- USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68)
USS "Kalinin Bay" (CVE-68) was an "Casablanca" class
escort carrier of theUnited States Navy .She originally designated an AVG, was classified ACV-68 on
20 August 1942 ; laid down under aMaritime Commission contract26 April 1943 by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Inc.,Vancouver, Washington ; reclassified CVE-68 on15 July 1943 ; launched15 October 1943 ; sponsored by Mrs. Anna Mary Updegraff; and commissioned27 November atAstoria, Oregon , Captain C. R. Brown in command.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 viaPearl Harbor for theGilbert Islands , arriving offTarawa 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 toMajuro Atoll before returning toAlameda, California ,24 February .Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign
With Composite Squadron 3 embarked
9 April , "Kalinin Bay" reachedMajuro , Marshalls,23 April ; conducted ASW air patrols offMili Atoll ; and proceeded to Pearl Harbor1 May to prepare for the Marianas operation. She departed Pearl Harbor30 May ; and, while en route toSaipan , she successfully evaded a Japanese torpedo that crossed her bow close aboard. Touching atEniwetok 9 June , "Kalinin Bay" reached the eastern coast of Saipan15 June and commenced air operations in support of the invasion. After repelling an enemy air attack at dusk on the 17th, she sailed19 June to ferry planes to and from Eniwetok. Returning to Saipan24 June , she resumed effective air strikes against enemy positions on the embattled island until9 July when she steamed via Eniwetok for similar duty atGuam . Arriving20 July , she launched direct support and ASW sorties until2 August , then returned to Eniwetok to prepare for operations in thePalau Islands .Mariana and Palau Islands campaign
"Kalinin Bay" cleared Eniwetok
18 August and proceeded viaTulagi ,Florida Island , to the Southern Palaus where she arrived14 September with units of the 3rd Fleet. Ordered to furnish air support for the capture, occupation, and defense ofPeleliu ,Angaur , andNgesebus , 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. On25 September , alone, they sank or destroyed three cargo transports and six landing barges.Philippines campaign
She departed the Palaus
30 September ; and, upon arrivingSeeadler Harbor ,Manus Island ,3 October , she received a new commanding officer, Captain T. B. Williamson. "Kalinin Bay" departed Manus12 October en route to thePhilippine Islands . Ordered to provide air coverage and close air support during the bombardment and amphibious landings on Leyte Island, she arrived off Leyte17 October . After furnishing air support during landings by Ranger units on Dinagat andHomonhon Islands in the eastern approaches toLeyte Gulf , she launched air strikes in support of invasion operations at Tacloban on the northeast coast of Leyte. Operating with Rear AdmiralClifton A. F. Sprague 's "Taffy 3 " (TU 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 from18 October to24 October , struck and destroyed enemy installations and airfields on Leyte, Samar, Cebu, Negros, andPanay 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. Comprised of 4 battleships, 8 cruisers, and 12 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 the destroyer USS|Johnston|DD-557, launched a premature torpedo attack from 10,500 yards. As the torpedoes approached the escort carriers, they slowed down. An Avenger torpedo-bomber from the escort carrier USS|St. Lo|CVE-63 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 the escort carriers except USS|Fanshaw Bay|CVE-70 were damaged. One plane of Lt.Yukio Seki 's 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 savedGeneral 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 ," sank three enemy cruisers, seriously damaged several other ships, and turned back the "most powerful surface fleet which Japan had sent to sea since theBattle 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, arriving1 November for emergency repairs. Getting under way for the United States7 November , the escort carrier reached San Diego27 November for permanent repairs and alterations.End of career
Repairs completed
18 January 1945 , the veteran escort carrier departed San Diego20 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 Diego2 September , she steamed to the Philippines, arriving Samar28 September for "Magic Carpet" duty. With 1,048 men embarked, she departed Samar1 October and arrived San Francisco19 October .After conducting two more voyages between California and Pearl Harbor, "Kalinin Bay" departed San Diego
8 December for the Far East. On25 December , while she steamed to Yokosuka, Japan, an intense storm heavily damaged her flight deck. Arriving the 27th, she received emergency repairs, then sailed3 January 1946 for the West Coast and arrived San Diego17 January . On13 February , she proceeded to the eastern seaboard, reaching Boston9 March . "Kalinin Bay" was decommissioned15 May , and she was sold for scrapping8 December to Patapsco Steel Co., Baltimore, Maryland.In addition to the Presidential Unit Citation, "Kalinin Bay" received five
battle star s forWorld War II service.References
*DANFS|http://www.history.navy.mil/danfs/k1/kalinin_bay.htm
External links
* [http://www.bosamar.com/ The Battle Off Samar - Taffy III at Leyte Gulf website] by Robert Jon Cox
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