wake and Raboul. At Tarawa, INDEPENDENCE was hit by three torpedoes, but she managed to withdraw under her own power. Return- ing in 1944, she saw action in repatriating the Philippines. Aircraft from her deck also fought over Qkinawa and made attacks on the Iapanese homeland. E Dverall, she earned eight battle stars for her operations in the Pacific. Following the war she was assigned as an atomic test ship at Bikini Atoll. Damaged but not sunk, she returned to San Francisco where she was ,y ... p . sunk off the coast of Cali- i y 9 Q y r fornia in a Special test in - r s s 1951. B The INDEPEN- DENCE we know today was commissioned CVA- 62 on January 10, 1959 at Setting sail for the first time, INDEPENDENCE departs New York Harbor to begin sea trials February 2, 1959.

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r 3 2. -tif -i1...i.,- I . 'rr During herfirst Western Pacific Cruise, Independence made history by becoming the first aircraft carrier to enter into the Arabian Gulf in more than 17 years. homeport in San Diego. In Iuly 1990, INDEPENDENCE departed on her first Western Pacific X Indian Dcean deployment. While per- forming exercises in the North Arabian Sea, INDEPEN- DENCE was called upon to deter Iraqi aggression against the nation of Kuwait during Dperation Desert Shield. On Dctober 2, 1990, INDEPENDENCE became the first aircraft carrier since 1974 to enter the Arabian Gulf. She remained on station for over 90 consecutive days as the United States' defender of freedom.