USS Cowpens (CVL-25)

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USS Cowpens, with sister ship USS Independence in distance, August 1944
History
United States
Name	Cowpens
Namesake	Battle of Cowpens
Builder	New York Shipbuilding Corporation
Laid down	17 November 1941 (as Cleveland-class light cruiser USS Huntington (CL-77))
Launched	17 January 1943
Commissioned	28 May 1943
Decommissioned	13 January 1947
Reclassified	15 May 1959 (as AVT-1, while in reserve)
Identification	Hull number CVL-25
Nickname(s)	The Mighty Moo
Honors and awards	Navy Unit Commendation, 12 Battle Stars
Fate	1 November 1959 Stricken from Navy List. Sold for scrap in 1960.
Notes	Reordered March 1942 (as aircraft carrier USS Cowpens (CV-25))
General characteristics
Displacement	11,000 tons
Length	622.5 ft (189.7 m)
Beam	71.5 ft (21.8 m) (waterline) 109 ft 2 in (33.27 m) (overall)
Draft	26 ft (7.9 m)
Speed	32 knots (59 km/h; 37 mph)
Complement	1,569 officers and men
Armament	26 × Bofors 40 mm guns
Armor	1.5 in-5 in belt, 3 in main deck, 0.38 in bridge
Aircraft carried	Grumman F6F Hellcat, TBF Avenger

USS Cowpens (CV-25/CVL-25/AVT-1), nicknamed The Mighty Moo, was an 11,000-ton Independence-class light aircraft carrier that served the United States Navy from 1943 to 1947.^[1]

Cowpens, named for the Battle of Cowpens of the Revolutionary War, was launched on 17 January 1943 at the New York Shipbuilding Corporation, in Camden, New Jersey, sponsored by Mrs. Margaret Bradford Spruance (née Halsey, daughter of Fleet Admiral William F. Halsey Jr.) and commissioned on 28 May 1943 by Captain R. P. McConnell. She was reclassified CVL-25 on 15 July 1943. Cowpens completed her active service at the end of 1946.^[2]