USS Liscome Bay

1943

Makin, I-175, the deadliest US carrier loss Location: Pacific Ocean, off Makin Atoll · Coordinates: 3.38°N 172.58°E · Casualties: 644 · Survivors: 272 · Depth: 1,460 m · Cause: submarine torpedo · magazine explosion — Torpedoed by the Japanese submarine I-175 at 05:13 on 24 November 1943 during the Gilbert Islands campaign. The single torpedo struck the after aircraft bomb magazine; the detonation destroyed the after third of the ship. She sank in 23 minutes. · Fate: abyssal · not located · Type: escort carrier · Casablanca class · Tonnage: 7,800 tons · Crew: 916 · Flag: United States · Launched: 1943 American Casablanca-class escort carrier, supporting the Gilbert Islands campaign off Makin. Torpedoed at 05:13 on 24 November 1943 by the Japanese submarine I-175; the torpedo found her after aircraft-bomb magazine. She disintegrated in a single blast that sent debris seven hundred metres into the air. 644 dead, the heaviest American aircraft carrier loss of the Pacific War, despite Liscome Bay being one of the smallest flat-tops afloat. Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix died on the bridge. The Vessel USS Liscome Bay (CVE-56) was a Casablanca-class escort aircraft carrier of the United States Navy, commissioned at the Kaiser Shipbuilding Company's Vancouver, Washington yard on 7 August 1943. She was 156 metres long, 7,800 tons standard displacement, capable of carrying 24 aircraft, and designed for 19 knots on two reciprocating steam engines. The Casablanca-class was the most numerous American carrier class of the Second World War: 50 ships commissioned between 1943 and 1944, built in series production to a standardised design that could be launched at approximately one per week from the Kaiser yards. The Casablanca-class had been designed specifically for the American amphibious campaign. Their role was close air support for the Marine Corps and Army landings across the Pacific: anti-submarine patrol, fighter cover, strike aircraft on shore targets. They were not fleet carriers and did not operate with the fast carrier task forces. Their armament was minimal (one 5-inch gun, 16 anti-aircraft guns) and their armour was non-existent. They relied on destroyer screens and on geographic separation from enemy threats for protection. Her commanding officer was Captain Irving D. Wiltsie, 41, a career naval officer. Her senior embarked officer was Rear-Admiral Henry M. Mullinnix, commanding Carrier Division 24, the escort carrier force supporting the Gilberts landings of November 1943. Mullinnix had flown his flag in Liscome Bay from the Casablanca-class's first operational deploy The Disaster The torpedo struck USS Liscome Bay on her starboard side at 05:13 on 24 November 1943. The impact point was abaft her after elevator, at the exact location of her after aircraft bomb magazine. The bomb magazine contained, at the moment of the strike, approximately 200 tons of aerial bombs awaiting distribution to the aircraft on her deck for the day's strike missions. The magazine detonated. Liscome Bay disintegrated in a single explosion. The rising fireball was observed by the other American ships in the task force at distances of up to 30 kilometres; the debris fall from the explosion was reported to have extended 700 metres from her position. Her flight deck, aircraft, island superstructure, and crew on the upper decks were destroyed in the first 0.5 seconds of the detonation. The ship sank at 05:36 on 24 November 1943, approximately 23 minutes after the torpedo strike. Rear-Admiral Mullinnix was killed on the flag bridge in the initial detonation; Captain Wiltsie was also killed. Of her 916 crew, 644 died in the explosion, in the burning water, or in the 30 minutes between the sinking and the arrival of rescue destroyers. 272 survived. The loss of 644 men in a single 23-minute sinking made the Liscome Bay the deadliest American aircraft carrier loss of the Pacific War, despite the Casablanca-class's small size relative to the fleet carriers. She was one of six American escort carriers lost to enemy action in the war; her casualty count exceeded those of the other five co