The USS Independence was towed last Thursday into the Port of Brownsville where it will be dismantled for scrap. CV-62 was launched in 1958 and served almost 40 years in the Fleet before it was decommissioned in 1998.
Watch the Independence Being Towed on its Final Voyage
International Shipbreaking Ltd. President Chris Green credited the Port of Brownsville and Cameron County for the ceremony honoring veterans who served on the carrier Thursday at Dolphin Cove. The “supercarrier” passed on the horizon behind the podium at the gazebo. Flags from the color guard waved with the sea breeze as speakers said farewell to the ship.
Former Indy electrician Bill Wallen was asked to talk about his experience on the ship. He was on the maiden voyage after its commissioning in January 1959. He served his nearly six years aboard the Indy. “I had a good time, and I’ve been a lot of places and seen a lot of things — a lot of things I didn’t want to see, but I saw,” Wallen said.
His son, Bill Wallen Jr., also served on the boat. Having his son and grandsons there with him was “important,” he said. – Brownsville Herald
The Independence is the last of the Forrestal class carriers which were known as the first ‘supercarriers’ because of their massive size, 25% larger than the prior Midway class carriers.
Featured image of People lining the jetties as they watch the USS Independence being towed into the Brownsville Ship Channel for salvage on Thursday, June 1, 2017, at South Padre Island, Texas. A group of the ship’s past crew members stood and watched as the ship was towed up the channel toward International Shipbreaking Ltd., the recycling company that won the contract to scrap the ship. Photo by Nathan Lambrecht/The Monitor via AP
