Independence - class aircraft carrier The " Independence " - class aircraft carriers were a class of light carriers built for the United States Navy that served during World War II . This class of ship were constructed as a result of the interest of President Franklin D . Roosevelt . With war looming , the former Secretary of the Navy noted no new fleet aircraft carriers were expected to be completed before 1944 . He proposed to convert some of the many cruiser s then under construction to carriers . Studies of cruiser - size aircraft carriers had shown the type had serious limitations , and on October 13 , 1941 , the General Board of the United States Navy replied that such a conversion showed too many compromises to be effective . Undeterred , President Roosevelt ordered another study . On Oct 25th a second study from BuShips reported that the cruiser conversion aircraft carrier would result in a vessel of lesser capability , but they would be available much sooner . Following the December 1941 Pearl Harbor attack the need for more carriers became urgent . In January 1942 The Navy responded by greatly accelerating construction of the 34 , 000 ton Essex class aircraft carrier s , and ordering the conversion of a Cleveland class light cruiser then under construction to completion as a light aircraft carrier , becoming the USS " Belleau Wood " ( CVL - 24 ) . Development . Plans developed for this conversion showed much more promise than expected . The design was based on the Sangamon class escort carrier and two more light cruisers were reordered as carriers in February , three in March and a final three in June 1942 . The " Independence " class design featured a relatively short and narrow flight deck and hangar , with a small island . The hangar , flight deck and island represented a significant increase in the ship ' s topside weight . To compensate for this blisters were added to the original cruiser hull , which increased the original beam by five feet . The vessel carried a small air group of about 30 aircraft , originally intended to include nine each of fighters , scout - bombers and torpedo planes , but later reoriented to number about two dozen fighters and nine torpedo bombers . These were limited - capability ships , whose principal virtue was near - term availability . Their limited size made for seakeeping difficulties in the many typhoons of the Pacific , and their small flight decks led to a relatively high aircraft accident rate . However , being based on a light cruiser , they were fast ships , much faster than the Casablanca class escort carrier s . The cruiser hull and engineering allowed them the speed necessary to operate with the main fleet carrier task groups . Service . Completed in the course of 1943 , and coming into service with the first eight of the " Essex " class carriers , the nine " Independence " class ships made up a vital component of the Fast Carrier Task Force , which carried the Navy ' s offensive through the central and western Pacific from November 1943 through August 1945 . Eight of these carriers participated in the Battle of the Philippine Sea in June 1944 , which effectively ended Japan ' s carrier air power . The light carriers provided 40 percent of the Fast Carrier Task Force ' s fighters and 36 percent of the torpedo bombers . The protection on these carriers was modest , and munitions often had to be stowed at the hangar level , a factor that contributed greatly to the loss of " Princeton " in October 1944 . Ships in class . The nine ships of the " Independence " - class were all converted from " Cleveland " - class light cruisers building at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation shipyard , Camden , New Jersey . Initially classified as " aircraft carriers " ( CV ) , all were re - designated " small aircraft carriers " ( CVL ) on 15 July 1943 , while four ships were still under construction . Disposal . There was little margin for growth , as the ships ' post - war careers showed . " Independence " was expended as an atomic bomb target , and the rest were laid up in 1947 . Five returned to service in 1948 – 53 , two with the French Navy . Two were used as training carriers , while " Bataan " saw Korean War combat duty with Marine Corps air groups . She and " Cabot " received anti - submarine warfare modernisations in the early 1950s , emerging with two funnels instead of the original four . All but the French ships were decommissioned in 1954 – 56 and were reclassified as aircraft transports in 1959 . " Cabot " got a new lease on life in 1967 , when she became the Spanish Navy ' s carrier " Dedalo " , serving until 1989 ( in Spanish service , she was the first carrier to regularly deploy the Harrier jump jet ) . Despite best efforts to preserve her , " Cabot " was scrapped at Brownsville , TX starting in 1999 and ending in 2003 . Preservation efforts continued until the hull was half scrapped .