USS Liscome Bay

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USS Liscome Bay (ACV/CVE-56) was the second of fifty Template:Sclasss built to serve the United States Navy during World War II. Launched in April 1943 and commissioned the following August, she was named for Liscome Bay in Dall Island in the Alexander Archipelago of Alaska. On 24 November 1943, her munitions were catastrophically detonated by a torpedo attack by the Template:Ship while she was acting as the flagship of Carrier Division 24, which was supporting operations on Makin. She quickly sank with the loss of 702 officers and sailors. Her loss is the deadliest sinking of a carrier in the history of the United States Navy.<ref name="history.navy.mil">Template:Citation</ref><ref name="ReferenceA">Template:Citation</ref>Template:Refn

Design and description

A profile of the design of Template:USS, which was shared with all Casablanca-class escort carriers.

Liscome Bay was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built,<ref name="Chesneau&Gardiner109">Template:Harvnb</ref> and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was Template:Convert long overall, had a beam of Template:Convert, and a draft of Template:Convert. She displaced Template:Cvt standard, Template:Cvt with a full load. She had a Template:Convert long hangar deck and a Template:Convert long flight deck. She was powered by two Uniflow reciprocating steam engines which drove two shafts, providing Template:Convert and enabling her to make Template:Casablanca class speed. The ship had a cruising range of Template:Convert at a speed of Template:Convert. Her compact size 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.<ref name="Y'Blood34-35">Template:Harvnb</ref><ref name="Chesneau&Gardiner109" />Template:Sfn

One [[5"/38 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/38]] caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight [[Bofors 40 mm Automatic Gun L/60|Bofors Template:Convert anti-aircraft guns]] in single mounts, as well as 12 [[Oerlikon 20 mm cannon|Oerlikon Template:Convert cannon]]s, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck.Template:Sfn Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more. For example, during her only combat deployment, Operation Kourbash, she carried 11 FM-1 and five F4F-4 fighters, as well as nine TBM-1 and three TBM-1C torpedo bombers, for a total of 28 aircraft.<ref name="Y'Blood39" />

Construction

She was laid down on 12 December 1942, under a Maritime Commission contract, MCE hull 1137, by Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington. She was launched on 19 April 1943; sponsored by Mrs. Clara Klinksick, wife of Rear Admiral Ben Moreell, the Chief of the Navy's Bureau of Yards and Docks. Originally, she was intended to be sent to the British Royal Navy under the name HMS Ameer. However, a change in plans resulted in the Template:Sclass USS Baffins being redesignated as Ameer in Liscome BayTemplate:'s place. She was named Liscome Bay on 28 June 1943, as part of tradition which named escort carriers after bays or sounds in Alaska. The vessel was assigned the hull classification symbol CVE-56 on 15 July 1943,<ref name="Noles10-11">Template:Harvnb</ref> and was commissioned on 7 August 1943. Captain Irving D. Wiltsie was the ship's first commander,Template:Sfn and her crew was derived from the Bogue-class escort carrier USS Glacier, which had been ordered in July 1942 but was sent to the Royal Navy as part of the Lend-Lease program.<ref name="Noles17">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Service history

After being commissioned, Liscome Bay proceeded southwards towards San Diego, California, picking up and ferrying 60 aircraft from San Francisco on the way, arriving on 22 September 1943.<ref name="Noles37">Template:Harvnb</ref> For the next month, she engaged in training operations off the Southern California coast. On 11 October, she was designated as the flagship of Carrier Division 24, under the command of Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix.<ref name="Noles40">Template:Harvnb</ref> On 14 October, she received her aircraft contingent, and on 21 October, she departed for Pearl Harbor, arriving a week later, on 27 October. She then conducted additional drills and training exercises off of Hawaii until early November, when she was assigned to the invasion fleet assembling for Operation Kourbash.<ref name="Noles58">Template:Harvnb</ref> As a member of Carrier Division 24, she departed from Pearl Harbor on 10 November as part of Task Force 52 commanded by Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, bound for the invasion of the Gilbert Islands. It was to be her first and last mission.Template:Sfn<ref name="Noles60">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Liscome Bay was assigned to the naval forces supporting the invasion of Makin.<ref name="Noles62">Template:Harvnb</ref> The invasion bombardment announcing the first major U.S. naval thrust into the central Pacific began on 20 November at 5 a.m. Just 76 hours later, Tarawa and Makin Islands were both captured. Liscome BayTemplate:'s aircraft had played a vital role in the capture of Makin, providing close air support and bombing Japanese positions.<ref name="Noles77">Template:Harvnb</ref> In total, 2,278 sorties were conducted by the carrier task group in support of Operation Galvanic, which neutralized enemy airbases, supported U.S. Army landings and ground operations with bombing and strafing missions, and intercepted enemy aircraft. With the islands secured, U.S. naval forces began retiring.Template:Sfn However, Liscome Bay stayed with the rest of her task force as the 27th Infantry Division mopped up resistance on Makin.<ref name="Noles83">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Sinking

The invasion of the Gilbert Islands had caught the Japanese command by surprise. Admiral Mineichi Koga, in desperation, issued orders to recall four Japanese submarines southwest of Hawaii and five submarines near Truk and Rabaul to converge on the Gilberts.<ref name="Noles99">Template:Harvnb</ref> Of the nine Japanese submarines sent to sortie against the U.S. forces in the Gilberts, six were lost.<ref name="Noles210">Template:Harvnb</ref>

On 23 November, however, the submarine Template:Ship, commanded by Lieutenant Commander Sunao Tabata, arrived off Makin.<ref name="Noles102">Template:Harvnb</ref> The U.S. task group, built around Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix's three escort carriers, was steaming Template:Cvt southwest of Butaritari Island at 15 knots.Template:Sfn The task group was traveling in a circular formation, with seven destroyers, the cruiser Template:USS, the battleships Template:USS, Template:USS, and Template:USS, and Liscome BayTemplate:'s two sister ships, Template:USS and Template:USS, surrounding her. Liscome Bay, as the guide for the group, was located dead center between the other ships. As collisions were deemed to be a greater risk to the ships than a potential submarine attack, the ships were not zig-zagging.<ref name="Noles104">Template:Harvnb</ref>

At 04:30 on 24 November, reveille was sounded in Liscome Bay. On 04:34, the destroyer Template:USS left to investigate a signal beacon, likely dropped from a Japanese plane.<ref name="Noles106">Template:Harvnb</ref> This resulted in a gap within Liscome BayTemplate:'s screen. At 04:36, the radar operators on New Mexico spotted a short-lived blip, which may have represented I-175 diving into position.<ref name="Noles106"/> Flight quarters was sounded at 04:50. The crew went to routine general quarters at 05:05, when flight crews prepared their planes for dawn launching. Thirteen planes, including one forward on the catapult, had been readied on the flight deck. These had all been fueled and armed. There were an additional seven planes in the hangar that were not fueled or armed. She had a large amount of munitions on board, stored below-decks.Template:Sfn Meanwhile, the task group executed a turn to the northeast, which brought Liscome Bay to a course presenting her side to I-175. The Japanese submarine fired a spread of at least three Type 95 torpedoes towards the task force.<ref name="Noles113">Template:Harvnb</ref>

At about 05:10, a lookout on the starboard (right) side of Liscome Bay reported seeing a torpedo headed for the ship.Template:Sfn The torpedo struck behind the aft engine room,Template:Sfn as Liscome Bay was conducting its turn, and detonated the bomb magazine, causing a devastating explosion that engulfed the ship and sent shrapnel flying as far as Template:Convert away.Template:Sfn Considerable debris fell on the battleship New Mexico about Template:Convert off, while a sailor on board the escort carrier Coral Sea was reportedly hit by a fire extinguisher from Liscome Bay.<ref name="Noles116">Template:Harvnb</ref> The entire task force was rocked by the explosion, but no other ships were significantly damaged. A mushroom cloud erupted, rising thousands of feet above the wreck of Liscome Bay.<ref name="Noles115">Template:Harvnb</ref>

The detonation sheared off nearly the entire stern of the carrier, killing everyone behind the forward bulkhead of the aft engine room. Seawater quickly rushed into the gap, mixing with oil released from the hull.<ref name="Noles156">Template:Harvnb</ref> Both the hangar and flight decks were heavily damaged. Parts of the superstructure, including the radar antenna, collapsed onto the deck. The forward part of the hangar was immediately engulfed in flames, igniting the few remaining planes on the flight deck. Planes fell off the carrier's deck. Steam, compressed air, and fire-main pressure were lost throughout the ship. Fires on the flight deck caused ammunition within the burning aircraft and anti-aircraft guns to detonate, further complicating matters.<ref name="Noles163">Template:Harvnb</ref> The gasoline coated water surrounding Liscome Bay caught fire, hampering efforts by survivors to escape.Template:Sfn<ref name="Noles115-116">Template:Harvnb</ref>

At 05:33, only 23 minutes after the explosion, Liscome Bay listed to starboard and sank; 54 officers and 648 sailors were killed, including Captain Irving Wiltsie, Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix and Doris Miller.<ref name="history.navy.mil"/>Template:Sfn 12 Grumman TBM Avenger torpedo bombers, 7 Grumman FM-1 Wildcat fighters, and 4 Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters went down with Liscome Bay.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>

Rescue

When Liscome Bay detonated, the rest of the task group immediately conducted evasive maneuvers, scattering from her wreck.<ref name="Noles181">Template:Harvnb</ref> At 05:40, the destroyers Template:USS, Template:USS and Template:USS arrived at the oil slick to rescue survivors, but many of the sailors hauled up were dead or dying. At 06:10, the destroyer Template:USS spotted two torpedo wakes, one just Template:Convert from the destroyer's hull.<ref name="Noles184">Template:Harvnb</ref> A radar operator on New Mexico detected an echo, and Hull was recalled to join Template:USS in dropping depth charges. Template:USS took HullTemplate:'s place in picking up survivors. At 08:00, the search operation was concluded.<ref name="Noles189">Template:Harvnb</ref> Of the 916Template:Refn crewmen aboard Liscome Bay, 644, including Wiltsie, Mullinnix, and Miller (Cook 3rd Class Doris Miller, see "Notable crew" below), went down with the ship, whilst 272 survived. Many of the survivors died of wounds soon afterwards, resulting in a final total of 702 fatalities from Liscome Bay. Including those lost on Liscome Bay, U.S. casualties in the assault on Makin Island exceeded the strength of the entire Japanese garrison.<ref name="ReferenceA"/>

Aftermath

Burial at sea aboard troopship Template:USS of two Liscome Bay sailors, victims of the submarine attack by Template:Ship. In the foreground facing the ceremony are survivors of Liscome Bay.

The survivors were transferred at Makin Lagoon from the destroyers onto the attack transports Template:USS and Template:USS.<ref name="Noles194">Template:Harvnb</ref> On Thanksgiving night, two of the survivors died, and were buried at sea.<ref name="Noles197">Template:Harvnb</ref> On 2 December, the navy announced that Liscome Bay had been sunk off Makin Island.<ref name="Noles200">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Over two months later, on 4 February 1944, I-175 was detected and sunk by the destroyer Template:USS and the destroyer escort Template:USS, using their Hedgehog anti-submarine mortar.<ref name="Noles210"/>

Legacy

In the Chapel of St. Cornelius, located within Valley Forge Military College's Wayne, PA campus, are two painted-glass windows which act as a memorial to Liscome Bay. The windows were presented by Lieutenant (J.G.) Samuel S. Rickley, V4 Division Officer, and his son, George R. Rickley, VFMA Class of 1965.

Painted-glass windows which act as a memorial to Liscome Bay at Valley Forge Military College

Painted-glass windows which act as a memorial to Liscome Bay at Valley Forge Military College

On the museum ship Template:USS, a memorial plaque was installed in 1990 to the ship.<ref name="Noles213">Template:Harvnb</ref>

Notable crew

• John G. Crommelin: Chief of Staff of Carrier Division 24, politician<ref name="Noles217">Template:Harvnb</ref>
• †William H. Hollister & Richard J. Hollister: two of the three brothers who served in the U.S. Navy and who all died in 1943; namesake of destroyer USS Hollister (DD-788)
• Robert Keeton: Future legal scholar, United States District JudgeTemplate:Sfn
• †Doris Miller: First African-American to receive the Navy Cross, namesake of frigate USS Miller (FF-1091),<ref name="Noles220">Template:Harvnb</ref> and of USS Doris Miller (CVN-81),<ref>Template:Harvnb.</ref> a Gerald R. Ford-class aircraft carrier scheduled to be laid down in 2026 and launched in 2029.<ref>Template:Cite news</ref>
• †Henry M. Mullinnix: Admiral of Carrier Division 24, namesake of destroyer USS Mullinnix (DD-944)<ref name="Noles220"/>
• †Irving D. Wiltsie: Captain of Liscome Bay, namesake of destroyer USS Wiltsie (DD-716)<ref name="Noles222">Template:Harvnb</ref>
• William J. Woodward Jr.: banker and thoroughbred horse-breeder

See also

• List of United States Navy losses in World War II

General sources

Online sources

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Bibliography

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Further reading

• Beasley, James C. "Get the hell off this ship!": Memoir of a USS Liscome Bay Survivor in World War II, Jefferson: McFarland & Company, 2018. Template:ISBN.
• Fahey, James J. Pacific War Diary: 1942–1945, The Secret Diary of an American Sailor, New York: Houghton Mifflin, 1991. Template:ISBN.

External links

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