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USS Anzio (CVE-57)
Casablanca-class escort carrier of the U.S. Navy From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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USS Anzio (ACV/CVE/CVHE-57), known as Coral Sea until September 1944, was the third of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers built for the United States Navy during World War II. She was the first Navy vessel to be named after the Battle of the Coral Sea, a major naval engagement in the Pacific War and the Battle of Anzio, of the wider Italian theater. In December 1942, she was laid down in Vancouver, Washington, by the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company. In January 1943, she was named Alikula Bay, renamed Coral Sea in April, launched in May, and commissioned in August. She participated in the Battle of Makin, the Battle of Kwajalein, the Battle of Saipan, and the Western New Guinea campaign. In September 1944, she was renamed Anzio, under which she took part in the Philippines campaign, the Battle of Iwo Jima, and the Battle of Okinawa. Post-war, she participated in Operation Magic Carpet, repatriating U.S. servicemen from around the Pacific. She was decommissioned in July 1946 and mothballed in the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. Ultimately, she was sold for scrap in 1959.
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Design and description
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Anzio 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, in order to replace heavy early war losses. Standardized with her sister ships, she was 512 ft 3 in (156.13 m) long overall, had a beam of 65 ft 2 in (19.86 m), and a draft of 20 ft 9 in (6.32 m). She displaced 8,188 long tons (8,319 t) standard, 10,902 long tons (11,077 t) with a full load. She had a 257 ft (78 m) long hangar deck and a 477 ft (145 m) long flight deck. She was powered with two Skinner Unaflow reciprocating steam engines, which drove two shafts, providing 9,000 horsepower (6,700 kW), thus enabling her to make 19 knots (35 km/h; 22 mph). The ship had a cruising range of 10,240 nautical miles (18,960 km; 11,780 mi) at a speed of 15 knots (28 km/h; 17 mph). 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.[2][3]
One 5 in (127 mm)/38 caliber dual-purpose gun was mounted on the stern. Anti-aircraft defense was provided by eight Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) anti-aircraft guns in single mounts, as well as twelve Oerlikon 20 mm (0.79 in) 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 20 mm (0.79 in) cannons, and the amount of Bofors 40 mm (1.6 in) 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.[2][4]
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Construction
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 1094, the third of a series of fifty Casablanca-class escort carriers on 12 December 1942. Her initial hull symbol ACV-57 designated her as an auxiliary aircraft carrier. On 22 January 1943, she received her initial name of Alikula Bay, but she was subsequently renamed Coral Sea on 3 April. She was launched on 1 May; sponsored by Mrs. Martha Richards Fletcher, the wife of Vice admiral Frank Jack Fletcher. On 15 July, the U.S. Navy revised the classification of their escort carriers to reflect their combatant status, providing Coral Sea with her wartime hull symbol of CVE-57.[13] She was transferred to the Navy and commissioned on 27 August.[14]
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Service history
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Gilbert and Marshall Islands
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Upon being commissioned, Coral Sea spent much of September undergoing outfitting at U.S. Naval Ship Yard Tongue Point, Astoria, Oregon.[13] She then underwent a shakedown cruise down the West Coast, heading to Naval Air Station North Island, San Diego, California. She arrived at San Diego on 8 October, where she took on her embarked squadron, Composite Squadron (VC) 33, and conducted flight training off of the California coast. On 25 October, she departed for Pearl Harbor to join Rear Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix's Carrier Division 24, which consisted of Coral Sea, her sisters Liscome Bay and Corregidor, and their screens. There, she participated in additional training exercises and drills with her division until early November. She was assigned to support the 27th Infantry Division as it prepared to invade Makin Island, part of the Gilbert and Marshall Islands campaign. She departed Pearl Harbor for Makin on 10 November.[14][15]
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At 05:00 on 20 November, the bombardment of Makin began, commencing the first major U.S. thrust into the central Pacific. Just 76 hours later, Tarawa and Makin had both been captured. Coral Sea's aircraft aided the operation, providing close air support and bombing Japanese positions.[16] With the islands secured, U.S. naval forces began retiring, but Carrier Division 24 stayed behind to suppress pockets of resistance.[17] On 24 November, the Japanese submarine I-175 fired a set of four Type 95 torpedoes at the broadside of the unsuspecting task force. Two of the torpedoes narrowly missed Coral Sea, but one torpedo hit Liscome Bay at 05:10, setting off its munitions stores and blowing apart the entire stern of the carrier. The tremendous explosion sent debris hurtling onto the surrounding ships, including Coral Sea, where a sailor reported being hit by a fire extinguisher.[18] Liscome Bay sank in only 23 minutes, with the ultimate loss of 702 men, including Rear Admiral Mullinix.[14][19]
Later that day, Coral Sea left Makin.[20] The initial combat performance of the Casablanca-class carriers had been inauspicious. Of the 71 aircraft that Carrier Division 24 had brought to the front, 20 aircraft had been lost with the sinking of Liscome Bay. The inexperience of the air crews was evident, with 16 aircraft written-off due to accidents, which cumulatively killed 4 aircraft crewmen and 6 deck personnel. Only one aircraft had been lost in combat, an Avenger from Coral Sea which had strayed too close to the explosion of an ammunition dump on the morning of 20 November.[21][22] She returned to Pearl Harbor on 5 December, where she took on passengers and aircraft to ferry back to the West Coast. She departed on 8 December, arriving at Alameda, California on 14 December, where she replenished her aircraft, putting back to sea on 22 December. She entered Pearl Harbor on 28 December, where she rejoined Carrier Division 24, with Manila Bay replacing Liscome Bay.[6] There, she prepared for the impending assault on Kwajalein.[14]
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Coral Sea was underway on 3 January 1944, conducting exercises off of Hawaii through early January. After a final fitting out, she sailed on 22 January, in Task Group 52.9, and arrived in the vicinity of Kwajalein, on 31 January, two days after aircraft of the Fast Carrier Task Force began pounding airfields on the atoll. She provided direct and indirect air support for the amphibious landings. On 5 February, the escort carriers were ordered into Kwajalein lagoon to refuel and rearm.[23] On 24 February, she set course for Eniwetok, but she was later recalled to Pearl Harbor, arriving on 3 March.[14]
Solomon Islands and New Guinea
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, refueling and resupplying before sailing again on 30 March for Emirau Island alongside Corregidor. On 2 April, they relieved Manila Bay and Natoma Bay, which had been supporting the 4th Marine Regiment as they landed on Emirau. Her time at Emirau was uneventful, save for a Mitsubishi G4M medium bomber shot down by two of her fighters.[24] She concluded her tour at Emirau on 11 April, returning to Tulagi on 15 April and leaving the next day to assist in the Western New Guinea campaign. On 19 April, she joined Task Group 78.2, which was formed to cover the landings at Aitape. Her aircraft commenced strikes on D-Day, 22 April, but found very little opposition. Thus, Task Group 78.2 was able to relieve the fast carriers in supporting the landings at Tanahmerah Bay and Humboldt Bay, but they found similarly sparse resistance. On 26 April, the escort carrier sailed to Seeadler Harbor for replenishment. The eight escort carriers that comprised Task Force 78 had only lost four aircraft during their stay off New Guinea, all of them in accidents.[25] She headed for Espiritu Santo on 7 May for extensive repairs to her forward main engine, which necessitated the replacement of a number of broken piston rings. It was not until 2 June that she was deemed combat-ready again.[14][26]
Mariana Islands
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Following the completion of repairs, Coral Sea arrived at Kwajalein on 8 June, which served as the staging point for the Mariana and Palau Islands campaign.[8] The invasion fleet sortied out on 10 June, and on 15 June, she provided air support for the initial landings on Saipan by the 2nd Marine Division. On 16 June, she was dispatched for the planned recapture of Guam on 18 June, but en route, the landings were postponed until mid-July, and she returned back to Saipan on the afternoon of 17 June. There, she continued strikes on Saipan, where resistance had been fiercer than expected, and on the neighboring island of Tinian.[14][27]
At 17:30, on the evening of 17 June, a large raid of an estimated 20–30 Japanese aircraft was detected by radar about 110 mi (180 km) away. The four escort carriers of Coral Sea's task group scrambled 44 fighters between them to intercept the raid, but they had little success in screening the ships. The Japanese strike force arrived at 18:30, around sunset, and a Yokosuka D4Y Suisei dive bomber chose Coral Sea as its target. Diving down, its aim was off, with the bomb missing just off the carrier's starboard quarter. Following the bomb was the Suisei, which splashed 300 yd (270 m) behind her. Just two minutes later, a torpedo bomber approached Coral Sea from the side at a very low altitude, just above the waves. Hit by a flak explosion, it broke apart and veered into the water. Ten minutes later, another plane was shot down by her gunners 2,000 yd (1,800 m) off of the carrier as it approached.[28]
On 18 June, at 16:15, another group of an estimated 30–50 Japanese planes was detected by radar 121 mi (195 km) to the south of Coral Sea. This time, the fighters proved to be more effective, with her embarked squadron (VC-33) claiming eight Kawasaki Ki-61s and two Yokosuka P1Y Gingas shot down, and six other planes damaged.[29] Eight aircraft had been able to break through the screen and were brought down by surface anti-aircraft fire. At 6:15 the next morning, four planes made an attack run on the escort carriers, but to little effect.[30]
Coral Sea was back at Eniwetok on 28 June. During her time spent supporting the battles on Saipan and Tinian, her air contingent had lost one Wildcat and three Avengers in combat, and three Wildcats in accidents.[31] Her stay at Eniwetok was brief, as she rendezvoused at Saipan on 4 July with Task Group 53.7 for the postponed landings on Guam. She arrived off of Guam on 9 July, launching preparatory air strikes and softening positions. On 13 July, she was relieved of her duties, returning to Eniwetok on 15 July. At Eniwetok her "damnable" engines were assessed, and she was ordered back to the West Coast, setting off on 23 July.[32] She stopped at Kwajalein on 25 July to unload her embarked squadron and munitions, transiting via Pearl Harbor and arriving back at San Diego on 9 August. She entered drydock on 31 August for repairs and overhaul. On 15 September, Coral Sea was renamed to Anzio, clearing up the name for the planned Midway-class aircraft carrier USS Coral Sea (CV-42) (later renamed Franklin D. Roosevelt on 8 May 1945, with the name ultimately passing to USS Coral Sea (CV-43)).[14][33]
Typhoon Cobra and Iwo Jima
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Anzio held sea trials off the California coast before setting off for the western Pacific on 16 September. She reached Pearl Harbor on 23 September, beginning a series of training exercises on 8 October with her freshly embarked squadron, Composite Squadron (VC) 82. On 16 October, she set out for Eniwetok. There, Anzio became the flagship of the hunter-killer group Task Group 30.7, and carried out antisubmarine warfare patrols en route to Ulithi. On 4 November, she steamed for the Philippine Sea, but her orders were changed while she was barely out of port, and she was directed to assist the light cruiser Reno which had been torpedoed by Japanese submarine I-41. She arrived the next day, and provided air cover for the fleet tugboat Zuni which had Reno under tow until 8 November. She then rendezvoused with Task Group 30.8, the At Sea Logistic Group, which had been providing vital support in the form of supplies and replacement aircraft for the Fast Carrier Task Force as it supported the landings on Leyte and the wider Philippines campaign. Anzio's role for the following months was to provide a screen for the logistics force and to hunt down submarines.[14][33]
The Third Fleet had been operating against positions on Luzon since 14 December, but its escorting destroyers ran low on fuel. As a result, the fleet retired to the east to refuel and to receive replacement aircraft from Task Group 30.8. Anzio met with the Third Fleet about 300 mi (480 km; 260 nmi) east of Luzon early on 17 December, as Typhoon Cobra began to bear down.[34] As the weather continued to deteriorate on 18 December, Admiral William Halsey Jr. made a series of blundering decisions that ended with his fleet trapped in the typhoon's core. Attached to the Third Fleet, Anzio followed.[9]
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At the height of the storm, Anzio rolled up to 39°, beyond her theoretical maximum righting moment of 371⁄2°. Waves crashed over her flight deck and sent water running down her port funnels. The aircraft on her flight deck had been rigorously secured, but two planes still broke free and were carried away from the carrier. Similar measures were taken within the hangar deck, but one plane managed to escape its restraints, smashing into a bulkhead before being resecured. This incident incurred the lone casualty on Anzio, a broken arm suffered in the rush to corral the loose plane. She emerged from the storm having sustained relatively minor damage. Her fore catwalks and lookout station had been mangled, she had lost several life rafts and one of her whaleboats, and some water had made it into the interior of the ship,[35] but she resumed her antisubmarine patrols, steaming in February 1945 to support the invasion of Iwo Jima.[10][14]
Anzio resumed her antisubmarine work on 16 February, covering the naval forces arrayed around Iwo Jima. On 21 February, she witnessed a kamikaze sink her sister Bismarck Sea.[36] With the loss of Bismarck Sea, she was obliged to assume close air support duties, which taxed her pilots and crew.[37] From 19 February to 4 March, Anzio conducted antisubmarine patrols and ground support missions, completing 106 sorties without a single accident. Her aircraft found success in these roles. On 26 February, at 02:20 in the morning, an Avenger from Anzio spotted the Japanese submarine Ro-43. As the submarine crash dived, the Avenger dropped from 150 ft (46 m) altitude its Mark 24 acoustic homing torpedo and two sonobuoys, which landed 150 yd (140 m) in front of the diving submarine. As dawn broke, all that remained was an oil slick.[38] The next day, on 27 February, another one of her Avengers detected the surfaced kaiten carrier I-368 on its radar at 03:04. Passing over and making visual contact at 280 kn (320 mph; 520 km/h), the Avenger was unable to mount an attack, and by the time it had circled around, the submarine had dived. Her Avenger dropped a float light and sonobuoys around the location, and at 03:38, a conning tower was spotted breaching the surface near the float light. A Mark 24 torpedo was dropped 100 ft (30 m) in front of the crash diving submarine, and an explosion which sent a plume of water 30 ft (9.1 m) into the air was observed. Soon afterwards, another Avenger arrived, which immediately dropped its Mark 24 torpedo near the wake. Air bubbled to the surface, followed by an extensive oil slick.[39] She departed Iwo Jima on 8 March, and entered San Pedro Bay on 12 March. After embarking Composite Squadron (VC) 13 from Tripoli, she sailed on 22 March to join the invasion of Okinawa.[14]
Okinawa and post war
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Anzio continued her antisubmarine patrols, screening for the landing forces. After the initial landings on 1 April, Anzio performed both close air support and antisubmarine work. She entered Ulithi on 30 April for repairs to her rudder bearings. There, her embarked squadron had their TBM-1C Avengers replaced with TBM-3Es, equipped with improved radars and wing hardpoints which could mount rockets or drop tanks.[12] On 21 May, she resumed operations off of Okinawa, and on 28 May, she received word of a submarine contact from a minesweeper. She dispatched aircraft to the vicinity, but her aircraft found no leads until early on 31 May, when one of her Avengers detected a radar signature at 04:36. Investigating the blip, the Avenger found the kaiten carrier I-361 fully surfaced. Approaching from the port beam, the Avenger fired four 5-inch (127 mm) air-to-surface rockets, two impacting around the conning tower. Turning around, the Avenger found the submarine diving, and attempted to drop its Mark 24 torpedo, but failed, the pilot having neglected to switch from "RP" (rocket projectile) to "Bomb-Torpedo" on the armament selector. Hurrying around once more, the Avenger deployed its Mark 24 torpedo, along with all six sonobuoys via the emergency release. When the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts Oliver Mitchell and Tabberer arrived, they found a large debris field and oil slick.[14][40]
On 11 June, while Anzio was taking on aviation fuel from the Cimarron-class oiler Caliente, her pair of aviation fuel tanks ruptured, sending fuel running into her interior and cofferdams. This obliged her early retirement from antisubmarine duties, as she was no longer able to take on aviation fuel. Nonetheless, she continued as planned a radio deception operation that had begun earlier in the day. The Fast Carrier Task Force (operating attached to the Third Fleet as Task Force 38) had been launching strikes on Okinawa and Kyushu, but had retired for Leyte under radio silence on 10 June for replenishment. A radioman from Halsey's staff was sent over to Anzio, and from 11 June to 17 June, when she herself headed to Leyte for repairs, radio traffic was fielded to mimic Halsey's fleet, providing the impression that it was still out at sea. Anzio's ship's history records her crew's claim that she was the "only ship to relieve the entire Task Force 38."[14][41][42]
Anzio left San Pedro Bay on 6 July, and reached her operating area 600 mi (970 km) east of Tokyo on 14 July, resuming her antisubmarine work covering Task Group 30.8. At 07:37 on 16 July, an Avenger from Anzio found the broadside signature of the submarine aircraft carrier I-13. The Avenger, concealing itself within the clouds, emerged, raking I-13 with .50 Browning machine gun fire and firing two sets of two rockets, one at 600 yd (550 m), and another at 400 yd (370 m). One rocket impacted the submarine below the conning tower at the waterline, while the other three rockets hit 15 ft (4.6 m) short, but in line with the conning tower. Circling around, the Avenger dropped two depth charges, which both missed, a sonobuoy, and attempted to drop its Mark 24 torpedo near the diving submarine, but to no effect, as the armament selector had not been switched. The second go around, the Mark 24 torpedo was released 200 ft (61 m) ahead of the wake left by the submarine. This damaged I-13, as oil soon began upwelling.[43]
_in_Shanghai,_China_on_1_December_1945.jpg)
Anzio's Avenger tracked the oil slick as it moved across the ocean. It was joined by another Avenger at 9:00, and by a third one at 9:20. More sonobuoys were dropped, tracking the sound of I-13's propellers. At 10:00, a Mark 24 torpedo was dropped 500 ft (150 m) in front of the slick, and an explosion followed by hissing was heard over the sonobuoys. Pieces of debris floated to the surface. Nonetheless, at 11:20, the oil slick began crawling eastwards again. By this point, the John C. Butler-class destroyer escorts Lawrence C. Taylor and Robert F. Keller were approaching the scene. A beacon was dropped at the submarine's approximate location, and Lawrence C. Taylor, guided by the beacon and her sonar, let loose a full Hedgehog barrage at 11:40. This triggered two massive underwater explosions about 1,000 ft (300 m) below the surface that knocked out power to Lawrence C. Taylor's sonar and caused her some engine room damage. Robert F. Keller followed this up with another Hedgehog barrage, but this proved to be unnecessary, as a large amount of debris from I-13 surfaced.[44]
She continued her antisubmarine patrols with no further incident until she received word of the Japanese surrender on 15 August. She sailed for Guam, on 19 August, where after refitting and training new flight crews, the escort carrier headed for Okinawa. She then provided air cover and conducted antisubmarine patrols for transports carrying occupation troops to Korea. On 8 September, she anchored at Incheon, whence she provided air support for the landings of the occupation force. She left Korea on 13 September, returning to Okinawa. On 19 September, she headed to the West Coast to join the Operation Magic Carpet fleet, arriving at San Francisco on 30 September.[14]
At San Francisco, Anzio was modified to provide maximum passenger accommodations. She made two trips to the western Pacific, one to Pearl Harbor and one to Shanghai, shuttling American troops home. She arrived at Seattle on 23 December, ending the year at that port. On 18 January 1946, she sailed for Norfolk, Virginia. She paused at San Francisco and transited the Panama Canal en route to the East Coast. She was decommissioned on 5 August and mothballed, joining the Norfolk group of the Atlantic Reserve Fleet. On 15 June 1955, she was redesignated as a helicopter aircraft carrier, receiving the hull symbol CVHE-57. She was struck from the Navy list on 1 March 1959, and sold to Master Metals Co. on 24 November for scrapping.[14]
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Awards and decorations
Anzio received nine battle stars[45] and a Navy Unit Commendation for her World War II service.[46][47]
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