MONTEREY, CALIFORNIA—According to a report in Live Science, researchers have compared sonar images of the wreck of USS Independence (CVL22) with declassified documents to determine how the aircraft carrier was used in the years following World War II. Marine archaeologist James Delgado of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration said that the Independence was one of a fleet of vessels assigned to Operation Crossroads to examine the effects of shock waves, heat, and radiation from the atomic bomb tests at Bikini Atoll. The Independence survived the tests and so was used for decontamination studies, and then as a laboratory for testing ways to handle radioactive waste. In 1951, the Navy stored radioactive waste in steel and concrete drums on the cleaned ship and then sank it in Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary. “Independence, by the time it was sunk, was at about a level that you would get with an average X-ray,” Delgado said. “Now we not only know what shape she’s in and where she lies, but also exactly what happened to the Independence.” To read more about USS Independence, go to "Wrecks of the Pacific."
