USS Marcus Island
USS "Marcus Island" (CVE-77) was the twenty-third of fifty s built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after an engagement on 31 August 1943 over Minami-Tori-shima, known on American maps as Marcus Island. A carrier task force consisting of the fleet carriers and , the light aircraft carrier , and their escorts inflicted heavy damage on a Japanese naval facility on the islet. Notably, this action marked the combat debut of the Grumman F6F Hellcat fighter, of which 12,275 would be built. She was launched in December 1943, commissioned in  January 1944, and she served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines campaign, where she participated in the climatic Battle off Samar, the largest naval engagement in history, as well as the Battle of Okinawa. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She was decommissioned in December 1946, being mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was broken up in 1960. Design and description. "Marcus Island" was a "Casablanca"-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carrier ever built, and was designed specifically to be rapidly mass-produced  using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. By the end of their production run, the time taken between laying down the hull and launching the ship had been cut down to nearly one month. Standardized with her sister ships, she was long overall, had a beam of , and a draft of . She displaced standard and with a full load. She had a long hangar deck and a long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing , thus enabling her to make . The ship had a cruising range  of at a speed of . Her compact size limited the length of the flight deck and necessitated the installment of an aircraft catapult at her bow, and there were two aircraft elevators to facilitate movement of aircraft between the flight and hangar deck: one each fore and aft. One /38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, "Casablanca"-class carriers had been modified to  carry thirty cannons, and the number of Bofors guns had been doubled to 16, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Although "Casablanca"-class escort carriers were designed to function with a crew of 860 and an embarked squadron of 50 to 56, the exigencies of wartime often necessitated the inflation of the crew count. "Casablanca"-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. During the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, she carried 16 FM-2 Wildcat fighters and 12 TBM-1C Avenger torpedo bombers  for a total of 28 aircraft. At the beginning of the Philippines campaign, including the Battle off Samar, she carried 17 FM-2 Wildcats and 12 TBM-1C Avengers for a total of 29 aircraft. During the Battle of Mindoro, she carried 24 FM-2 Wildcats and 9 TBM-1C Avengers for a total of 33 aircraft. This increase in fighter capabilities was brought about due to the novel threat of kamikaze attacks. During the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, she carried 26 FM-2 Wildcats and 9 TBM-1C Avengers for a total of 35 aircraft. During the Battle of Okinawa, she carried 20 FM-2 Wildcats , 11 TBM-3 Avengers, and a TBM-3P photo-reconnaissance plane for a total of 32 aircraft. Construction. Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract, on 18 June 1942. The escort carrier was laid down on 15 September 1943 under the name "Kanalku Bay", as part of a tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. She was laid down as MC hull 1114, the twenty-third of a series of fifty "Casablanca"-class escort carriers. On 6 November 1943, she was renamed to "Marcus Island" as part of a new naval  policy which named subsequent "Casablanca"-class carriers after naval or land engagements. She was launched on 16 December 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Samuel Lazarus LaHache; transferred to the Navy and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 26 January 1944, with Captain Charles Frederick Greber in command. Service history. World War II. Upon being commissioned, "Marcus Island" underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast. Upon completion on 19 May, she began transporting aircraft from the West Coast to bases in the South Pacific. Returning to the West Coast on 1 July, she embarked Composite Squadron (VC) 21, and departed westwards from San  Diego on 20 July. Marianas and Palau Islands campaign. She arrived in Tulagi of the Solomon Islands on 24 August, where she joined Task Group 32.7, the Western Escort Carrier Group. As Task Unit 32.7.1's flagship, Rear Admiral William D. Sample raised his flag over "Marcus Island". Her task group was assigned to provide close air support for the marines participating in the planned landings on Peleliu and Angaur of the Palau Islands, as a part of the larger Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. "Marcus Island" commenced pre-invasion strikes on 12 September, softening up Japanese positions on Peleliu  and Angaur. "Marcus Island" commenced close air support operations on 15 September, the day of the landings. On the first day of the landings, her aircraft contingent lost an Avenger along with its pilot in combat, although losses were generally light for the rest of the battle. She continued providing air cover and launching strikes until 2 October, when she retired to Manus of the Admiralty Islands, arriving on 4 October. Philippines campaign. Battle of Leyte. At Manus, "Marcus Island" joined Task Group 77.4, the escort carrier group tasked with supporting the return to the Philippines as part of the  Seventh Fleet. She maintained her status as a flagship for Task Unit 77.4.2, also known as "Taffy 2". She, accompanied by eighteen other escort carriers and their screens of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, steamed on 12 October for Leyte Gulf, where they were expected to support the landings on Leyte. "Taffy 2" was positioned to the direct south of "Taffy 3", which was positioned to the east of the San Bernardino Strait. Arriving off the island on 18 October, her aircraft began carrying out naval patrols and strikes against predesignated targets. Once the Sixth Army had landed on 20 October , her aircraft transitioned towards a focus on close air support, supporting the initial advances for the next few days. On that day, Rear Admiral Sample insisted on accompanying one of "Marcus Island"s Avengers as it conducted a close air support mission, whereupon he was wounded by shrapnel when said Avenger had a shell penetrate and explode within its fuselage. Although none of the Avengers' crew sustained life-threatening injuries, the Avenger was deemed unsalvageable and stripped for parts. During the initial landings, the crew of VC-21 flew 261 sorties over Leyte, attaining its first aircraft kill on 24 October against  a Japanese Mitsubishi A6M Zero. Battle off Samar. On 23 October, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began. Almost the entirety of Japan's remaining surface fleet had been concentrated into a counterattack against the U.S. forces in the vicinity of the Philippines, which had threatened to cut off Japan's vital oil supply from Southeast Asia. Split into three groups, the Southern Force was defeated in the Battle of Surigao Strait, whilst Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr. sent the Third Fleet in an attack against the diversionary Northern Force. Therefore, the escort carriers which continued providing ground support had  no capital ship screening, even as Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force drove through the San Bernardino Strait during the night. On the early morning of 25 October, the Center Force emerged into the waters of the Leyte Gulf, catching Taffy 3, some north of "Marcus Island", by surprise. As the American command came to an understanding of the severity of the situation, with the Center Force consisting of four battleships, six cruisers, and a large destroyer screen, the entirety of Taffy 2's aircraft were recalled to join the defense. "Marcus Island"s aircraft were very ill-equipped for  the situation at hand. Of the eleven operational Avengers on board the escort carrier, ten had been outfitted with a cargo of water, food, and ammunition to resupply the 96th Division. These Avengers comprised the vast majority of "Marcus Island"s anti-ship capabilities, and having departed for their mission at 5:45 in the early morning, an hour before "Taffy 3" reported its first contacts, they would only return at 10:30, by which time Kurita's Center Force was already withdrawing from action. Nonetheless, VC-21's sole remaining Avenger, which had fortuitously retained its anti-ship munitions, was dispatched, as well  as all her available Wildcats. Her sole Avenger recorded a torpedo hit on the portside aft of a Japanese heavy cruiser, probably the , and her fighters strafed and bombed the advancing Japanese ships, recording fourteen hits. In the course of the action, her fighters also claimed five kills on Japanese planes. "Marcus Island" was obliged to accept seven Avengers originating from "Taffy 3", which being under fire, conducting maneuvers, and emitting smoke, were not suitable for carrier landings. The Avengers were replenished from her stocks, and quickly turned around back towards the action. Whilst the American forces had been distracted  with the Battle off Samar and its immediate aftermath, Vice Admiral Naomasa Sakonju's transport unit, which consisted of the light cruiser , the , as well as four transports, which were in the process of unloading 2,000 troops onto Ormoc Bay, on the Western coast of Leyte. The transport unit had also previously included the , but after having been damaged by the on 23 October, it withdrew westwards. The transport unit finished unloading its troops on the morning of 26 October, but as it withdrew, it was quickly sighted. Therefore, a strike group of twenty-three Avengers and twenty-nine fighters  were assembled to strike the Japanese ships. "Marcus Island" contributed twelve of its aircraft to the strike group, and the strike group reached the Japanese ships at 10:00 in the morning, bombing, rocketing, and strafing the two ships. The two transport vessels that the Japanese ships were escorting were quickly sunk, and "Uranami" was sunk as it attempted to charge the wreckage of a downed Wildcat. "Kinu" proved to be more resilient, sinking only after numerous bomb, rocket, and torpedo hits at 17:30, southwest of Masbate Island, long after the strike group had departed. Battle of Mindoro. On the morning  of 30 October, "Marcus Island" and three of her sister ships withdrew from Leyte towards Manus, having been reorganized into Task Unit 77.4.4, still maintaining her status as flagship. Throughout the month of November, she provided air cover for convoys proceeding off of the eastern Philippines, which had been harassed frequently by Japanese planes based on Mindanao. In late November, the escort carriers began leaving Seeadler Harbor for Kossol of the Palau Islands. On 10 December, "Marcus Island" steamed for Mindoro as a flagship for Task Unit 77.12.7, providing air screening for the Mindoro attack group. She transited Surigao Strait  on 13 December, with her aircraft shooting down a Japanese plane on 14 December. On 15 December, during the morning of the Mindoro landings, "Marcus Island" and her sisters came under intense kamikaze attack. At around 4:30, about 40 Japanese aircraft, divided approximately in half between kamikazes and escorts, began taking off from Clark Field and Davao to engage Task Group 77.12. The group closed in at 7:15, with VC-21 flyers bringing down a Japanese Zero at 7:29. At 8:00, TG 77.12 began turning back towards Leyte, having been relieved of their duties covering the landing forces by Army Air  Forces aircraft, but the Japanese kamikazes pursued closely. At 8:12, a kamikaze attempting to access the escort carriers came afoul the , which shot it down, albeit its flaming fragments came down upon the destroyer. At 8:22, three kamikaze Zeros were spotted approached "Marcus Island" from the port quarter, at about in altitude, when one Zero disappeared into a cloud, and the other two reoriented themselves towards her. One Zero crossed over the carrier towards her starboard quarter, whilst the other one made a steep bank to remain at her port. After conducting a chandelle, the latter began its dive towards  the escort carrier, apparently aiming for a dummy aircraft elevator that her crew had painted on her flight deck. Although taken under intense anti-aircraft fire, damage was not apparent until the Zero was out, possibly incapacitating the pilot, as the kamikaze skimmed just over her flight deck, making impact with the water just off her starboard bow. As the Zero passed over, its left wingtip glanced the starboard lookout platform, beheading one lookout and injuring another. Scarcely ten seconds after the first attack, the second Zero began its descent. Diving in from the starboard, it appeared to also be  aiming for the painted dummy elevator. Buffeted by anti-aircraft fire, the kamikaze made a sudden 90° roll out from the carrier, before careening into the water off her port bow. As the kamikaze entered the water, its bomb detonated, spraying shrapnel across the flight deck and injuring six of "Marcus Island"s crew. A few minutes later, a Yokosuka D4Y dive bomber attempted to make a run against "Marcus Island". Trying to pass parallel against the carrier, the pilot may have been disoriented by anti-aircraft fire, as the bomb that it released missed astern, with the dive bomber  splashing into the water shortly afterwards. At the same time, kamikazes had been conducting attacks against her sisters , , and , but the escort carrier force came out of the attacks nearly unscathed, with "Marcus Island" suffering the only damage. Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. "Marcus Island" retired from operations off of Mindoro on 16 December, returning to the Admiralty Islands on 23 December. Her stay there was brief, as she joined Task Unit 77.4.4, the San Fabian Protective Group as its flagship. Task Unit 77.4.4 was responsible for providing air screening for Task Force 78, the San Fabian Task Force, commanded by  Vice Admiral Daniel E. Barbey, which consisted of a large complement of landing vessels and surface ships. She joined eighteen of her sister ships in participating in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, assisting the Sixth Army as it landed on Luzon. During the night of 4–5 January 1945, as TF 78 passed through the Surigao Strait, it encountered two Japanese midget submarines. As one of the midget submarines raised its periscope to look around, a plane from "Marcus Island" dropped a depth charge onto it, leaving it dead in the water and with a severe list. The quickly followed up  by charging in, depth charging the submarine, and ultimately ramming it, which sunk the vessel. "Marcus Island" arrived in Lingayen Gulf on 6 January, and commenced air operations to counter the numerous kamikazes that harried the invasion force. Her aircraft contingent's most significant operation during this time period came on the morning of 8 January, when she launched two divisions of fighters at 7:00. At 7:16, a large group of Japanese aircraft was detected approaching from the east, which separated into three distinct groups. Although her air contingent shot down four planes in a series of short engagements, a  kamikaze managed to dive down and damage , the other escort carrier within TU 77.4.4. Although the damage was not crippling, and remarkably, no one onboard was killed, on 10 January, "Kadashan Bay" was still forced to transfer her entire stock of aircraft to "Marcus Island" and withdraw. Later, on the night of 8 January, was also damaged by a kamikaze, suffering more severe damage than "Kadashan Bay", and forced to withdraw. During this flurry of action, "Marcus Island" launched 94 aircraft and recovered 99 (the additional planes were diverted from "Kadashan Bay"), equaling to a launching or landing every 3.8  minutes of operations, which was believed to be a record for an escort carrier in combat. On 9 January, as the landings proceeded, "Marcus Island" assisted in providing close air support, sinking two small Japanese coastal on the north shore of Luzon. As a result of casualties, on 10 January, the screening escort carriers were reconstituted into Task Unit 77.4.6, the Close Covering Carrier Group. On the same day, rough weather in the area adversely affected "Marcus Island"s air contingent. In the afternoon, she abruptly rolled 14° to her starboard, jettisoning one Wildcat into the ocean, sending another Wildcat  upside-down into a catwalk, and yet another Wildcat sliding into a different catwalk. One of her Avengers also suffered damage to the tail. On 17 January, "Marcus Island", along with the rest of Task Group 77.4, retired from the waters off of Luzon. To guard against any possible counterattacks, they proceeded to join Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey's Close Covering Group, west of northern Mindoro. On 29 January, she supported landings at Zambales in Luzon, which were unopposed, before heading to Ulithi of the Caroline Islands, arriving on 5 February. En route, Captain Howard Vaniman Hopkins took over  command of the vessel. On 6 February, Rear Admiral Sample left "Marcus Island", but she maintained her status as flagship, embarking Rear Admiral Felix Stump, commander of Carrier Division 24. At Ulithi, she also switched aircraft contingents, unloading VC-21 on 14 February, and taking on Composite Squadron (VC) 87 the same day. After conducting training operations out of Ulithi for the rest of February, she headed for Leyte Gulf for the early half of March to conduct rehearsal exercises for Operation Iceberg, the planned landings on Okinawa. Battle of Okinawa. "Marcus Island" departed Ulithi on 21 March, as the flagship  for Task Unit 52.1.2. She arrived south of Kerama Retto on 26 March, whereupon she began launching airstrikes in support of the landings there. At the end of March, her aircraft between transitioning their strikes towards Okinawa Island itself, forcing a Nakajima Ki-43 fighter to a crash landing at Yontan Airfield. On 3 January, her sister was damaged by a kamikaze, forcing her to withdraw to Kerama Retto, and upon assessing the damage, to Guam. On 5 April, Composite Observation Squadron (VOC) 1, which had previously been operating onboard "Wake Island", was embarked by "Marcus Island", who exchanged her aircraft  contingent VC-87 to "Wake Island" to be ferried back to Guam. On 13 April, the escort carriers turned their focus towards the airfields on the Sakishima Islands, which served as a key base for kamikazes. While attempting to neutralize the airfield on Ishigaki, two aircraft from and one aircraft from "Marcus Island" were brought down from intense flak, with no survivors recovered. On 18 April, "Marcus Island" launched twelve Wildcats to strike the islets of Minami Daito and Kita Daito. This mission proved to be difficult with multiple aircraft damaged, and two Wildcats shot out of the air. The pilot  of one Wildcat was rescued by a Dumbo aircraft, but the other was killed. On 29 April, "Marcus Island" left Okinawa in a convoy along with her sisters and . During the Battle of Okinawa, planes of her air contingent flew 1,085 sorties, shooting down 11 Japanese aircraft and destroying another 13 grounded aircraft. She took on a load of damaged aircraft at Guam, steaming on 5 May for the West Coast, arriving back at San Diego on 22 May, where extensive overhaul and refitting was conducted. She sailed westwards again on 10 July, ferrying troops and replacement aircraft to Pearl  Harbor and Guam. She returned to Naval Air Station Alameda on 15 August, the same day that the Surrender of Japan was announced. Postwar. At Alameda, "Marcus Island" was assigned to the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. Her first Magic Carpet trip went to Okinawa, making stops at Pearl Harbor and Guam, arriving in San Francisco on 24 October. For the rest of 1945, she conducted more Magic Carpet runs to Guam and Pearl Harbor. "Marcus Island" left San Diego on 12 January 1946, transiting the Panama Canal and stopping at Norfolk, before  arriving in Boston Harbor on 2 February. On 12 December, she was decommissioned and mothballed, joining the Boston group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, mooring at the South Boston Naval Annex. On 12 June 1955, she was redesignated as a helicopter aircraft carrier, receiving the hull symbol CVHE-77. On 7 May 1959, she was further redesignated as an aviation transport, receiving the hull symbol AKV-27. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 September 1959, and she was sold for scrapping on 29 February 1960 to Comarket Inc. She was ultimately broken up in Japan during June 1960. "Marcus  Island" received four battle stars for her World War II service.