USS Gambier Bay

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USS Gambier Bay
History
United States
Name	Gambier Bay
Namesake	Gambier Bay on Admiralty Island, east of Angoon, Alaska
Builder	Kaiser Shipyards
Laid down	10 July 1943
Launched	22 November 1943
Sponsored by	Mrs. H. C. Zitzewitz
Commissioned	28 December 1943
Out of service	25 October 1944
Stricken	27 November 1944
Honors and awards	Four battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation awarded to all ships of "Taffy 3"
Fate	Sunk by enemy battleship and cruiser gunfire on 25 October 1944 in the Battle off Samar
General characteristics
Class and type	Casablanca-class escort carrier
Displacement	8,188 long tons (8,319 t) (standard) 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) (full load)
Length	512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) (o/a)
Beam	65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), 108 ft (33 m) maximum width
Draft	22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Installed power	9,000 ihp (6,700 kW)
Propulsion	2 × 5-cylinder Skinner Uniflow reciprocating steam engines 4 × 285 psi boilers 2 × screws
Speed	19 kn (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Range	10,240 nmi (11,780 mi; 18,960 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement	860
Armament	1 × 5 in (127 mm)/38 cal dual purpose gun 16 × 40 mm (1.57 in) Bofors anti-aircraft guns (8×2) 20 × 20 mm (0.79 in) Oerlikon anti-aircraft cannons (20×1)
Aircraft carried	28
Aviation facilities	2 × elevators 1 × catapult
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:	Presidential Unit Citation 4 Battle stars

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.