CVE-57 USS Coral Sea / USS Anzio  
CVE-57 USS Coral Sea /  USS Anzio

Class

Casablanca Class

Builder

Kaiser Shipbuilding Company

Vancouver, Washington

Laid down

12 December 1942

Launched

1. May 1943

Commissioned

27. August 1943

Flag Hoist / Radio Call Sign

NXPQ

Camouflage

May 1943 - Okt. 1944   Measures 22
Okt.
1944 - Mar. 1945   Measures 32/12a

.
NS Bremmerton WA
.

24. September 1943 - 8. October 1943

Trip to San Diego

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS San Diego CA
.

25. October  1943 - November 1943

Trip to Pearl Harbor

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Pearl Harbor HI
.

10. November 1943 - 5. December 1943

West Pacific (Gilbert Islands)

VC-33 F4F-4, TBF-1C -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Pearl Harbor HI
.

8 December 1943 - 14. December 1943

Trip to San Diego

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS San Diego CA
.

22. December 1943 - 28. December 1943

Trip to Pearl Harbor

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Pearl Harbor HI
.

22. January 1944 - 3 March 1944

West Pacific (Task Group 52.9)

VC-33 F4F-4, TBF-1C -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Pearl Harbor HI
.

11. March 1944 - 28. June 1944

West Pacific (Task Group 78.2)

VC-33 F4F-4, TBF-1C -
last update 3. November 2010
.
Eniwetok
.

4. July 1944- 9. August 1944

West Pacific (Task Group 78.2)

VC-3 (Überprüfen ev. VC-33) FM-2, TBF-1C -
last update 22. May 2020
.
NS San Diego
.

31. August 1944 - September 1944

Modernization and overhaul at NS San Diego
USS Coral Sea renamed USS Anzio 15. September 1944
.
NS San Diego CA
.
16. September 1944 - 23. September 1944

Trip to Pearl Harbor

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Pearl Harbor HI
.

16. October 1944 - 12. March 1945

West Pacific

VC-82 FM-2, TBF-1C -
last update 3. November 2010
.
Leyte
.

22. March - 19. August 1945

West Pacific

VC-13 FM-2, TBF-1C -
  .
last update 3. November 2010
.
Guam
.

24. August 1945 - 30 September 1945

West Pacific

VC-66 FM-2, TBF-1C -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS San Francisco CA
.
October 1945 - 23 December 1946
West Pacific (Magic Carpet)
Transporting returning veterans to CONUS (two Trips)
last update 1. November 2010
.
NS Seatle WA
.
18 January 1946 - February 1946

Trip to Norfolk VA

? ? -
last update 3. November 2010
.
NS Noffolk VA
.

Decommissioned

5 August 1946

.

History (short)

On 24 September, Coral Sea got underway for shakedown in Puget Sound. She arrived at San Diego, California on 8 October to load aircraft and hold flight operations off the California coast. The carrier sailed for Hawaii on 25 October and upon arrival at Pearl Harbor, joined by sister ship Liscome Bay for exercises off Oahu. On 10 November, Coral Sea steamed southwest to join the American forces about to invade the Gilbert Islands. She launched strikes on Makin Island from 20–28 November. When Tarawa Atoll had been captured, Coral Sea headed for Pearl Harbor and arrived there on 5 December. She paused to embark passengers and load aircraft for transport to the U.S. and departed on 8 December. She arrived at Alameda, California on 14 December to take on new planes. She put to sea on 22 December and steamed back to Hawaii. On 28 December, Coral Sea anchored at Pearl Harbor and began preparations for the impending assault on Kwajalein.
Coral Sea was underway on 3 January 1944 for a series of exercises in Hawaiian waters. After final fitting out, she sailed on 22 January in Task Group 52.9 (TG 52.9) and arrived in the vicinity of Kwajalein on 31 January, two days after planes of the Fast Carrier Task Force began pounding airfields on the atoll. She provided direct and indirect air support for the amphibious landings. On 24 February, she set course for Eniwetok, but was recalled to Hawaii and arrived at Pearl Harbor on 3 March.
After a brief respite, Coral Sea got underway again on 11 March and proceeded to the Solomon Islands. She anchored at Tulagi on 21 March, topped off with fuel, and loaded stores. Sailing again on 30 March, she headed for Emirau Island. From 1–11 April, she launched planes in support of forces occupying Emirau and returned to Port Purvis on 15 April.
The next day, Coral Sea left Tulagi to assist in the reconquest of New Guinea. On the 19th, she joined TG 78.2, which was formed to support Allied footholds at Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura) and Aitape. Her planes joined in strikes on 22 April, and on 26 April, the escort carrier sailed to Seeadler Harbor for replenishment, and on 7 May headed for Espiritu Santo for availability.
Her repair period completed, the ship got underway on 8 June for Kwajalein, the staging point for the invasion of the Marianas. The American forces sortied on 10 June, and Coral Sea helped to provide air support for landings by the 2d Marine Division on Saipan. She endured numerous Japanese air attacks during the next few days but received only minor damage. The carrier had moved south to Guam on 17 June to begin softening-up operations against that island but returned to Saipan the next day to assist the bogged-down American forces. Coral Sea and her escorts retired to Eniwetok on 28 June but returned to Saipan on 4 July. Her planes made further air strikes before she put into Eniwetok on 15 July for repairs to her engines. Ultimately, Coral Sea was ordered back to the United States for a much needed overhaul, and the carrier sailed on 23 July. Two days later, she paused at Kwajalein to unload most of her aircraft and ammunition and then continued via Pearl Harbor for the naval base at San Diego. Coral Sea arrived in California on 9 August and entered drydock at San Diego on 31 August. While she was still undergoing overhaul, Coral Sea received word that her name was being changed to Anzio as of 15 September.
Anzio held sea trials off the California coast and was ready to sail for the western Pacific on 16 September. She reached Hawaii on 23 September and entered Pearl Harbor for a tender availability. On 8 October, the carrier began a series of training exercises, and on the 16th, she set out for Eniwetok. There, Anzio joined a hunter/killer group and carried out an antisubmarine warfare (ASW) mission while she was en route to Ulithi. On 4 November, she was ordered to assist light cruiser Reno which had been torpedoed in the Philippine Sea. When Anzio was relieved by Extractor, she resumed her ASW patrols and worked at that task through mid-February 1945, when she steamed to Iwo Jima.
Anzio resumed combat support operations on 16 February. Three days later, she launched a strike to the north on Chichi Jima in the Bonin Islands. From 19 February-4 March, she followed a schedule of launching her first flight just before sunset and recovering her last just after dawn. During these nocturnal operations, she completed 106 sorties without a single accident. She departed the Iwo Jima area on 8 March and entered San Pedro Bay at Leyte on 12 March. After 10 days of upkeep and being joined by a newly redeployed VC-13 from the USS Tripoli, she sailed to join the invasion of Okinawa.
After providing air cover for an Okinawa-bound amphibious group, Anzio joined other forces in the vicinity of Kerama Retto in seizing that island group to provide an advanced base for the Fleet. The Okinawa attack began on 1 April, and she remained on line until she retired to Ulithi on 30 April for repairs to her rudder bearings. On 21 May, the carrier resumed ASW operations in the Okinawa area. This role ended on 17 June, when she sailed to San Pedro Bay, Leyte, for upkeep after finding that her aviation fuel tanks had been contaminated during a replenishment at sea. One TBM didn't get a radio heads-up in time when a pair of Wildcats encountered engine problems right after takeoff and had to ditch when it switched to its spare fuel tank. Anzio dumped her thousands of gallons of bad gas overboard before pulling into Leyte, and this caused a passing outbound carrier to radio with concern when they smelled the fumes.
Anzio left the Philippines on 6 July to begin what proved to be her last stint of combat duty. She joined TG 30.8 and positioned herself about 600 mi (970 km) east of Tokyo. She made ASW patrols in support of Admiral Halsey's attacks on the Japanese home islands. She received word of the Japanese capitulation on 15 August and sailed for Guam on 19 August. After refitting and training new flight crews, the escort carrier headed for Okinawa. From that point, she was to provide air cover and ASW patrol services for transports carrying occupation troops to Korea. On 8 September, she anchored at Jinsen, Korea, whence she provided air support for the landings of the occupation force. She left Korea on 13 September and returned to Okinawa. On 19 September, she broke her homeward-bound pennant, became a member of a "Magic-Carpet" group, and reached San Francisco on 30 September.
Operation Magic Carpet[edit]
While at San Francisco, Anzio was modified to provide maximum passenger accommodations. The carrier made two trips to the western Pacific and back, one to Pearl Harbor and one to Shanghai, China, to shuttle American troops home as part of Operation Magic Carpet. She arrived at Seattle, Washington, on 23 December and ended the year at that port.'

 

On 18 January 1946, Anzio sailed for Norfolk, Virginia. She paused at San Francisco then continued southward to transit the Panama Canal before finally reaching the east coast. Anzio was placed out of commission on 5 August, and became a unit of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet berthed at Norfolk. The ship was redesignated CVHE-57 on 15 June 1955. Anzio was struck from the Naval Vessel Register on 1 March 1959 and sold to the Master Metals Co. on 24 November.


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