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 U.S. actions against Minami-Tori-shima, labeled Marcus Island on American maps. In September 1943, she was laid down in Vancouver, Washington, by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company as USS Kanalku Bay. She was renamed Marcus Island in November 1943, launched in December, and commissioned in January 1944.
Marcus Island served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Philippines campaign, and the Battle of Okinawa. She acted as the flagship for various escort carrier formations, serving as the headquarters for Rear Admirals William D. Sample and Felix Stump. During the Philippines campaign, she participated in the Battle off Samar and the Battle of Mindoro, surviving multiple near-brushes with Japanese kamikazes. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. Ultimately, Marcus Island was decommissioned in December 1946, mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, and sold for scrap in 1960.
Design and description
thumb|alt=A blueprint showing the side profile of an aircraft carrier.|left|A side profile of the design of |page=3
Marcus Island was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built. The escort carrier programs were driven by the U.S. Navy's unpreparedness to meet the U-boat threat when it entered World War II in December 1941. During the first six months of the Second Happy Time, over 2,000,000 tons of shipping were sunk off the Eastern Seaboard by German submarines. The 1942 escort carrier program had already called for the conversion of twenty-four hulls into escort carriers, but President Franklin D. Roosevelt believed that more were needed to stem the loss of shipping. It was against the backdrop of these losses that the industrialist Henry J. Kaiser, assisted by Roosevelt's advisor Thomas G. Corcoran, gave a presentation to the president for a carrier design by Gibbs & Cox that was to be produced at scale at his shipyards. On 8 June 1942, Roosevelt declared that he desired the construction of the Kaiser design, and after some discussion, it was decided that the program was to be overseen by the Maritime Commission, with the hulls built to standard merchant marine practice. Although Kaiser wished to build not less than a hundred of the design, an order of fifty ships was placed.
The Casablanca-class carriers came into service in late 1943, by which time the U-boats were already in retreat. Some did see service in the Atlantic, but the majority were utilized in the Pacific, ferrying aircraft, providing logistics support, and conducting close air support for the island-hopping campaigns. They were built on the standardized Type S4-S2-BB3 hull, a lengthened variant of the hull, and specifically designed to be mass-produced using welded prefabricated sections. This allowed them to be produced at unprecedented speeds: the final ship of her class, , was delivered to the Navy just 101 days after the laying of her keel.
Marcus Island was long overall ( at the waterline), had a beam of , and a draft of . She displaced standard, which increased to with a full load. To carry out flight operations, the ship had a hangar deck and a flight deck. Her compact size necessitated the installation 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.
She was powered by four Babcock & Wilcox Express D boilers that raised of steam at . The steam generated by these boilers fed two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, delivering to two propeller shafts. This allowed her to reach speeds of , with a cruising range of at . For armament, one /38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Additional anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors anti-aircraft guns in four twin mounts and twelve Oerlikon cannons mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By 1945, the standard armament for the Casablanca-class carriers had grown to twenty Oerlikon cannons and sixteen Bofors guns. The sensors onboard consisted of a SG surface-search radar and a SK air-search radar. In action, the Casablanca-class carriers were intended to function with a crew of 860. A typical embarked squadron comprised of sixteen Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters and twelve Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, stored in the hangar deck between the two elevators.
Construction
thumb|alt=A view of the stern of an aircraft carrier as it slides down a slipway.|left|Marcus Island being launched from a building berth on 16 December 1943
Marcus Island was laid down on 15 September 1943 as MCE hull 1114, the twenty-third of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers under the name Kanalku Bay. She was renamed Marcus Island on 6 November and launched on 16 December; sponsored by Louise LaHache, the widow of Captain Samuel LaHache. She was transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 26 January 1944. In total, her construction and outfitting cost $7,368,661 ().
Service history
Mariana and Palau Islands
After commissioning, Marcus Island fitted out at Naval Station Tongue Point in Astoria, Oregon. On 17 February, she started a shakedown cruise down the West Coast, which ended in San Diego, California, on 1 March. On 8 March, she was assigned to ferry aircraft to Pearl Harbor, returning to San Diego on 27 March. She then ferried a load of aircraft from Naval Air Station Alameda to San Diego, finishing on 4 April. There, Composite Squadron (VC) 21 was taken on board for a period of carrier flight training that lasted until 13 April, after which her crew began a period of post-shakedown availability. She steamed northwards on 9 May for Alameda, whereupon she conducted a ferry mission to the Solomon Islands. Back at San Diego on 1 July, she entered drydock to repaint her hull.
Marcus Island embarked VC-21 again on 12 July for a period of further training. On 20 July, she stood out from San Diego, with VC-21, VC-80, and a cargo of aircraft on board. She unloaded VC-80 and her load of planes at Pearl Harbor on 26 July. There, she joined her sister ships , , and to form Carrier Division 27. On 11 August, Rear Admiral William D. Sample made Marcus Island his flagship, and the following day, she left Hawaiian waters for the Solomon Islands, arriving in Tulagi on 24 August.
At Tulagi, Marcus Islands division was assigned to support the Marines participating in the landings on Peleliu and Angaur. She departed Tulagi on 1 September, commenced pre-invasion strikes on 12 September, and began close air support operations on 15 September, the day of the landings on Peleliu. 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
Leyte
At Manus, Carrier Division 27 became part of Task Unit 77.4.2, otherwise known as Taffy 2. On 12 October, joined by the seventeen other escort carriers of Task Group 77.4, Marcus Island steamed for Leyte Gulf to support the landings on Leyte. Arriving off the island on 18 October, her aircraft carried out preparatory airstrikes and conducted combat air patrols. On 20 October, the day of the landings, Rear Admiral Sample had insisted on accompanying one of her Avengers as it conducted a close air support mission. Sample's Avenger, loaded with eight rockets, took off at 07:45 to strike positions on Catmon Hill overlooking the landing beaches. As his Avenger circled at altitude following a rocket run, a shell hit his Avenger above the trailing edge of its right wing. Passing through the upper fuselage, the shell detonated just above the root of the left wing, tearing a large hole in the Avenger's flank. Sample was peppered with shrapnel that lacerated his head, right shoulder, and right arm. Nonetheless, the Avenger was able to make it back to the carrier, although the plane was written off due to damage.
Battle off Samar
thumb|alt=An annotated map showing both Japanese and American fleet positions, movements, and dispositions around the Philippines prior to and during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.|A map showing fleet movements and dispositions during the Battle of Leyte Gulf
On 23 October, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began. The bulk of the Japanese fleet had been concentrated to repel the Americans from the Philippines, the seizure of which would have cut the vital oil supply lines from Southeast Asia. Admiral William Halsey Jr., commander of the Third Fleet, had detached his surface ships to engage the diversionary Northern Force. This left the San Bernardino Strait undefended, and on the early morning of 25 October, Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force passed through unopposed. Within the Center Force's sights was Taffy 3, north of Marcus Island, which had been caught completely by surprise.
With Taffy 3 helplessly overmatched, Taffy 2 received permission from Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid at 07:08 to divert its entire air group to join in the defense. Marcus Island only had two Avengers at hand, as at 05:45 she had sent out ten Avengers to airdrop supplies to the 96th Division. Nonetheless, she finished launching all her available aircraft at 08:08, dispatching two Avengers, each loaded with a Mark 13 torpedo, and fifteen Wildcats. One of her Avengers reported a hit on the portside aft of a heavy cruiser, likely the , "which appeared to go out of control". Meanwhile, her fighters harassed the advancing Japanese ships and contested the airspace above the battle, shooting down three Aichi E13A seaplanes and two Mitsubishi A6M Zero fighters.
thumb|alt=A propellered aircraft shown making a very wobbly landing on the flight deck.|A Wildcat makes a bumpy landing on Marcus Island
During the battle, Marcus Island took on board seven Avengers from the menaced Taffy 3, rearming them with torpedoes. At 10:30, the Taffy 3 Avengers were joined by her own Avengers, returning from their resupply mission. By this time, the Center Force had already turned around. Of her returning Avengers, seven were each loaded with four semi-armor piercing bombs and another was allocated the one remaining torpedo. At 11:20, these eight of her Avengers and six of the Taffy 3 Avengers were launched to pursue the Japanese. At around 13:00, they attacked an "Atago Class cruiser at the head of the starboard column of the enemy disposition", likely the light cruiser . Two bombs missed Noshiro just off her aft port quarter, but the near-misses ruptured her fuel tanks and damaged her outboard port shaft.
While 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 , the , and four transports, were unloading approximately 2,500 troops at Ormoc Bay, on the Western coast of Leyte. The transport unit had finished unloading on the morning of 26 October, but the Japanese ships were sighted by American aircraft as they withdrew. A strike group of twenty-three Avengers and twenty-nine fighters, to which Marcus Island contributed twelve aircraft, was assembled to strike the transport unit. The strike group made contact at 10:00, bombing, rocketing, and strafing the transport unit. The two transport vessels that the Japanese ships were escorting were quickly sunk, and Uranami was sunk as she attempted to charge the wreckage of a downed Wildcat. Kinu proved to be more resilient, sinking in the aftermath of the attack at 17:30, southwest of Masbate Island. Early on 30 October, Marcus Island withdrew from Leyte for Manus.
Mindoro
thumb|alt=A flaming plane, tumbling over the carrier. In the foreground, four men have a look of terror on their faces.|Crew on board Marcus Island scramble as a kamikaze passes
thumb|alt=A collage of three images of an aircraft carrier. The first image shows a splash next to the starboard bow, the second image shows the plume as it subsides, and the third image shows a large explosion to the port.|Marcus Island photographed from her starboard. The first kamikaze crashes off her starboard bow, while the second kamikaze explodes off her port bow.
Marcus Island entered Seeadler Harbor on 3 November, and replenished until 19 November, when Carrier Division 27 was assigned to Task Unit 77.4.6. Until 27 November, she provided air cover for convoys traveling near the eastern Philippines, which were being harassed by Japanese planes based on Mindanao. She resupplied at Naval Base Kossol Roads, and on 10 December, she steamed for Mindoro, providing air screening for the scheduled landings.
On 15 December, the morning of the Mindoro landings, Marcus Islands task unit came under intense attack. At 04:30, about 40 Japanese aircraft, divided in half between kamikazes and escorts, had taken off from Clark Field and Davao. At 08:00, the escort carriers turned back towards Leyte, having been relieved of their duties by land-based Army Air Forces aircraft, but they were pursued by the Japanese.
At 08:12, the Japanese planes made first contact, with a kamikaze shot down as it dove upon the . At 08:22, three Zeros were spotted approaching Marcus Island from the port quarter, at about in altitude. One Zero disappeared into a cloud, while the other two reoriented themselves towards her. Of the pair, one made a steep bank to remain at her port, completed a chandelle, and then dove from astern, aiming for a painted dummy aircraft elevator midway between her forward aircraft elevator and her bow. Hits were recorded out, which may have incapacitated the pilot, as the kamikaze skimmed just over her flight deck. As it passed, its wingtip clipped a lookout platform, decapitating one lookout and injuring another. It then crashed off her starboard bow and exploded underwater, sending a column of water into the air.
The other Zero had passed over Marcus Island to approach her from the starboard quarter, and as it dived, it also set its sights on the painted aircraft elevator. Buffeted by anti-aircraft fire, the kamikaze made a sudden 90° roll to port short of the carrier and careened into the water off her port bow. The kamikaze detonated upon impact, spraying shrapnel across the flight deck and injuring six of the carrier's crew. The two kamikaze attacks had occurred only ten seconds apart from each other. Damage sustained by the two kamikaze attacks was very light.
At 09:30, Marcus Island came under attack again. A Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bomber entered a dive against her from her starboard beam, starting at an altitude of . Swaying from side to side, the Suisei appeared to have trouble maintaining its aim. The bomb was released at an altitude of at a glide angle of 20°, missing astern of the carrier by and short by . As the Suisei attempted to escape, it was shot down by anti-aircraft fire. On 18 December, she retired from operations, entering Kossol Roads on 19 December.
Lingayen Gulf
Marcus Island was back at Manus on 23 December, replenishing until 29 December, when she set off for Luzon to participate in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf. Carrier Division 27 had been assigned to Task Unit 77.4.4, tasked with covering the convoys of the Sixth Army. For this mission, her division consisted of only two carriers, with Savo Island and Ommaney Bay having been transferred to the main escort carrier group.
On the afternoon of 5 January 1945, as the convoys passed through the Surigao Strait, the sighted two torpedo wakes running towards the formation. Responding to the alarm, a plane from Marcus Island spotted a periscope above the water. A depth charge was dropped from the midget submarine, leaving it listing. It was finished off by the Taylor, which rammed it.
Marcus Island arrived in Lingayen Gulf on 6 January, where she provided an air screen to fend off potential kamikazes. The Lingayen operation was to be a costly one for the escort carriers. Miscommunication between Halsey's Third Fleet, Kinkaid's Seventh Fleet, and Douglas MacArthur's land-based Far East Air Forces meant that there was disagreement as to whose responsibility it was to neutralize the airfields on Luzon. This confusion allowed the Japanese to mount more kamikaze attacks than would otherwise have been possible.
During the early morning of 8 January, Marcus Island launched two divisions of fighters for combat air patrol. At 07:16, 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 Kadashan Bay, the other escort carrier in TU 77.4.4. Although the damage was not crippling, Kadashan Bay was still forced to transfer her entire stock of aircraft to Marcus Island on 10 January and withdraw. As a result, Marcus Island joined and to form Task Unit 77.4.6, the Close Covering Carrier Group.
Later, on the night of 8 January, was also damaged by a kamikaze, obliging her to withdraw. Combined with the earlier sinking of Ommaney Bay on 4 January, extra work was put onto the remaining escort carriers. On 8 January, Marcus Island recorded ninety-four planes launched and ninety-nine planes recovered during operational hours, averaging a launching or landing every 3.8 minutes, setting a record for an escort carrier in combat.
On 9 January, the day of the landings, aircraft from Marcus Island sank two small Japanese coastal ships on the north shore of Luzon. On 17 January, land-based aircraft of the United States Army Air Forces took responsibility for operations over Luzon, relieving the escort carriers of Task Group 77.4. Of the eighteen escort carriers brought to the Lingayen landings, nine had come under kamikaze attack[s], which sank Ommaney Bay and damaged five others. After being relieved from operations around Lingayen, Marcus Island joined Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey's Close Covering Group, which was operating to the west of northern Mindoro. On 29 January, she supported landings at Zambales in Luzon, which were unopposed. On 31 January, she headed to Ulithi of the Caroline Islands, arriving on 5 February.
Okinawa
thumb|alt=Propellered aircraft spinning up on the flight deck.|Aircraft ready for takeoff on Marcus Island
thumb|alt=A propellered aircraft in Navy livery flying above the ocean, with an aircraft carrier in the background.|An Avenger overflies Marcus Island, 1945
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. On 14 February, she switched aircraft contingents, unloading VC-21 and taking on VC-87. On 4 March, she steamed for Leyte, arriving on 7 March. There, rehearsals were conducted for Operation Iceberg, the planned landings on Okinawa.
The ships of Carrier Division 24 departed Leyte on 21 March, arriving in the waters off Okinawa on 26 March. Upon arrival, Marcus Island launched airstrikes in support of the 77th Infantry Division as they secured the Kerama Islands. At the end of March, her aircraft began transitioning their strikes towards Okinawa Island itself in anticipation of the landings on 1 April. On 3 April, was damaged by a kamikaze, and on 5 April Wake Islands embarked squadron, Composite Observation Squadron (VOC) 1 was taken on board by Marcus Island. In turn, she transferred her aircraft contingent to Wake Island to be ferried back to Guam.
In April, the ship's air group conducted a range of missions over Okinawa, including artillery spotting for shore bombardment, strikes against Japanese installations, fighter cover, and close air support. On 29 April, she departed Okinawa in a convoy with Saginaw Bay and Savo Island. During the Battle of Okinawa, her aircraft had flown 1,085 sorties, shooting down eleven Japanese aircraft and destroying another thirteen grounded aircraft.
Marcus Island arrived at Guam on 3 May, where VOC-1 was transferred back to Wake Island. She took on a load of damaged aircraft, steaming on 5 May for the West Coast, arriving in San Diego on 22 May. There, she underwent a refit, a process which took until 5 July. She sailed westward again on 10 July, ferrying troops and replacement aircraft to Pearl Harbor and Guam. She returned to Alameda on 15 August, the same day that the Japanese surrender was announced.
Postwar
Leaving Alameda on 25 August, Marcus Island was assigned to the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. At Pearl Harbor, her hangar deck was converted into passenger accommodations, and with a reduction in the ship's crew, she had the capacity to berth 1,053 passengers. With the conversion complete, she transported an air squadron to Guam before proceeding to Okinawa, arriving on 28 September. There, she embarked returning troops and delivered them to San Francisco on 24 October. She then completed additional "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, arriving in Boston on 2 February. On 12 December, she was decommissioned and mothballed, joining the Boston group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet, moored 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 sold to Comarket Inc. on 29 February 1960 for scrapping. Marcus Island received four battle stars and a Navy Unit Commendation for her World War II service.
Squadron history
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align: center;
|-
!Operation
!Embarked Squadron
!Fighters
!Torpedo bombers
!Recon planes
!Total
|-
| Battle of Peleliu
| Composite Squadron (VC) 21
| 16 FM-2
| 12 TBM-1C
|
| 28
|-
| Battle of Leyte
|
| 17 FM-2
| 12 TBM-1C
|
| 29
|-
| Battle of Mindoro
|
| 24 FM-2
| 9 TBM-1C
|
| 33
|-
| Invasion of Lingayen Gulf
|
| 26 FM-2
| 9 TBM-1C
|
| 35
|-
| Battle of Okinawa
| Composite Squadron (VC) 87
| 20 FM-2
| 11 TBM-3
| 1 TBM-3P
| 32
|}