USS Gambier Bay

Last updated

CVE 73 Gambier Bay.jpg
USS Gambier Bay
History
US flag 48 stars.svgUnited States
NameGambier Bay
NamesakeGambier Bay on Admiralty Island, east of Angoon, Alaska
Builder Kaiser Shipyards
Laid down10 July 1943
Launched22 November 1943
Sponsored byMrs. H. C. Zitzewitz
Commissioned28 December 1943
Out of service25 October 1944
Stricken27 November 1944
Honors and
awards		Four battle stars, Presidential Unit Citation awarded to all ships of "Taffy 3"
FateSunk by enemy battleship and cruiser gunfire on 25 October 1944 in the Battle off Samar
General characteristics
Class and type Casablanca-class escort carrier
Displacement
Length512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) (o/a)
Beam65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), 108 ft (33 m) maximum width
Draft22 ft 6 in (6.86 m)
Installed power9,000  ihp (6,700 kW)
Propulsion
  • 2 × 5-cylinder Skinner Uniflow reciprocating steam engines
  • 4 × 285 psi boilers
  • 2 × screws
Speed19  kn (22 mph; 35 km/h)
Range10,240  nmi (11,780 mi; 18,960 km) at 15 kn (17 mph; 28 km/h)
Complement860
Armament
Aircraft carried28
Aviation facilities
Service record
Part of: United States Pacific Fleet
Commanders: Captain Hugh H. Goodwin, Captain Walter V. R. Vieweg
Operations: Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, Philippines campaign, Battle off Samar
Awards:

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. [1] 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 8:40. She was the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy surface gunfire during World War II. [2]

Contents

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 Shipbuilding 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. [1]

The ship was referred to as the "Bonus Ship" by yard personnel because she was the 19th carrier delivered in 1943. The yard had originally projected 16 carriers would be delivered before the end of 1943. However, in September the Navy asked the yard to increase that number by at least two more. To rally the workers, Kaiser initiated a campaign called "18 or More by '44" to meet the new challenge; being the 19th and last Kaiser-built carrier commissioned in 1943, Gambier Bay was dubbed the "Bonus Ship". No ships of her class survive today.

Service history

World War II

Model of Gambier Bay at USS Midway museum Gambierbaymodel.jpg
Model of Gambier Bay at USS Midway museum

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. [3] 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 Harold B. Sallada's Carrier Support Group 2 (TG 52.11), staging in the Marshalls for the invasion of the Marianas. [4]

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.

Gambier Bay underway CVE 73 Gambier Bay underway.jpg
Gambier Bay underway

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, three groups of six-carrier task units, known as "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 Third 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.

Battle off Samar

Gambier Bay under Japanese fire during the Battle off Samar. The smudge in the upper right corner is a Japanese heavy cruiser, likely Chikuma. USS Gambier Bay at the Battle off Samar.jpg
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. Admiral Takeo Kurita's 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. Visibility was approximately 40,000 yards (37 km) with a low overcast and occasional rain squalls which the American ships would use to their advantage in the coming battle. [5]

"Taffy 3" was overwhelmingly outgunned by the Center Force. Immediately, an urgent call for help went out from "Taffy 3" as the escort carriers steamed eastward to launch planes before gradually turning south to seek concealment in a heavy squall. 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 and rain to engage the Japanese warships at point-blank range until ordered back to cover the escort carriers with more smoke.

Coming under heavy fire

In spite of these efforts, Gambier Bay would come under fire from multiple ships at around 8:10. The heavy cruiser Chikuma closed to 10,200 yards and fired off her eight 8-inch (203 mm) guns. Meanwhile at 22,000 yards, the Japanese flagship, the battleship Yamato, landed a hit on her first salvo as an 18.1-inch (46 cm) shell smashed through Gambier Bay's hangar bay, while at a farther range the battleship Kongō targeted the flat top as well. Chikuma succeeded in scoring numerous hits to Gambier Bay's flight deck, starting a large fire which can be spotted in numerous photographs of the ship in the battle. [6] [7] [8]

The fatal hit

Gambier Bay on fire from hits landed by Chikuma earlier in the battle. Shells from Yamato (six white splashes) blast massive water columns beside her (the circled ship is likely Chikuma). USS Gambier Bay on fire.jpg
Gambier Bay on fire from hits landed by Chikuma earlier in the battle. Shells from Yamato (six white splashes) blast massive water columns beside her (the circled ship is likely Chikuma).

Around 08:20, Gambier Bay was crippled by a shell hit which flooded her forward engine room, immediately cutting her speed to 10 knots as she gradually slowed until dead in the water. [9] The damage was initially recorded as an 8-inch (203 mm) cruiser shell, likely from Chikuma. However, Japanese records disprove this and insist the hit was scored by an 18.1-inch (46 cm) shell from Yamato from around 20,000 yards. [10] On paper, the difference between a cruiser round and a battleship round should have been apparent, but Yamato, having mistaken Gambier Bay for a full-sized fleet carrier, was firing armor-piercing shells that over-penetrated her hull without exploding. [7] [11] Most photographs of Gambier Bay under fire show her under attack from six-gun salvos and white splashes, corresponding with Yamato's gun layout, firing angle, and undyed shells. [12]

Final moments

Yamato and Kongō claimed the same hit with their main guns at 8:23 (Yamato had the correct firing angle and the shorter range, and was awarded the hit) as Chikuma closed the range, close enough to be spotted in American photographs. [7] An attempt was made by the destroyers Johnston, Hoel, and Heermann and the destroyer escort Samuel B. Roberts to cover Gambier Bay. This achieved only partial success: Chikuma turned aside to duel Heermann at point-blank range, with both ships receiving heavy damage; Kongō contributed to Hoel's sinking, though Yamato only targeted Hoel with her secondary guns and continued to fire on Gambier Bay with her 18.1-inch (46 cm) main battery. [13] [14] [15] Fires raged through the riddled escort carrier, and she capsized at 09:07 and sank at 09:11, at approximately 11°31′N126°12′E / 11.517°N 126.200°E / 11.517; 126.200 . [16] [1] Most of her nearly 800 survivors were rescued two days later by landing and patrol craft dispatched from Leyte Gulf. 147 crewmen were killed. The Americans also lost four other ships in the battle—St. Lo, Hoel, Samuel B. Roberts, and Johnston. Gambier Bay was the only US Navy aircraft carrier sunk exclusively by surface naval gunfire during World War II, and one of only two worldwide (along with HMS Glorious in 1940). [17] [18] [19]

Aircraft from "Taffy 2" joined in the battle off Samar. The events that followed were described by Admiral Sprague:

"At 09:25 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."

Gambier Bay, burning from earlier gunfire damage, is straddled by a salvo from Chikuma (faintly visible in the background, center-right). LeyteGambierBayStraddle.jpg
Gambier Bay, burning from earlier gunfire damage, is straddled by a salvo from Chikuma (faintly visible in the background, center-right).

Gambier Bay's VC-10 Squadron and other ships of "Taffy 3"—aided by planes of "Taffy 2"—had stopped the powerful Japanese Center Force and inflicted significant losses. Three enemy cruisers were sunk, and much damage was inflicted on the other ships. Overall, the overwhelmingly powerful Japanese surface fleet had been turned back by the escort carriers and their screen of destroyers and destroyer escorts.

Awards

Gambier Bay received four battle stars for service in World War II and shared in the award of the Presidential Unit Citation to "Taffy 3" for extraordinary heroism in the Battle off Samar. Commanding officer Captain Walter V. R. Vieweg received the Navy Cross for his "extraordinary heroism". [20] Executive officer Richard R. Ballinger received the Silver Star "for conscious gallantry and intrepidity". [21]

See also

Related Research Articles

The escort carrier or escort aircraft carrier, also called a "jeep carrier" or "baby flattop" in the United States Navy (USN) or "Woolworth Carrier" by the Royal Navy, was a small and slower type of aircraft carrier used by the Royal Navy, the Royal Canadian Navy, the United States Navy, the Imperial Japanese Navy and Imperial Japanese Army Air Force in World War II. They were typically half the length and a third the displacement of larger fleet carriers, more-lightly armed and armored, and carried fewer planes. Escort carriers were most often built upon a commercial ship hull, so they were cheaper and could be built quickly. This was their principal advantage as they could be completed in greater numbers as a stop-gap when fleet carriers were scarce. However, the lack of protection made escort carriers particularly vulnerable, and several were sunk with great loss of life. The light carrier was a similar concept to the escort carrier in most respects, but was fast enough to operate alongside fleet carriers.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Leyte Gulf</span> Largest naval battle of World War II

The Battle of Leyte Gulf 23–26 October 1944, was the largest naval battle of World War II and by some criteria the largest naval battle in history, with over 200,000 naval personnel involved.

<i>Casablanca</i>-class escort carrier Aircraft carrier class of the US Navy

The Casablanca-class escort carrier was a series of escort carriers constructed for the United States Navy during World War II. They are the most numerous class of aircraft carriers ever built. Fifty were laid down, launched and commissioned within the space of less than two years – 3 November 1942 through to 8 July 1944. Despite their numbers, and the preservation of more famous and larger carriers as museums, none of these modest ships survive today. Five were lost to enemy action during World War II and the remainder were scrapped.

Japanese battleship <i>Yamato</i> Imperial Japanese Navy ship

Yamato was the lead ship of her class of battleships built for the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) shortly before World War II. She and her sister ship, Musashi, were the heaviest and most powerfully armed battleships ever constructed, displacing nearly 72,000 tonnes at full load and armed with nine 46 cm (18.1 in) Type 94 main guns, which were the largest guns ever mounted on a warship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle off Samar</span> Part of the Battle of Leyte Gulf

The Battle off Samar was the centermost action of the Battle of Leyte Gulf, one of the largest naval battles in history, which took place in the Philippine Sea off Samar Island, in the Philippines on October 25, 1944. It was the only major action in the larger battle in which the Americans were largely unprepared. After the previous day's fighting, the Imperial Japanese Navy's First Mobile Striking Force, under the command of Takeo Kurita, had suffered significant damage and appeared to be retreating westward. However, by the next morning, the Japanese force had turned around and resumed its advance toward Leyte Gulf. With Admiral William Halsey Jr. lured into taking his powerful Third Fleet north after a decoy fleet and the Seventh Fleet engaged to the south, the recently-landed 130,000 men of the Sixth Army were left vulnerable to Japanese attack on Leyte.

USS <i>St. Lo</i> Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS St. Lo (AVG/ACV/CVE–63) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy during World War II. On 25 October 1944, St. Lo became the first major warship to sink as the result of a kamikaze attack. The attack occurred during the Battle off Samar, part of the larger Battle of Leyte Gulf.

USS <i>White Plains</i> (CVE-66) Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS White Plains (CVE-66) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy. She was named after the 1776 Battle of White Plains.

USS <i>Kitkun Bay</i> Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS Kitkun Bay (CVE-71) was the seventeenth of fifty Casablanca-class escort carrier built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was launched in November 1943, and transferred to the Navy and commissioned in December. She served in the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign, the Battle off Samar, in which she was the first ship to undergo kamikaze attack, and the Invasion of Lingayen Gulf, during which she was damaged by another kamikaze and forced to withdraw. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She was decommissioned in April 1946, and sold for scrapping in November. Ultimately, she was broken up in early 1947.

USS <i>Kalinin Bay</i> Casablanca-class escort carrier of the U.S. Navy

USS Kalinin Bay (CVE-68) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy.

USS <i>Manila Bay</i> Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS Manila Bay (CVE-61) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy.

USS <i>Natoma Bay</i> Casablanca-class escort carrier of the US Navy

USS Natoma Bay (CVE–62) was a Casablanca-class escort carrier of the United States Navy that served in the Pacific War during World War II. The carrier entered service in 1943 and participated in a series of operations in the South Pacific including the Philippines campaign, the Battle off Samar and the Battle of Okinawa. During the Okinawa battle, Natoma Bay was struck by a Japanese aircraft and heavily damaged, ending the ship's participation in the war. Once repaired, Natoma Bay was assigned to Operation Magic Carpet, the return of American soldiers from the Pacific theatre. Following the completion of the operation the escort carrier was decommissioned in 1946 and placed in reserve. In 1959, Natoma Bay was sold for scrap.

Japanese cruiser <i>Chikuma</i> (1938) Second ship of the Tone-class of Japanese heavy cruisers

Chikuma (筑摩) was the second and last vessel in the Tone class of heavy cruisers in the Imperial Japanese Navy. The ship was named after the Chikuma River in Nagano Prefecture. Entering service in 1939, Chikuma saw battle during World War II in the Pacific, hunting small allied ships in the Indian Ocean and serving in many escorting missions throughout many large-scale aircraft carrier battles between Japan and the United States. On the 25 of October 1944, she served in the Battle off Samar where she possibly sank the escort carrier USS Gambier Bay and damaged the destroyer USS Heermann, before being crippled by gunfire from the destroyer escort USS Samuel B. Roberts and sunk by air attacks.

USS <i>Heermann</i> Fletcher-class destroyer

USS Heermann (DD-532) was a World War II-era Fletcher-class destroyer in the service of the United States Navy. The ship entered service in 1943 and took part in several battles during World War II in the Pacific theatre of operations, including the Philippines campaign, Battle off Samar and the Battle of Iwo Jima among others. Heermann gained fame during the "last stand of the Tin Can Sailors" in which she and several other destroyers of Task Unit 77.4.3 engaged a far superior Japanese task force during the Battle off Samar in October 1944. Heermann was the only American destroyer of "Taffy 3" to survive the engagement. Following the end of the war in 1945, the ship was placed in reserve from 1946 to 1951, when the destroyer was reactivated. Heermann remained in active service until 1957, when the ship was returned to the reserve. In 1961, Heerman was loaned to Argentina and was renamed ARA Almirante Brown (D-20) while in service with the Argentinian Navy. Almirante Brown remained in Argentinian service until 1982, when the ship was decommissioned.

USS <i>Hoel</i> (DD-533) Fletcher-class destroyer

USS Hoel (DD-533) was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant Commander William R. Hoel. Commissioned in 1943, she was sunk in the Battle off Samar during the Battle of Leyte Gulf on 25 October 1944.

USS <i>Johnston</i> (DD-557) Fletcher-class destroyer that helped stop a large Japanese fleet in WWII

USS Johnston (DD-557) was a Fletcher-class destroyer built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was named after Lieutenant John V. Johnston, an officer of the US Navy during the American Civil War. Johnston was laid down in May 1942 and was launched on 25 March 1943. She entered active duty on 27 October 1943 under the command of Lieutenant Commander Ernest E. Evans and was assigned to the US Pacific Fleet. Johnston provided naval gunfire support for American ground forces during the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign in January and February 1944 and again, after three months of patrol and escort duty in the Solomon Islands, during the recapture of Guam in July. Thereafter, Johnston was tasked with escorting escort carriers during the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign and the liberation of the Philippines.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Takeo Kurita</span> Japanese admiral (1889–1977)

Takeo Kurita was a vice admiral in the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) during World War II. Kurita commanded IJN 2nd Fleet, the main Japanese attack force during the Battle of Leyte Gulf.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ernest E. Evans</span> United States Navy Medal of Honor recipient

Ernest Edwin Evans was an officer of the United States Navy who posthumously received the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle off Samar in World War II.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Yukio Seki</span> Japanese kamikaze pilot

Yukio Seki was a Japanese naval aviator of the Imperial Japanese Navy during World War II. As a kamikaze pilot, Lieutenant Seki led one of the three fighter groups of the second official kamikaze attack in World War II. Seki's final action took place on October 25, 1944, during the Battle of Leyte Gulf. He led a unit of five bomb-armed Mitsubishi Zero fighters, crash-diving his plane deliberately into USS St. Lo's flight deck, being the first kamikazes to sink an enemy ship.

USS <i>Wasatch</i>

USS Wasatch (AGC-9) was a Mount McKinley-class amphibious force command ship, named after a mountain chain in northern Utah. She was designed as a cargo ship and converted into an amphibious force flagship, a floating command post with advanced communications equipment and extensive combat information spaces to be used by the amphibious forces commander and landing force commander during large-scale operations.

<i>The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors</i> 2004 book by James D. Hornfischer

The nonfiction book The Last Stand of the Tin Can Sailors: The Extraordinary World War II Story of the U.S. Navy's Finest Hour is the first full narrative account of the Battle off Samar, which the book's author, James D. Hornfischer, calls the greatest upset in the history of naval warfare. Published by Bantam Books in February 2004, the book won the Samuel Eliot Morison Award for Naval Literature in 2004 from the Naval Order of the United States.

References

PD-icon.svg This article incorporates text from the public domain Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships .The entry can be found here.

  1. 1 2 3 Evans, Mark L. (9 July 2019). "Gambier Bay". Dictionary of American Naval Fighting Ships . Navy Department, Naval History and Heritage Command . Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  2. ↑ Tillman, Barrett (10 February 2024). "Gambier Bay's final hours".
  3. ↑ Hoyt, Edwin P. (1979). The Men of the Gambier Bay . New York, NY: Avon Books (published 1981). pp. 51–56. ISBN   0-380-55806-8. OCLC   7857043.
  4. ↑ Hoyt 1979, pp. 85–89.
  5. ↑ Lundgren 2014, p. 15.
  6. ↑ Six, Ronald (8 December 2015). "Clash in the Sibuyan Sea: Gambier Bay". Warfare History Network. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  7. 1 2 3 Lundgren 2014, p. 131.
  8. ↑ "Imperial Battleships". www.combinedfleet.com. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  9. ↑ Cox, Robert Jon. "USS Gambier Bay (CVE 73)" . Retrieved 16 March 2011.
  10. ↑ Mystery of the China Seas (Full Episode) | Drain the Oceans . Retrieved 11 February 2024– via YouTube.
  11. ↑ "Yamato and Musashi Internet Photo Archive". 30 March 2022. Archived from the original on 30 March 2022. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  12. ↑ Lundgren 2014, pp. 21–22.
  13. ↑ "Heermann (DD-532)". NHHC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  14. ↑ "Hoel I (DD-533)". NHHC. Retrieved 11 February 2024.
  15. ↑ Lundgren 2014, p. 153.
  16. ↑ Hoyt 1979, p. 232.
  17. ↑ Hoyt 1979, p. 248.
  18. ↑ "USS Gambier Bay/VC-10 – Killed in Action". ussgambierbay.org. Retrieved 24 September 2022.
  19. ↑ "USS Gambier Bay survivor's memories haven't faded". The Journal Times. 5 June 2016. Retrieved 13 February 2023.
  20. ↑ "Vieweg, Walter Victor Rudolph". Modern Biographical Files in the Navy Department Library. Retrieved 12 April 2021.
  21. ↑ "Ballinger, Richard Robert". Modern Biographical Files in the Navy Department Library. Retrieved 12 April 2021.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.