USS Kalinin Bay ( CVE - 68 ) USS " Kalinin Bay " ( CVE - 68 ) was an " Casablanca " class escort carrier of the United States Navy . She originally designated an AVG , was classified ACV - 68 on 20 August 1942 ; laid down under a Maritime Commission contract 26 April 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co . , Inc . , Vancouver , Washington ; reclassified CVE - 68 on 15 July 1943 ; launched 15 October 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . Anna Mary Updegraff ; and commissioned 27 November at Astoria , Oregon , Captain C . R . Brown in command . The USS Kalinin Bay was named after a bay on the northern shore of Kruzof Island in the Alexander Archipelago of southeastern Alaska . Service history . After shakedown along the Pacific Coast , " Kalinin Bay " departed San Diego 3 January 1944 for replenishment duty in the Pacific . Laden with troops and a cargo of planes , she steamed via Pearl Harbor for the Gilbert Islands , arriving off Tarawa Atoll 24 January to supply 5th Fleet carriers then engaged in the conquest of the Marshalls . For more than 2 weeks she provided logistic support from Tarawa to Majuro Atoll before returning to Alameda , California , 24 February . Gilbert and Marshall Islands Campaign . With Composite Squadron 3 ( VC - 3 ) embarked 9 April , " Kalinin Bay " reached Majuro , Marshalls , 23 April ; conducted ASW air patrols off Mili Atoll ; and proceeded to Pearl Harbor 1 May to prepare for the Marianas operation . She departed Pearl Harbor 30 May ; and , while en route to Saipan , she successfully evaded a Japanese torpedo that crossed her bow close aboard . Touching at Eniwetok 9 June , " Kalinin Bay " reached the eastern coast of Saipan 15 June and commenced air operations in support of the invasion . After repelling an enemy air attack at dusk on the 17th , she sailed 19 June to ferry planes to and from Eniwetok . Returning to Saipan 24 June , she resumed effective air strikes against enemy positions on the embattled island until 9 July when she steamed via Eniwetok for similar duty at Guam . Arriving 20 July , she launched direct support and ASW sorties until 2 August , then returned to Eniwetok to prepare for operations in the Palau Islands . Mariana and Palau Islands Campaign . " Kalinin Bay " cleared Eniwetok 18 August and proceeded via Tulagi , Florida Island , to the Southern Palaus where she arrived 14 September with units of the 3rd Fleet . Ordered to furnish air support for the capture , occupation , and defense of Peleliu , Angaur , and Ngesebus , she launched air strikes to support landing operations . For 2 weeks her planes , flying almost 400 sorties , inflicted heavy damage on enemy ground installations and shipping . On 25 September , alone , they sank or destroyed three cargo transports and six landing barges . Philippines Campaign . She departed the Palaus 30 September ; and , upon arriving Seeadler Harbor , Manus Island , 3 October , she received a new commanding officer , Captain T . B . Williamson . " Kalinin Bay " departed Manus 12 October en route to the Philippine Islands . Ordered to provide air coverage and close air support during the bombardment and amphibious landings on Leyte Island , she arrived off Leyte 17 October . After furnishing air support during landings by Ranger units on Dinagat and Homonhon Islands in the eastern approaches to Leyte Gulf , she launched air strikes in support of invasion operations at Tacloban on the northeast coast of Leyte . Operating with Rear Admiral Clifton Sprague ' s " Taffy 3 " ( Task Unit 77 . 4 . 3 ) , which consisted of 6 escort carriers and a screen of 3 destroyers and 4 destroyer escorts , " Kalinin Bay " sailed to the east of Leyte and Samar as her planes , flying 244 sorties from 18 to 24 October , struck and destroyed enemy installations and airfields on Leyte , Samar , Cebu , Negros , and Panay Islands . The Battle off Samar . Steaming about 60 miles east of Samar before dawn 25 October , Taffy 3 prepared to launch the day ' s initial air strikes . At 0647 , Rear Admiral Sprague received word that a sizable Japanese fleet was approaching from the northwest . Comprising four battleships , eight cruisers , and eleven destroyers , Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita ' s Center Force steadily closed and at 0658 opened fire on Taffy 3 . So began the Battle off Samar — one of the most memorable engagements in U . S . naval history . Outnumbered and outgunned , the slower Taffy 3 seemed fated for disaster ; but the American ships defied the odds and gamely accepted the enemy ' s challenge . " Kalinin Bay " accelerated to flank speed ; and , despite fire from three enemy cruisers , she launched her planes , ordering the pilots " to attack the Japanese task force and proceed to Tacloban airstrip , Leyte , to rearm and regas . " As salvos fell " with disconcerting rapidity " increasingly nearer " Kalinin Bay " , her planes , striking the enemy force with bombs , rockets , and gunfire , inflicted heavy damage on the closing ships . As the trailing ship in the escort carrier van , " Kalinin Bay " came under intense enemy fire . Though partially protected by chemical smoke , by a timely rain squall , and by valiant counterattacks of screening destroyers and destroyer escorts , she took the first of 15 direct hits at 0750 . Fired from an enemy battleship , the large caliber shell ( 14 inch or 16 inch ) struck the starboard side of the hangar deck just abaft the forward elevator . By 0800 , the enemy cruisers , which were steaming off her port quarter , closed to within 18 , 000 yards . " Kalinin Bay " gamely responded to their straddling salvos with rapid fire from her single 5 inch gun , which only intensified the enemy fire . Three 8 inch , armor - piercing projectiles struck her within minutes of each other . At 0825 , the carrier ' s 5 - incher scored a direct hit from 16 , 000 yards on the No . 2 turret of a " Nachi " - class heavy cruiser , and a second hit shortly thereafter forced the enemy ship to withdraw temporarily from formation . At 0830 , five enemy destroyers steamed over the horizon off her starboard quarter . The closing ships opened fire from about 14 , 500 yards ; and , as screening ships engaged the cruisers and laid down concealing smoke , " Kalinin Bay " shifted her fire and , for the next hour , traded shots with Japan ' s Destroyer Squadron 10 . Many salvos exploded close aboard or passed directly overhead ; and , though no destroyer fire hit " Kalinin Bay " directly , she took ten more 8 inch hits from the now obscured cruisers . One shell passed through the flight deck and into the communications area , where it destroyed all the radar and radio equipment . Under heavy attack from the air and harassed by incessant fire from American destroyers and destroyer escorts , the enemy cruisers broke off action and turned northward at 0920 . At 0915 , the enemy destroyers , which were kept at bay by the daring and almost singlehanded exploits of , launched a premature torpedo attack from 10 , 500 yards . As the torpedoes approached the escort carriers , they slowed down . A TBF Avenger from strafed and exploded two torpedoes in " Kalinin Bay " ' s wake about 100 yards astern , and a shell from the latter ' s 5 inch gun deflected a third from a collision course with her stern . At about 0930 , as the enemy ships fired parting salvos and reversed course northward , " Kalinin Bay " scored a direct hit amidships on a retreating destroyer . Five minutes later , she ceased fire and retired southward with the surviving ships of Taffy 3 . At 1050 , the task unit came under a concentrated air attack . During the 40 - minute battle , the first attack from a " Kamikaze " unit in World War II , all except were damaged . One plane of Lieutenant Yukio Seki and his Shikishima squadron crashed through " St . Lo " ' s flight deck and exploded her torpedo and bomb magazine , mortally wounding the carrier . Four diving planes attacked " Kalinin Bay " from astern and the starboard quarter . Intense fire splashed two close aboard ; but a third plane crashed into the port side of the flight deck , damaging it badly . The fourth hit destroyed the aft port stack . As part of Taffy 3 , " Kalinin Bay " had prevented a Japanese penetration into Leyte Gulf and saved General Douglas MacArthur ' s beachhead in the Philippines . At a cost of five ships and hundreds of men , Taffy 3 , aided by her own planes and those of " Taffy 2 " ( Task Unit 77 . 4 . 2 ) , sank three enemy cruisers , seriously damaged several other ships , and turned back the " most powerful surface fleet which Japan had sent to sea since the Battle of Midway . " Despite the battle damage , Taffy 3 cleared the air of attacking planes ; at noon , the escort carriers retired southeastward while their escort searched for survivors from " St . Lo " . Though " Kalinin Bay " suffered extensive structural damage during the morning ' s furious action , she counted only 5 dead among her 60 casualties . Weary and battle scarred , " Kalinin Bay " was awarded the Presidential Unit Citation for heroic conduct as a unit of Taffy 3 . She steamed via Woendi , Schouten Islands , to Manus , arriving 1 November for emergency repairs . Getting under way for the United States 7 November , the escort carrier reached San Diego 27 November for permanent repairs and alterations . End of career . Repairs completed 18 January 1945 , the veteran escort carrier departed San Diego 20 January to ferry planes and men to Pearl Harbor and Guam . For more than 8 months , she served as a replenishment carrier in the Pacific Carrier Transport Squadron ; and , during six cruises between the West Coast and Pearl Harbor , Eniwetok , and Guam , she transported more than 600 planes . Departing San Diego 2 September , she steamed to the Philippines , arriving Samar 28 September to participate in Operation Magic Carpet . With 1 , 048 men embarked , she departed Samar 1 October and arrived San Francisco 19 October . After conducting two more voyages between California and Pearl Harbor , " Kalinin Bay " departed San Diego 8 December for the Far East . On 25 December , while she steamed to Yokosuka , Japan , an intense storm heavily damaged her flight deck . Arriving the 27th , she received emergency repairs , then sailed 3 January 1946 for the West Coast and arrived San Diego 17 January . On 13 February , she proceeded to the eastern seaboard , reaching Boston 9 March . " Kalinin Bay " was decommissioned 15 May , and she was sold for scrap 8 December to Patapsco Steel Co . , Baltimore , Maryland . Awards . In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation , " Kalinin Bay " received five battle star s for World War II service .