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The fifth USS ''Independence'' (CV/CVA-62) is a of the United States Navy. She was the fourth and final member of the of conventionally powered supercarriers. She entered service in 1959, with much of her early years spent in the Mediterranean Fleet. ''Independence'' made a single tour off the coast of Vietnam in 1965 during the Vietnam War, and also carried out airstrikes against Syrian forces during the Lebanese Civil War and operations over Iraq during Operation Southern Watch, the enforcement of the no-fly zone over southern Iraq. ''Independence'' was decommissioned in 1998 after 39 years of active service. Currently stored at Bremerton, Washington, the ex-''Independence'' will be towed later in 2015 to Brownsville, Texas, for scrapping, the last of the class to be scrapped. ==Design and Construction== (詳細は''United States''-class "Supercarriers". Unlike the ''United States'' class, they were to operate in both the nuclear strike and conventional roles, and were therefore intended to carry a mixed fleet of fighters, light attack and heavy attack aircraft, all of which were to be jets. The carriers were designed around the large new Douglas A3D Skywarrior bomber, with four deck-edge aircraft elevators large enough to handle the new bomber. As jet aircraft needed much more fuel than piston-engined aircraft, the ''Forrestal''-class had a much greater aviation fuel capacity than existing carriers, with of Avgas and of jetfuel, more than double that carried in the Midway class aircraft carriers. ''Independence'' was built with an angled flight deck with four C-7 steam catapults, two on the bow and two on the angled deck. She was fitted with AN/SPS-37 long-range search radar and AN/SPS-8B height finding radar. Defensive armament consisted of eight 5"/54 caliber Mark 42 guns mounted on sponsons jutting out from the sides of the ship so they did not interfere with the flight deck. The initial air wing of the Forrestal-class carriers was about 90 aircraft, although this varied with the composition of the airwing. The contract to build ''Independence'', the fourth ''Forrestal''-class carrier was awarded to the Brooklyn Navy Yard on 2 July 1954, with the ship being laid down on 1 July 1955. She was launched on 6 June 1958 by the wife of Thomas S. Gates, the Secretary of the Navy,〔 and commissioned on 10 January 1959. 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「USS Independence (CV-62)」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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