Welcome to Nine Sisters -
The Light Carrier Historical Documentary Project

In January 1942, the United States Navy had lost much of its inventory of warships. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt realized that America's precious seven fleet carriers would see heavy combat in the coming months, and many would be sunk. He ordered cruisers already under construction to be redesigned as light carriers - as fast as the fleet carriers, but smaller and armed with less aircraft.

Eleven months later, four of those seven fleet aircraft carriers had been sunk in combat, but nine light carriers would be joining the fleet in 1943. Together with their Essex-class larger bretheren, they became the iron fist of air power that smashed Japan by destroying her air forces and many ground installations.

This site is dedicated to those who built and crewed the CVLs, providing America with a much-needed and often overlooked component of the war in the Pacific.

Interested in funding NINE SISTERS?
Read our Prospectus on the Project

Status of The Nine Sisters Project

The team has completed principal photography, completing 125 hours of interviews with veterans from all nine sisters, as well as interviews with other people related to the building, operation, and history of the ships. Four segments have been edited in very rough form. They are not available for sale as yet because of legal issues, but copies are available with the heads of the ship reunion groups.

The next steps to complete the documentary:

1.) Secure $50,000 in funding for the archival materials in the National Archives.

2.) Secure the involvement of a nationally known documentary producer.

3.) Secure funding for transcripts ($5000) editing ($50,000) and final color correction and music ($25,000)

4.) Secure a broadcast network