USS Marcus Island

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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 an engagement on 31 August 1943 over Minami-Tori-shima, known on American maps as Marcus Island. In September 1943, she was laid down in Vancouver, Washington by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company under the name Kanalku Bay. She was renamed Marcus Island in November 1943, launched in December, and commissioned in January 1944.

She 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, where she helped to beat back the Japanese Center Force and in the Battle of Mindoro, she had multiple near-brushes with Japanese kamikazes. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. She was decommissioned in December 1946, being mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. She was ultimately sold for scrap in 1960.

Design and description

File:Inboard and outboard profiles of a Casablanca-class escort carrier, 1946.png

A profile of the design of , which was shared by all Casablanca-class escort carriers

Marcus Island was a Casablanca-class escort carrier, the most numerous type of aircraft carriers ever built, and designed specifically to be mass-produced using prefabricated sections to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was long overall, had a beam of , and a draft of . She displaced Template:Cvt standard, Template:Cvt with a full load. She had a long hangar deck and a long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing , thus enabling her to make Template:Casablanca class speed. The ship had a cruising range of at a speed of . Her compact size necessitated the installment 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.

One [[5"/38 caliber gun|Template:Cvt/38]] caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon cannons, which were mounted around the perimeter of the deck. By the end of the war, Casablanca-class carriers had been modified to carry thirty cannons, and the amount of Bofors guns had been doubled to sixteen, by putting them into twin mounts. These modifications were in response to increasing casualties due to kamikaze attacks. Although Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to function with a crew of 860 and an embarked squadron of 50 to 56, the exigencies of wartime often necessitated the inflation of the crew count. Casablanca-class escort carriers were designed to carry 27 aircraft, but the hangar deck could accommodate more, which was often necessary during transport or especially training missions due to the constant turnover of pilots and aircraft.

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

Construction

File:Launch of USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) at Kaiser Shipyards in December 1943.jpg

Marcus Island being launched from a building berth on 16 December 1943.

Her construction was awarded to Kaiser Shipbuilding Company, Vancouver, Washington, under a Maritime Commission contract on 18 June 1942. She was laid down as MCE hull 1114, the twenty-third of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers on 15 September 1943 under the name Kanalku Bay. She was renamed to Marcus Island on 6 November and launched on 16 December; sponsored by Mrs. Louise LaHache, the widow of Captain Samuel LaHache. She was transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 26 January 1944.

Service history

Upon being commissioned, Marcus Island fitted out at Naval Station Tongue Point, Astoria, Oregon until 17 February, when she underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast, arriving in San Diego on 1 March. On 8 March, she set out to ferry aircraft to Pearl Harbor and was back in San Diego on 27 March. She then brought down a load of aircraft from Alameda, California to San Diego, which was finished on 4 April. She embarked Composite Squadron (VC) 21 for a period of training that lasted until 13 April, before beginning a period of post-shakedown availability. On 9 May, she proceeded northwards to Alameda, where she conducted a ferry mission to the Solomon Islands, returning to San Diego on 1 July, where she was put into drydock to repaint her hull.

On 12 July, Marcus Island embarked VC-21 again for training. On 20 July, she set off from San Diego, having taken onboard VC-21, VC-80, and a cargo of aircraft. She unloaded VC-80 and her load of planes at Pearl Harbor on 26 July. There, on 11 August, Rear Admiral William D. Sample raised his flag over Marcus Island, and the following day, she left Hawaiian waters for the Solomon Islands, arriving in Tulagi on 24 August.

Mariana and Palau Islands

At Tulagi, Marcus Island became flagship of Task Unit 32.7.1 and was assigned to support the marines participating in the landings on Peleliu and Angaur of the Palau Islands, as a part of the larger Mariana and Palau Islands campaign. Leaving Tulagi on 1 September, Marcus Island 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

File:FM-2 Wildcat makes crash landing on USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) c1944.jpg

A Wildcat makes a bumpy landing on Marcus Island.

At Manus, Marcus Island joined Task Group 77.4, otherwise known as "Taffy 2", as its flagship. She, accompanied by eighteen other escort carriers and their screens of battleships, cruisers, and destroyers, steamed on 12 October for Leyte Gulf, where they were expected to support the landings on Leyte. "Taffy 2" was positioned to the direct south of "Taffy 3", which was in turn positioned to the east of the San Bernardino Strait. Arriving off the island on 18 October, her aircraft carried out airstrikes and conducted combat air patrols. On 20 October, the day of the landings, Rear Admiral Sample had insisted on accompanying one of Marcus IslandTemplate:'s Avengers as it conducted a close air support mission. As Sample's Avenger circled at Template:Cvt altitude following a rocket run, a shell hit his Avenger on its right side, passing through the fuselage and detonating near the root of the left wing, tearing a large hole in its flank. Sample was wounded by shrapnel that lacerated his head, right shoulder, and right arm. Nonetheless, the Avenger was able to make it back to Marcus Island, although the plane was written off due to damage. During the initial landings, the Marcus IslandTemplate:'s air contingent flew 261 sorties over Leyte.

Battle off Samar

File:Stinson L-5B Sentinel takes off from USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) c1944.jpg

A Stinson L-5 Sentinel liaison aircraft takes off from Marcus Island, late 1944.

On 23 October, the Battle of Leyte Gulf began. The bulk of the Japanese naval 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. Vice Admiral William Halsey Jr., commander of the Third Fleet, had detached his surface ships to engage the diversionary Northern Force. Therefore, on the early morning of 25 October, when Vice Admiral Takeo Kurita's Center Force emerged into the waters of Leyte Gulf through the San Bernadino Strait, the Americans could muster no major surface combatants. Within the Center Force's sights was Taffy 3, Template:Cvt north of Marcus Island, which had been caught completely by surprise.

With "Taffy 3" helplessly overmatched, the entirety of Taffy 2's aircraft was recalled to assist in the defense. Marcus Island only had two Avengers at hand, as at 05:45, an hour before the Center Force was spotted, she had dispatched ten Avengers to airdrop supplies to the 96th Division. Nonetheless, Marcus Island finished launching all her available aircraft at 08:08, sending out 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,Template:Refn likely the , "which appeared to go out of control".Template:Refn 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.

At 10:30, her Avengers returned from their resupply mission, by which time the Center Force had already been turned around. In the interim, Marcus Island had taken onboard seven Avengers from "Taffy 3", refueled them, and rearmed them with torpedoes. Of the returning Avengers, seven were each loaded with four Template:Cvt SAP (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 retreating Japanese. Her Avengers reported engaging a heavy cruiser "at the head of the starboard column of the enemy disposition", recording seven direct bomb hits and three near misses, while her sole torpedo-armed Avenger claimed a hit on her stern. The cruiser was then observed to "smoke heavily, stop, and then get underway slowly".

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 light cruiser , the , and four transports, were in the process of unloading 2,000 troops onto Ormoc Bay, on the Western coast of Leyte. The transport unit finished unloading its troops on the morning of 26 October, but as it withdrew, it was sighted by American aircraft. A strike group of twenty-three Avengers and twenty-nine fighters were assembled to strike the Japanese ships. Marcus Island contributed twelve of its aircraft to the strike group, and the strike group reached the Japanese ships at 10:00 in the morning, bombing, rocketing, and strafing the two ships. The two transport vessels that the Japanese ships were escorting were quickly sunk, and Uranami was sunk as it attempted to charge the wreckage of a downed Wildcat. Kinu proved to be more resilient, sinking only after numerous bomb, rocket, and torpedo hits at 17:30, southwest of Masbate Island. Early on 30 October, Marcus Island withdrew from Leyte for Manus.

Mindoro

Marcus Island entered Seeadler Harbor on 3 November, and replenished until 19 November, when she joined Task Unit 77.4.6 as flagship. 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, Marcus Island steamed for Mindoro as flagship for Task Unit 77.12.7, providing air screening for the scheduled landings.

On 15 December, during the morning of the Mindoro landings, Marcus Island and her sisters came under intense kamikaze attack. At 04:30, about 40 Japanese aircraft, divided in half between kamikazes and escorts, began taking off from Clark Field and Davao. At 08:00, the escort carriers began turning back towards Leyte, having been relieved of their duties by land-based Army Air Forces aircraft, but the kamikazes pursued.

File:Kamikaze Distant Vantage USS Marcus Island (CVE-77).jpg

A Zero makes its dive on Marcus Island.

File:Kamikaze on USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) Impacts.jpg

Crew on board Marcus Island scramble as a kamikaze passes.

File:USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) under air attack c1944.jpg

Marcus Island photographed from her starboard. The first kamikaze crashes off her starboard bow, then the second kamikaze explodes off her port bow.

At 08:12, the Japanese planes made first contact, with a kamikaze shot down as it dove upon the . At 08:22, three kamikaze Zeros were spotted approached Marcus Island from the port quarter, at about Template:Cvt 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 Template:Cvt out, and the pilot may have been incapacitated, 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 Template:Cvt off her starboard bow and exploded underwater, sending a column of water into the air.

The other Zero had passed over the carrier to approach her from the starboard quarter, and it dived on Marcus Island, also aiming for the painted aircraft elevator. Buffeted by anti-aircraft fire, the kamikaze made a sudden 90° roll to port Template:Cvt short of the carrier and careened into the water Template:Cvt off her port bow. The kamikaze detonated upon impact, spraying shrapnel across the flight deck and injuring six of her crew. The two kamikaze attacks had occurred only ten seconds apart from each other. A few minutes later, a Yokosuka D4Y dive bomber attempted to make a run against Marcus Island, but its bomb missed astern, and the bomber was shot down shortly afterwards. Remarkably, Marcus Island had been the only ship to suffer any damage during the Japanese attack. On 18 December, Marcus Island retired from operations, entering Kossol Roads on 19 December.

Lingayen Gulf

Marcus Island was back at Manus on 23 December, replenishing there until 29 December, when she set off as the flagship of Task Unit 77.4.4, the San Fabian Protective Group, which was assigned to cover the convoys of the Sixth Army as it proceeded towards Luzon to participate in the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf.

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 Template:Cvt 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 kamikazes. This was not always accomplished. On the morning of 8 January, she launched two divisions of fighters at 07:00. 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 , 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.

Later, on the night of 8 January, was also damaged by a kamikaze, suffering more severe damage than Kadashan Bay, and was also obliged to withdraw. Combined with the earlier sinking of 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 planesTemplate:Refn 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. As a result of casualties, on 10 January, the screening escort carriers were reconstituted into Task Unit 77.4.6, the Close Covering Carrier Group. Later that same day, rough weather in the area adversely affected Marcus IslandTemplate:'s air contingent. At 18:00, she abruptly rolled 14° to her starboard, jettisoning one Wildcat into the ocean, sending another Wildcat upside-down into a catwalk, and yet another Wildcat sliding into a different catwalk. One of her Avengers also suffered damage to the tail. There were no injuries.

On 17 January, Marcus Island, along with the rest of Task Group 77.4, withdrew from the waters off Luzon. To guard against any counterattacks, they proceeded to join Rear Admiral Russell S. Berkey's Close Covering Group, 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

File:Flight deck of USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) c1945.jpg

Aircraft ready for takeoff on Marcus Island.

File:TBF Avenger flies over USS Marcus Island (CVE-77) c1945.jpg

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.

Marcus Island departed Leyte on 21 March as the flagship for Task Unit 52.1.2. She arrived south of Kerama Retto on 26 March, whereupon she began launching airstrikes in support of the landings there. At the end of March, her aircraft between 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 IslandTemplate:'s embarked squadron, Composite Observation Squadron (VOC) 1 was taken onboard by Marcus Island. In turn, she transferred her aircraft contingent to Wake Island to be ferried back to Guam.

Throughout April, aircraft from Marcus Island provided artillery spotting for surface ships conducting shore bombardment on Okinawa, struck Japanese installations, provided fighter cover, and gave close air support to American forces as they advanced through the island. On 29 April, Marcus Island left Okinawa in a convoy along with her sisters and . During the Battle of Okinawa, planes of her air contingent 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 then 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 westwards again on 10 July, ferrying troops and replacement aircraft to Pearl Harbor and Guam. She returned to Naval Air Station Alameda on 15 August, the same day that the Japanese surrender was announced.

Postwar

After the end of the war, Marcus Island was assigned to the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, which repatriated U.S. servicemen from throughout the Pacific. Making stops at Pearl Harbor and Guam, she reached Okinawa on 28 September and embarked returning troops, arriving in 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.

Awards and decorations

Marcus Island received four battle stars and a Navy Unit Commendation for her World War II service.

File:Navy Unit Commendation ribbon.svg
File:American Campaign Medal ribbon.svg	Bronze star Bronze star Bronze star Bronze star File:Asiatic-Pacific Campaign Medal ribbon.svg	File:World War II Victory Medal ribbon.svg
File:Army of Occupation ribbon.svg	File:Presidential Unit Citation (Philippines).svg	Bronze star Bronze star File:Phliber rib.svg

1st row	Navy Unit Commendation

2nd row	American Campaign Medal	Asiatic–Pacific Campaign Medal with four battle stars	World War II Victory Medal
3rd row	Navy Occupation Service Medal ("Asia" clasp)	Philippine Republic Presidential Unit Citation	Philippine Liberation Medal with two service stars

Sources

Online sources

• Public Domain This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.

Bibliography

Military documents