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After shakedown out of
San Diego, the escort carrier sailed on 7 February 1944 with 400
troops embarked for Pearl Harbor, thence to rendezvous off the
Marshalls, guarded by the destroyer Norman Scott, where she flew 84
replacement planes to the fleet carrier Enterprise. She returned to
San Diego via Pearl Harbor, ferrying aircraft for repairs and
qualified carrier pilots off the coast of Southern California. She
departed on 1 May 1944 to join Rear Admiral H. B. Sallada's Carrier
Support Group 2 (TG 52.11), staging in the Marshalls for the
invasion of the Marianas.
Gambier Bay gave close air support to the initial landings of
Marines on Saipan 15 June 1944, destroying enemy gun emplacements,
troops, tanks, and trucks. On the 17th, her combat air patrol (CAP)
shot down or turned back all but a handful of 47 enemy planes headed
for her task group and her gunners shot down two of the three planes
that did break through to attack her.
The following day, warning of another air attack sounded. As her
fighters prepared to take off, they found intense antiaircraft fire
of the entire task group covering their flight path. Captain Goodwin
called the event "another shining example of the adaptability and
courage of the young men of our country". Eight pilots of Composite
Squadron 10 (VC-10) did take off to help repulse the aerial attack.
Gambier Bay remained off Saipan, repulsing aerial raids and
launching planes which strafed enemy troop concentrations, bombed
gun emplacements, and supported Marines and soldiers fighting ashore.
Meanwhile, American carriers slashed the carrier air strength of the
combined Japanese Mobile Fleet and turned it back in defeat in the
Battle of the Philippine Sea. Gambier Bay continued close ground
support operations at Tinian (19–31 July), then turned her attention
to Guam, where she gave identical aid to invading troops until 11
August.
After a respite for logistics in the Marshalls, Gambier Bay spent
15-28 September supporting the amphibious attack which drove ashore
and captured Peleliu and Angaur, Southern Palaus. She then steamed
by way of Hollandia (currently known as Jayapura), New Guinea, to
Manus Island, Admiralties, where the invasion of the Philippines was
staged. Screened by four destroyer escorts, Gambier Bay and her
sister ship Kitkun Bay escorted transports and amphibious landing
ships safely to Leyte Gulf before joining Rear Admiral Clifton A. F.
Sprague's escort carrier task unit on 19 September off Leyte.
The task unit comprised six escort carriers, screened by three
destroyers and four destroyer escorts, and was known by its radio
call sign: "Taffy 3". Under the command of Rear Admiral Thomas L.
Sprague, 18 escort carriers—divided into three, six-carrier task
units ("Taffy"s)—maintained air supremacy over Leyte Gulf and
eastern Leyte. During the invasion their planes destroyed enemy
airfields, supply convoys, and troop concentrations; gave troops
driving inland vital close air support; and maintained combat air
patrol over ships in Leyte Gulf. While "Taffy 1" and "Taffy 2" were
respectively stationed off northern Mindanao and off the entrance to
Leyte Gulf, "Taffy 3" steamed off Samar.
Meanwhile, the Japanese threw their entire fleet against American
naval power in a desperate gamble to destroy the large concentration
of American shipping in Leyte Gulf. Powerful Japanese forces—composed
of carriers, battleships, cruisers, and destroyers—attempted to
converge on the Philippines in a three-pronged attack to the south,
center, and north. The Japanese Southern Force met disaster before
dawn on 25 October as it tried to drive through Surigao Strait to
join the Center Force off Leyte Gulf. While steaming through the
Sibuyan Sea en route to the San Bernardino Strait on 24 October, the
Center Force was hit hard by hundreds of planes from the carriers of
Admiral William "Bull" Halsey′s 3rd Fleet. After the Battle of
Sibuyan Sea, Admiral Halsey no longer considered the Center Force a
serious threat, and he sent the carriers north to intercept decoy
carriers of the Japanese Northern Force off Cape Engaño.
Gambier Bay under Japanese fire during the Battle off Samar. The
smudge in the upper right corner is a Japanese heavy cruiser, likely
Chikuma.
The departure of Halsey's carriers left the escort carriers of "Taffy
3" as the only ships guarding the area around Samar. American
commanders were unaware of night-time movement of the Japanese
Center Force toward Samar. However, shortly after sunrise on 25
October, a gap in the morning mist disclosed the pagoda-like masts
of enemy battleships and cruisers on the northern horizon. The still
dangerous Center Force—consisting of four battleships, six heavy
cruisers, two light cruisers and 11 destroyers—had slipped
undetected through San Bernardino Strait and down the fog-shrouded
coast of Samar, bound for Leyte Gulf.
"Taffy 3" was strongly outgunned by the Center Force, but the
presence of enemy ships in Leyte Gulf was unthinkable, so "Taffy 3"
turned to engage the enemy. Immediately, an urgent call for help
went out from "Taffy 3" as the escort carriers steamed eastward and
launched planes. American pilots attacked the Japanese formation
with torpedoes, bombs, and strafing runs until their ammunition ran
out, after which they made "dry runs"—dummy attacks with no ordnance
or ammunition—to break up the enemy formation and delay its advance.
Smoke was laid down to cover the escort carriers′ escape as the
destroyers ducked in and out of the smoke to engage the Japanese
warships at point-blank range until ordered back to cover the escort
carriers with more smoke. In spite of these efforts, Gambier Bay was
fired on and hit by multiple Japanese ships. Gambier Bay′s lone 5 in
(130 mm) gun fired at an enemy cruiser that was shelling her, and
the destroyers Heermann and Johnston made an unsuccessful effort to
save her.
Gambier Bay on fire. Shells from Japanese surface forces splash down
beside her (the circled ship is a Japanese battleship, probably
Yamato).
Around 08:20, Gambier Bay was severely damaged by an 8 in (200 mm)
shell from the Japanese Heavy Cruiser Chikuma which flooded her
forward engine room, cutting her speed in half.[ Gambier Bay was soon dead in the water as the battleship Yamato closed to point
blank range. Yamato is clearly seen in the background of photographs
taken during the attack on "Taffy 3". Fires raged through the
riddled escort carrier, and she capsized and sank at 09:07. The
majority of her nearly 800 survivors were rescued two days later by
landing and patrol craft dispatched from Leyte Gulf. Sharks killed
many drifting crewmembers. Three other ships—Hoel, Samuel B.
Roberts, and Johnston—were also lost in the battle.
Aircraft from "Taffy 2" joined in the battle off Samar. The events
that followed were described by Admiral Sprague:
"At 0925 my mind was occupied with dodging torpedoes when near the
bridge I heard one of the signalmen yell 'They're getting away!' I
could hardly believe my eyes, but it looked as if the whole Japanese
fleet was indeed retiring. However, it took a whole series of
reports from circling planes to convince me. And still I could not
get the fact to soak into my battle-numbed brain. At best, I had
expected to be swimming by this time." |
