USS Ommaney Bay (CVE–79) was a of the United States Navy, which served during World War II. It was named after Ommaney Bay, located at the south end of Baranof Island, Alaska. Launched in late 1943 and commissioned in early 1944, the ship took part in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign followed by several battles during the Philippines campaign in 1944 and early 1945. She was heavily damaged in a kamikaze attack in action preceding and linked to the launch of the Battle of Luzon and subsequently scuttled on 4 January 1945, with the loss of 95 men, including two men on board the destroyer escort who were killed by flying debris. She earned 2 battle stars whilst in service. In 2023, the Navy History and Heritage command announced that the wreck was located by "a combination of underwater survey and video information provided by Sea Scan Survey and DPT Scuba, two Australian diving firms, to positively identify the wreck."
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
Ommaney Bay 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.
Ommaney Bay 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 consisted of sixteen Grumman F4F Wildcat fighters and twelve Grumman TBF Avenger torpedo bombers, stored in the hangar deck between the two elevators.
History
Ommaney Bay was laid down on 6 October 1943 as MCE hull 1116, the twenty-fifth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers. Her hull was launched on 29 December, sponsored by Mrs P.K. Robottom. She was transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 11 February 1944 at 10:00. In total, her construction and outfitting cost $7,339,521 ().
She spent much of February 1944 being fitted out at U.S. Naval Ship Yard Tongue Point in Astoria, Oregon. She conducted sea trials in Puget Sound from 4 to 13 March, before proceeding south on 14 March. She arrived at Naval Air Station Alameda on 17 March, and sailed on 19 March for Brisbane, Australia, carrying passengers, aircraft, and supplies. She arrived in Brisbane on 7 April, left port on 12 April, and arrived in San Diego on 27 April. From 1–10 May, she conducted carrier qualification landings, drills and tests, spending the rest of the month moored for alterations and repairs. She sailed on 10 June, conducting a transport mission to Pearl Harbor. She arrived on 16 June, and until August, she trained air groups and squadrons off the Hawaiian coast. On 12 August, Ommaney Bay joined the escort carrier formation Task Unit 32.4.6, commanded by Rear Admiral William D. Sample. She then sailed to Tulagi, arriving on 24 August, where rehearsals were made for Operation Stalemate II, the invasion of the Palau Islands.
After the rehearsals were completed on 26 August, Ommaney Bay set off for the Palau Islands. From 11 September until 1 October, Ommaney Bay provided air cover for the fleet and close support strikes for the forces ashore. Her aircraft targeted Japanese anti-aircraft and artillery emplacements, strafed troop formations, and destroyed supply depots. In total, they expended 63 GP (general-purpose) bombs, 82 Mk.54 depth charges, 54 GP bombs, 233 GP bombs, 21 incendiary bombs, 149,060 .50 BMG rounds, and 9,000 .30-06 rounds. On 18 September 1944, a TBM-1C from Ommaney Bay, low on fuel, was the first aircraft to land onto Peleliu's airfield.
On 2 October, Ommaney Bay sailed to Manus Island to renew her depleted stock of fuel and ammunition. She departed to support the Battle of Leyte on 14 October, arrived off Leyte on 22 October, and joined Rear Admiral Felix Stump's "Taffy 2" (TU 77.4.2). On 25 October, at 01:55, Admiral Thomas C. Kinkaid ordered three searches at daybreak. Ommaney Bay was directed at 05:09 to cover the sector between 340° and 30°. Because of delays, it took two hours for a search contingent of five fighters and seven torpedo bombers to be launched. If launched earlier, the patrol could've possibly intercepted Vice-Admiral Takeo Kurita's task force, and provided advance warning for Taffy 3, influencing the subsequent Battle off Samar. The search contingent, becoming aware of the confrontation, moved to aid Taffy 3. Some sources credit her airgroup's bombing with seriously damaging the heavy cruiser Chokai during this phase of the battle. Cruiser Haguros action report confirms that it was aerial bombing which crippled her squadron-mate.
At around 08:20, five Wildcats and six Avengers from Ommaney Bay attacked the cruiser , part of the Japanese force which attacked from the direction of Surigao Strait to the south-west of the landing area, inflicting some damage. 40 minutes later, her Avengers joined 17 other torpedo bombers in crippling Mogami. She sank three hours later, scuttled by . Ommaney Bay launched some six strikes that day, and along with the rest of Task Group 77.4.1, she turned potential defeat into victory. As part of Taffy 2, she was also obliged to accept aircraft from other task groups, which were damaged or low on fuel from their strikes. She was forced to jettison several aircraft over her deck to preserve the functionality of her flight deck. On 30 October, her task group retired from Leyte Gulf, bound for Manus.
thumb|left|A [[Yokosuka P1Y kamikaze aircraft passing above Ommaney Bays flight deck.]]
The carrier spent the month of November at Manus and Kossol Passage for availability and replenishment. On 10 November, she was docked in Seeadler Harbor, approximately from the ammunition ship , when the ship suddenly exploded violently. Even from her distant vantage point, Ommaney Bay was showered with metal fragments, and was hit by a tidal wave. From 12 December to 17 December, the escort carrier operated in the Mindanao and Sulu Seas in support of operations on the island of Mindoro.
On the early morning of 15 December, forty Japanese planes, divided equally between kamikazes and escorts, took off from Clark Field and Davao, bound for the battleships and carriers to the east of Mindoro. The first sightings were reported at 7:00, and for the rest of the morning, kamikaze attacks harried the task force. At 09:40, a group of Japanese planes dove towards the carriers. One plane missed with a bomb, and disengaged, and two were shot down by anti-aircraft fire from and the destroyer escorts. However, a Yokosuka P1Y kamikaze dove directly towards Ommaney Bay, approaching from the port-bow side. Engaged by heavy anti-aircraft fire from the entire task force, the plane was set ablaze about away, and passed over the flight deck, crashing into the ocean. On 19 December she returned to Kossol Passage. On 27 December, she departed for the Philippines in support of the planned 6th Army landings at Lingayen Gulf. After arriving, she paused at San Pedro Bay, before leaving port and entering the Sulu Sea on 3 January 1945.
Sinking
thumb|left|Ommaney Bay under attack by kamikaze aircraft, 4 January 1945.
thumb|left|Ommaney Bay burning after the kamikaze attack.
thumb|left|Ommaney Bay engulfed in smoke and flames, a short while after the attack. Photographed from the battleship , the destroyer is depicted maneuvering into position, whilst attempting to combat the flames.
On the afternoon of 4 January 1945, she was transiting the Sulu Sea, to the west of the Philippines. At 17:00, approximately 15 Japanese planes were picked up on radar, west of the task group, and approaching quickly. These planes split into two groups, one group heading towards the rear of the task group, whilst the other continued on its course towards the center. Although fighters from the carrier group were scrambled, false radar signals hampered their efforts to intercept, and the only successful interception was when P-47 fighters intercepted two enemy planes, shooting down one. The other plane escaped, and is believed to be the kamikaze which would attack Ommaney Bay. This successful intercept was not reported back to command, nor was the fact that the plane which escaped was being herded towards the carrier group. At 17:12, a Yokosuka P1Y penetrated the screen undetected and made for Ommaney Bay, approaching directly towards the ship's bow. Captain Young later reported that the kamikaze's approach was concealed by the blinding glare of the sun.
Captain Young, acutely aware of the kamikaze threat, had assigned multiple lookouts throughout the carrier's deck. At the time of the attack, ten lookouts were assigned, along with an additional lookout located on the signal platform, equipped with Polaroid glasses. Additionally, a lack of radar signals had led the task group to believe that the Japanese planes had withdrawn, and the kamikaze attack took the lookouts by complete surprise. was only able to respond with inaccurate anti-aircraft fire, whilst Ommaney Bay was unable to react at all. The plane sliced across the superstructure with its wing, collapsing it onto the flight deck. It then veered into her flight deck on the forward starboard side. Two bombs were released; one of them penetrated the flight deck and detonated below, setting off a series of explosions among the fully gassed planes on the forward third of the hangar deck, near the No. 1 boiler uptakes. The second bomb passed through the hangar deck, ruptured the fire main on the second deck, and exploded near the starboard side. A TBM torpedo bomber had been hit by the kamikaze's wreckage, sparking a fire which consumed the aft of the flight deck. Water pressure forward was lost immediately, along with power and bridge communications. An oil tank may have been breached, contributing to the fire, as the smoke was noted as looking "oily".
Men struggling with the terrific blazes on the hangar deck soon had to abandon it because of the heavy black smoke from the burning planes and exploding .50 caliber ammunition. Destroyer escorts found it difficult to assist Ommaney Bay, because of the intense heat, the ammunition going off, and the real possibility that a catastrophic detonation could be triggered by the blaze. The destroyer , attempting to maneuver into a position to fight the fires, collided with the carrier, damaging her port bridge wing. At 17:45, wounded crew began to be taken off the ship, and by 17:50 the entire topside area had become untenable. In addition, the stored torpedo warheads threatened to detonate at any time. The order to abandon ship was given. At 18:12, Captain Young was the last man to evacuate the burning wreck. At 18:18, the torpedoes stored in the aft end of the ship finally detonated, collapsing the flight deck and launching debris onto the destroyers who were rescuing survivors. Two crewmen from the aboard a motor whaleboat were struck and killed by airborne debris.
At 19:58 the carrier was scuttled by a torpedo from the destroyer , under orders from Admiral Jesse B. Oldendorf. A total of 95 Navy men were lost, and 65 men were wounded, including the two killed from Eichenberger. On 6 January and on 9 January, was struck by kamikaze attacks, killing seven survivors rescued from Ommaney Bay. As a replacement for the sunken carrier, was dispatched to support the landing on Lingayen Gulf.
Discovery of wreck
On July 10, 2023, the Naval History and Heritage Command at the Washington Navy Yard announced that two Australian diving firms had located the wreck in the Sulu Sea. Retired Rear Admiral Samuel J. Cox said that "wreckage had been spotted at the site and preliminarily examined several years ago...There's no other escort carrier anywhere near there, so we were pretty sure that that's what it was and where it was... Then this latest group was able to get down there and find enough features so that there's absolutely no doubt.”