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Ommaney Bay
Ship Class Casablanca-class Escort Carrier
Builder Kaiser Shipbuilding Co., Inc., Vancouver, WA
Laid Down 6 Oct 1943
Launched 29 Dec 1943
Commissioned 11 Feb 1944
Sunk 4 Jan 1945
Displacement 7,800 tons standard
Length 512 feet
Beam 65 feet
Draft 22 feet
Machinery 2 Skinner uniflow engines with two screws
Power Output 9,000 SHP
Speed 19 knots
Armament 1x5-in Anti-aircraft, 8x40mm, 20x20mm
Aircraft 28
ww2dbaseNamed for a bay in Alaska, Ommaney Bay was commissioned in Feb 1944 with Captain Howard L. Young in command. She was fitted out at Astoria, Oregon, and conducted her shakedown cruise in Puget Sound. In Mar 1944, she sailed with supplies and aircraft on board for Brisbane, Australia. She did not have her carrier qualification landings and other drills until she returned from Australia at the end of Apr. She received her air group in Jun and sailed for combat mission in the Pacific in Aug. In Oct, she was stationed off Peleliu and Anguar Islands and provided air cover for the invasion forces ashore. Her next mission took her to the Philippines, supporting the invasion of Leyte. During the Battle off Samar on 25 Oct, her aircraft attacked the attacking Japanese fleet, assisting in the sinking of one Japanese cruiser. In Dec, she operated in Mindanao and Sulu Seas in the Philippines to continue her support of the Philippines campaign. On 19 Dec, she returned to port in preparation of the American landing in Lingayen Gulf on Luzon.
ww2dbaseOn 3 Jan 1945, while in Surigao Strait, Ommaney Bay was struck by a suicide aircraft with two bombs on her starboard side. One of the bombs tore through the flight deck and detonated in the middle of fueled aircraft; the other detonated near the fire main on the second deck. Power was lost quickly, and communications broke down. Without water pressure in the forward half of the ship, fires burned uncontrollably. Nearby ships attempted to assist in the firefighting, but the intense heat and the ammunition being set off made it impossible. With fire spreading near the torpedo storage (which did detonate later), the captain gave his abandon ship order. After the completion of the evacuation, destroyer Burns launched a torpedo, scuttling the ship. 93 of Ommaney Bay's crew and 2 from an assisting destroyer were lost.
ww2dbaseSource: Wikipedia.
Last Major Revision: Jan 2007
Ommaney Bay Operational Timeline
11 Feb 1944 Ommaney Bay was commissioned into service.
4 Jan 1945 In the Philippine Islands, Japanese aircraft attacked the American invasion fleet bound for Luzon; USS Ommaney Bay was seriously damaged by a special attack and was scuttled.
More on Ommaney Bay
» Palau Islands and Ulithi Islands Campaigns
» Philippines Campaign, Phase 1, the Leyte Campaign
» Philippines Campaign, Phase 2
Document(s):
» US Aircraft Carrier Functions
» US Aircraft Carrier Operational Status By Month
» US Carrier Time Operational
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