USS Marcus Island ( CVE - 77 ) USS " Marcus Island " ( CVE - 77 ) was an " Casablanca " class escort carrier of the United States Navy . She was laid down as Kanalku Bay under Maritime Commission contract by Kaiser Co . , Inc . , Vancouver , Washington on 15 September 1943 ; renamed Marcus Island on 6 November 1943 ; launched on 16 December 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs . S . L . La Hache ; acquired by the Navy on 26 January 1944 ; and commissioned at Astoria , Oregon on 26 January 1944 , Captain Charles F . Greber in command . Service history . World War II . After shakedown and training along the West Coast , " Marcus Island " made a round trip aircraft ferry run to U . S . bases in the South Pacific from 19 May - 1 July . Then she embarked Composite Squadron 21 ( VC - 21 ) , departed San Diego on 20 July , and arrived Tulagi in the Solomon Islands on 24 August to prepare for operations in the Palaus . As flagship for Rear Admiral W . D . Sample ' s Carrier Division 27 ( CarDiv 27 ) , she began preinvasion strikes against Peleliu and Angaur on 12 September . She provided close air support as assault troops hit the beaches beginning the 15th , and until 2 October , she launched scores of sorties during embittered fighting on the rugged islands . " Marcus Island " arrived at Manus in the Admiralty Islands on the 4th , and after completing preparations for the invasion of the Philippines , she sortied with the Task Group 77 . 4 ( TG 77 . 4 ) on 12 October for Leyte as part of the task unit known as " Taffy 2 " . Beginning on 18 October , she launched airstrikes against enemy positions and during the next week , her pilots flew 261 target and air cover missions . The Battle for Leyte Gulf and the running fight of " Taffy 3 " in the battle off Samar on 25 October are well chronicled elsewhere ; " Marcus Island " s war diary succinctly recorded the pace of action on the 25th - " A day of intense activity " . During the heroic stand of " Taffy 3 " , fighters and bombers from " Marcus Island " struck hard at the Japanese force . One TBM Avenger put a torpedo into the portside aft of a heavy cruiser , probably . Amidst intense antiaircraft fire , her fighters made repeated strafing runs against battleships , cruisers , and destroyers . Her planes joined in two strikes against the retreating Japanese ships that afternoon , and her pilots claimed 14 hits on enemy ships including a torpedo and six bomb hits on an " Agato " class cruiser . In addition , her fighters battled and shot down five Japanese planes . On the 26th , she sent 12 bombers and fighters to the Visayan Sea where they helped sink and with repeated hits from bombs , rockets , and machine guns . " Marcus Island " departed the Philippines 30 October but returned less than two weeks later as part of the escort for the Mindoro attack group . Departing Kossol on 10 December , she transited Surigao Strait on the 13th . Her patrolling aircraft shot down one enemy fighter on 14 December and shot down three more planes on the 15th . " Marcus Island " came under attack the morning of the Mindoro invasion , and from 0810 - 0930 , enemy planes made three suicide runs and one bombing strike against the carrier . All the planes were shot down or deflected by intense antiaircraft fire , although two " kamikaze s " crashed close off the bow to port and starboard causing minor damage and several casualties . Between 16 – 23 December , " Marcus Island " returned to the Admiralties ; on the 29th she departed once more for the western Philippines , steaming with units of the Luzon Attack Force for operations in Lingayen Gulf . As she steamed through the Mindanao Sea on 5 January 1945 , one of her planes depth - bombed a Japanese midget submarine , which was subsequently rammed and sunk by . Three days later , her planes shot down four enemy aircraft in spirited dogfights . As the amphibious landings began the 9th , " Marcus Island " launched close support and strafing strikes over the Lingayen beaches . In addition they attacked and sank two small enemy coastal ships north of Lingayen Gulf along the Luzon coast that same day . " Marcus Island " continued to provide coordinated airstrikes in support of the Lingayen operations until steaming down the Luzon coast on 17 January . On the 29th , she furnished close air support during an unopposed landing at Zambales Province , Luzon , then she steamed to Ulithi , arriving on 5 February . Rear Admiral Sample hauled down his flag on 6 February , and on the 8th , " Marcus Island " became flagship of Rear Admiral Felix Stump ' s CarDiv 24 . The carrier debarked hard - hitting VC - 21 on 14 February and embarked VC - 87 the same day . After completing training out of Ulithi , she steamed to Leyte Gulf on 4 – 7 March to conduct rehearsal exercises for the impending invasion of the Ryukyu Islands . Departing on 21 March , " Marcus Island " arrived south of Kerama Retto on the 26th and began launching airstrikes . She provided close air support and air cover during operations in the Ryukyus . From 26 March - 29 April , she operated primarily south and southeast of Okinawa while launching attack and spotter strikes . Composite Observation Squadron 1 ( VCO - 1 ) replaced VC - 87 on 5 April . Planes of both the squadrons flew 1 , 085 sorties during this period and pounded enemy airfields , gun emplacements , supply dumps , and troop concentrations . Her pilots shot down 11 Japanese aircraft and destroyed another 13 on the ground . Postwar . " Marcus Island " departed Okinawa on 29 April , and after loading damaged aircraft at Guam , she sailed on 5 May for the United States , arriving San Diego on 22 May . She sailed west again on 10 July , carrying replacement troops and aircraft to Pearl Harbor and Guam before returning to Alameda , California on V - J Day . Sailing once more via Pearl Harbor and Guam , she reached Okinawa on 28 September and embarked returning troops , arriving San Francisco on 24 October . By early - January 1946 , she completed additional " Magic Carpet " runs to Guam and Pearl Harbor . Departing San Diego on 12 January , " Marcus Island " sailed via the Panama Canal and Norfolk , arriving Boston on 2 February . She remained at Boston , decommissioned there on 12 December 1946 , and entered the Atlantic Reserve Fleet . She reclassified to CVHE - 77 on 12 June 1955 and to AKV - 27 on 7 May 1959 . She was sold at Boston to Comarket , Inc . on 29 February 1960 . Awards . " Marcus Island " received four battle star s for World War II service .