USS Gambier Bay

USS Gambier Bay
History
United States
NameGambier Bay
NamesakeGambier Bay on Admiralty Island, east of Angoon, Alaska
BuilderKaiser Shipyards
Laid down10 July 1943
Launched22 November 1943
Sponsored byMrs. H. C. Zitzewitz
Commissioned28 December 1943
Out of service25 October 1944
Stricken27 November 1944
Honors and
awards
Four battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation awarded to all ships of "Taffy 3"
FateSunk by enemy battleship and cruiser gunfire on 25 October 1944 in the Battle off Samar
General characteristics
Class and typeCasablanca-class escort carrier
Displacement
Length512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) (o/a)
Beam65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), 108 ft (33 m) maximum width
Draft22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Installed power9,000 ihp (6,700 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 5-cylinder Skinner Uniflow reciprocating steam engines
  • 4 × 285 psi boilers
  • 2 × screws
Speed19 kn (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Range10,240 nmi (11,780 mi; 18,960 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement860
Armament
Aircraft carried28
Aviation facilities
Service record
Part of: United States Pacific Fleet
Commanders: Captain Hugh H. Goodwin, Captain Walter V. R. Vieweg
Operations: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, Philippines campaign, Battle off Samar
Awards:

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy.[1] During the Battle off Samar, part of the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf, during a successful effort to turn back a much larger attacking Japanese surface force, Gambier Bay was sunk by naval gunfire, primarily from the battleship Yamato, taking at least 15 hits between 8:10 and 8:40. She was the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy surface gunfire during World War II.[2]

Named for Gambier Bay on Admiralty Island in the Alaska Panhandle, she was originally classified AVG-73, was reclassified ACV-73 on 20 August 1942 and again reclassified CVE-73 on 15 July 1943; launched under a Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington on 22 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. C. Zitzewitz, wife of Lieutenant Commander Herbert C. Zitzewitz, the Senior Naval Liaison Officer (SNLO) assigned to Kaiser's Vancouver Yard from the Navy's Bureau of Ships; and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 28 December 1943, Captain Hugh H. Goodwin in command.[1]

The ship was referred to as the "Bonus Ship" by yard personnel because she was the 19th carrier delivered in 1943. The yard had originally projected 16 carriers would be delivered before the end of 1943. However, in September the Navy asked the yard to increase that number by at least two more. To rally the workers, Kaiser initiated a campaign called "18 or More by '44" to meet the new challenge; being the 19th and last Kaiser-built carrier commissioned in 1943, Gambier Bay was dubbed the "Bonus Ship". No ships of her class survive today.

  1. ^ a b Evans, Mark L. (9 July 2019). "Gambier Bay". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships. Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. ^ Tillman, Barrett (10 February 2024). "Gambier Bay's final hours".