Light Aircraft Carrier (CVL)

A light aircraft carrier (US Navy hull symbol CVL) is a carrier smaller and cheaper than a fleet carrier, trading air-wing size and protection for faster construction and lower cost. The US Independence class, nine ships converted from Cleveland-class light-cruiser hulls and commissioned from 1943, are the defining example; they joined the Fast Carrier Task Force across the central and western Pacific from late 1943 and provided around 40 percent of its fighters at the Battle of the Philippine Sea. CVLs carried roughly 30 to 45 aircraft on a hull near 190 meters. The type let the US Navy multiply flight decks quickly while the larger Essex-class fleet carriers came on line.