| USS Cowpens (CVL-25) Crewmen on the flight deck, looking aft toward the carrier’s island during shakedown. Note crane and other features on and around the island. Radar antennas atop the foremast include SC (larger antenna, in front); SG (small antenna, in middle). A YE homing beacon antenna is mounted on the topmast. Large radar antenna behind the island is an SK. USS Cowpens departing Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 29, 1943, USS Cowpens arrived at Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, on September 19 to begin the active and distinguished war career which was to earn her a Navy Unit Commendation. She sailed with Task Force 14 to strike the Japanese garrison Wake Island on October 5-6, 1943, then returned to Pearl Harbor to prepare for strikes on the Marshall Islands preliminary to invasion. She sortied from Pearl Harbor on November 10 to launch air strikes on Mille and Makin atolls November 19-24, and on 4 December Kwajalein and Wotje, returning to her base on December 9. Joining the vast carrier Task Force 58, Cowpens sailed from Pearl Harbor on January 16, 1944, for the invasion of the Marshalls. | |
| Image Filename | wwii1889.jpg |
| Image Size | 851.31 KB |
| Image Dimensions | 3000 x 2241 |
| Photographer | |
| Photographer Title | United States Navy |
| Caption Author | Written or Adapted by Jason McDonald |
| Date Photographed | December 1, 1943 |
| Location | |
| City | |
| State or Province | |
| Country | Atlantic Ocean |
| Archive | Naval History and Heritage Command |
| Record Number | 80-G-K-527 |
| Status | Caption ©2026 MFA Productions LLC Please Do Not Duplicate or Distribute Without Permission; Image in the Public Domain |
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