USS Gambier Bay 1944
Marker: recorded wreck position (Second World War).
Key facts
| Name | USS Gambier Bay | Wikidata label |
|---|---|---|
| Year lost | 1944 | Wikidata P793 significant event, point-in-time qualifier |
| Era | Second World War | derived from year |
| Ship type | escort carrier | Wikidata P31 instance of |
| Cause of loss | War action | Keyword match in English Wikipedia lead sentence |
| Nationality / flag | United States | Wikidata P8047 country of registry |
| Operator | United States Navy | Wikidata P137 operator |
| Conflict | World War II | Wikidata P607 conflict |
| Sea / ocean | Philippine Sea | Natural Earth marine areas (public domain), point-in-polygon |
| Nearest coast | Philippines | Natural Earth (public domain); approx. 71 km from land |
| Position | 11.7670, 126.1500 | Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0) |
About the wreck
USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. During the Battle off Samar, part of the overall Battle of Leyte Gulf, during a successful effort to turn back a much larger attacking Japanese surface force, Gambier Bay was sunk by naval gunfire, primarily from the battleship Yamato, taking at least 15 hits between 8:10 and 8:50. She was the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy surface gunfire during World War II.
Named for Gambier Bay on Admiralty Island in the Alaska Panhandle, she was originally classified AVG-73, was reclassified ACV-73 on 20 August 1942 and again reclassified CVE-73 on 15 July 1943; launched under a Maritime Commission contract by the Kaiser Company, Vancouver, Washington on 22 November 1943; sponsored by Mrs. H. C. Zitzewitz, wife of Lieutenant Commander Herbert C. Zitzewitz, the Senior Naval Liaison Officer (SNLO) assigned to Kaiser's Vancouver Yard from the Navy's Bureau of Ships; and commissioned at Astoria, Oregon on 28 December 1943, Captain Hugh H. Goodwin in command.
The ship was referred to as the "Bonus Ship" by yard personnel because she was the 19th carrier delivered in 1943.
Location
- Recorded position: 11.7670, 126.1500 (Wikidata P625 coordinate location (CC0); may be approximate)
- Sea / ocean: Philippine Sea
- Nearest coast: Philippines
Wreck positions on this site are for interest only and are not for navigation. Many wrecks are war graves or legally protected: never disturb human remains or remove artefacts, and check local law before diving.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article USS Gambier Bay (revision 1379190114), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; condensed by selecting paragraphs and trimming at sentence boundaries; citations and formatting removed. No text added. This excerpt is available under the same licence.
Wreck facts from Wikidata (CC0).
Nearby wrecks
Other wrecks of the World War II
- U-983 1943
- USS Aludra 1943
- USS Beatty 1943
- USS Branch 1943
- USS Deimos 1943
- Akagi Maru 1944
- Fusō 1944
- HMS Bullen 1944
- HMS Dragon 1944
- HMS Isis 1944
All 599 wrecks of the World War II →
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