Radioactive Hulk of Carrier USS Independence Found Off San Francisco (2015)

NOAA, working with private industry partners and the U.S. Navy, has confirmed the location and condition of the USS Independence, the lead ship of its class of light aircraft carriers that were critical during the American naval offensive in the Pacific during World War II. San Francisco is still grappling with the complex and messy task of cleaning up radioactive contamination at the former Hunters Point Naval Shipyard, in no small part because of the massive (and massively unsuccessful) effort undertaken there to try and decontaminate USS Independence after the Operation Crossroads detonations. Here’s how Independence looked when it was moored near Hunter’s Point in 1944:

After the war, Independence was sent to Bikini, where it became a target for the Operation Crossroads nuclear detonation experiments:

A fleet of 95 target vessels was assembled in Bikini Lagoon.

Source: telstarlogistics.typepad.com