USS Gambier Bay CVE-73

USS Gambier Bay (CVE-73) was a U.S. Navy Casablanca-class escort carrier built by Kaiser Shipyards and commissioned in December 1943.  The small 7800-ton aircraft carrier was equipped with 28 airplanes, which was enough for it to lend fighters and light bombers to the American landings on Saipan, Tinian, and Guam.  In the fall of 1944, it was assigned to Admiral Clifton Sprague's "Taffy 3" fleet of escort ships during the liberation of the Philippines from Japanese domination.  On October 25, after the Imperial Japanese Navy (IJN) had lured Admiral Halsey's battleships away from the Philippines, Admiral Kurita's Center Force charged at Taffy 3, and the Americans fought back in the Battle off Samar.  USS Gambier Bay launched its planes against the Japanese fleet while destroyers such as USS Johnston and USS Samuel B. Roberts launched their torpedoes.  The Americans won the battle, sinking three Japanese cruisers and convincing Center Force to retreat.  However, USS Gambier Bay was one of the casualties, and gained the unfortunate distinction of being the only American aircraft carrier sunk by enemy gunfire during World War II, as it was shelled by the cruiser HIJMS Chikuma and the battleship HIJMS Yamato .  A model of the carrier is on display at the San Diego Aerospace Museum in Balboa Park.